Jay Johnson (baseball coach)

Last updated
Jay Johnson
Current position
TitleHead coach
Team LSU
Conference SEC
Record137–62 (.688)
Biographical details
Born (1977-04-20) April 20, 1977 (age 47)
Oroville, California, U.S.
Alma materShasta College (Class of 1998)
Playing career
1997–1998 Shasta College
1999–2000 Point Loma Nazarene
Position(s)Second baseman
Coaching career (HC unless noted)
2001–2004Point Loma Nazarene (asst.)
2005Point Loma Nazarene
2006–2013 San Diego (Asst.)
2014–2015 Nevada
2016–2021 Arizona
2022–present LSU
Head coaching record
Overall454–234 (.660)
TournamentsNCAA: 26–14
Accomplishments and honors
Championships
Awards
  • MW Coach of the Year (2015)
  • Pac–12 Coach of the Year (2021)
  • National Coach of the Year (2023)

Jay Bradley Johnson [1] (born April 20, 1977) [2] is an American college baseball coach and former second baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the LSU Tigers. He played college baseball at Shasta from 1997 to 1998 before transferring to Point Loma Nazarene. [3] He then served as the head coach of the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (2005), Nevada (2014–2015) [4] [5] [6] and the Arizona Wildcats (2016–2021).

Contents

Education

Born and raised in Oroville, California, Johnson graduated from Oroville High School in 1995 and began his college baseball career at Shasta College, a junior college in Redding, California, in 1997. [2] [7] After two years at Shasta, Johnson transferred to Point Loma Nazarene in the 1998–99 school year to complete his college career. A second baseman and starter in the 1999 and 2000 seasons, he hit .326 for the Sea Lions as a senior. [4]

Coaching career

While completing his bachelor's degree in physical education, Johnson became an assistant coach at Point Loma Nazarene in 2001 and remained an assistant coach after graduating before being promoted to head coach for the 2005 season. [8] Johnson led the Sea Lions to a #6 national ranking in the NAIA and a division championship. [4]

On August 23, 2005, Johnson became an assistant coach at the University of San Diego. [9] The Toreros won three West Coast Conference championships and made four appearances in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship with Johnson on staff. [4]

On June 28, 2013, Nevada announced that Johnson would take over as head coach. [5]

In two seasons at Nevada, Johnson guided the Wolf Pack to a 72–42 record. In 2015, Nevada posted a 41–15 record and captured the school's first-ever Mountain West title with a 22–7 mark in league play. The Wolf Pack was ranked in the top 25 for much of the season and totaled a 13–1 record in series of at least three games. The 41 overall wins ranked second in program history. In 2015 Johnson was named Mountain West Coach of the Year.

In 2016 Johnson guided the Wildcats to a seventh appearance in the College World Series where they ended up falling to Coastal Carolina in the championship series.

On June 24, 2021, Johnson left Arizona to become the head coach of the LSU Tigers. [10]

Head coaching record

Below is a table of Johnson's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach. [11]

Statistics overview
SeasonTeamOverallConferenceStandingPostseason
Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (Pacific West Conference)(2005–2005)
2005 Point Loma Nazarene 37–16
Loma Nazarene:37–16 (.698)
Nevada Wolf Pack (Mountain West Conference)(2014–2015)
2014 Nevada 31–2715–154th
2015 Nevada 41–1522–71st
Nevada:72–42 (.632)37–22 (.627)
Arizona Wildcats (Pac-12 Conference)(2016–2021)
2016 Arizona 49–2416–143rd College World Series Runner-up
2017 Arizona 38–2116–144th NCAA Regional
2018 Arizona 34–2214–166th
2019 Arizona 32–2415–146th
2020 Arizona 10–50–0Season canceled due to COVID-19
2021 Arizona 45–1821–91st College World Series
Arizona:208–114 (.646)82–67 (.550)
LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference)(2022–present)
2022 LSU 40–2217–133rd (West) NCAA Regional
2023 LSU 54–1719–102nd (West) College World Series Champions
2024 LSU 43–2313–17T–4th (West) NCAA Regional
LSU:137–62 (.688)49–40 (.551)
Total:454–234 (.660)

      National champion        Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion        Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion      Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

See also

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References

  1. University of Arizona directory search for Jay Johnson
  2. 1 2 "Jay Johnson". Point Loma Nazarene University. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  3. "Jay Johnson Named Arizona Baseball Head Coach". arizonawildcats.com. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Jay Johnson bio". University of San Diego Toreros. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  5. 1 2 Chris Graham (June 28, 2013). "University of Nevada Hires Jay Johnson as Next Baseball Head Coach". CarsonNOW.org. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  6. Don Starks (July 1, 2013). "Nevada Wastes No Time in Signing New Baseball Coach". mwcconnection.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
  7. Woodard, Nick (June 29, 2015). "Oroville High grad Johnson takes over as University of Arizona's baseball coach". Chico Enterprise-Record. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  8. "Assistant Coach Jay Johnson". Point Loma Nazarene University. Archived from the original on July 16, 2001. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  9. "Two assistant coaches added to USD baseball staff". University of San Diego. August 23, 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
  10. "Replay: Watch LSU introduce new baseball coach Jay Johnson". www.theadvocate.com. The Advocate. June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
  11. "2014 Mountain West Conference Standings". TheMW.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved June 5, 2014.