LSU baseball has its next head coach, and it will be Arizona's Jay Johnson.
The coaching hire, which sources confirmed to WWL Radio, came three days after Arizona was eliminated by Stanford at the College World Series. Johnson's team had advanced to Omaha by defeated the Ole Miss team coached by Mike Bianco, another target in LSU's search.
The news was first reported by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.
Johnson has coached at Arizona since 2016, with this past run marking his second trip to the College World Series. His team was the runner-up in Omaha during his first season with the Wildcats, falling to the same Coastal Carolina squad that defeated LSU in the Super Regionals earlier that season.
Arizona had missed the postseason in the two years prior to the canceled season in 2020. Johnson's record at Arizona is 208-114, with previous head coaching stops at Nevada and Point Lorma Nazarene.
The Paul Mainieri era officially ended with a two-game Super Regional sweep at the hands of the Tennessee Volunteers, which sent the legendary head coach into retirement after 15 seasons in Baton Rouge.
Mainieri's 38-year head coaching career -- with stops at St. Thomas, Air Force and Notre Dame -- included more than 1,500 wins. Since taking over LSU in 2007, he's led teams to four SEC regular season titles, six SEC Tournament titles, and one College World Series title (2009). He also led the Tigers to nine Super Regional appearances, and five trips to Omaha.
Mainieri's early advice to his successor was simple.
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"I just think that the new coach has to know that there's a lot expected of you here, without question," Mainieri said. "It's an awesome fan base. There's a lot of people that care about LSU baseball. They have a lot of resources. They have great administration. But you have to be confident in yourself and you can't listen to the criticism too much and let it change you. You have to be confident in yourself and stick by what you believe. You've gotta do it your way."
Johnson will now inherit a roster laden with talent, as well as rising sophomore contributors on the roster that gained invaluable experience in the run to the Super Regional in Knoxville. Two of the greatest talents are that of right fielder Dylan Crews and 1st baseman Tre' Morgan, who provided the engine for LSU's offense throughout much of the 2021 campaign.
Morgan and Crews were tied for 4th in the SEC with a .361 batting average. Crews also belted 16 home runs during regular season play to go with 40 RBIs. Morgan hit five home runs while also logging 40 RBIs. The stellar defensive 1st baseman also stole 15 bases, good for 5th in the SEC.
Mainieri said part of his decision to announce his retirement before the end of the season was to allow ample time for his players to make decisions on whether to transfer. One major task for LSU's next coach will be managing any such departures, or re-recruiting Tigers players as they head into a new coaching era.
"I feel very proud of what we're leaving to the next coach. We've got some really good young players and obviously we were able to win a regional. There's some good young talent on this team," Mainieri said after the season-ending loss. "There's also some areas that need to be improved. There's no question about that. That's why I wanted to announce my retirement when I did."
This year's team went 38-25 overall, but struggled to a 13-17 record in SEC play.
The Tigers' coaching search had already surfaced many high-profile coaching names, including retired former Oregon State coach Pat Casey, Bianco, Florida's Kevin O'Sullivan and several others -- but all fizzled without movement. Most recently Johnson, Notre Dame's Link Jarrett and East Carolina's Cliff Godwin had emerged as a trio of likely finalists, with the Arizona coach reportedly landing the job.