Jay Bradley Johnson[1] (born April 20, 1977)[2] is an American 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).
| Current position | |
|---|---|
| Title | Head coach |
| Team | LSU |
| Conference | SEC |
| Record | 137–62 (.688) |
| Biographical details | |
| Born | April 20, 1977 Oroville, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Shasta College (Class of 1998) |
| Playing career | |
| 1997–1998 | Shasta |
| 1999–2000 | Point Loma Nazarene |
| Position(s) | Second baseman |
| Coaching career (HC unless noted) | |
| 2001–2004 | Point Loma Nazarene (asst.) |
| 2005 | Point Loma Nazarene |
| 2006–2013 | San Diego (Asst.) |
| 2014–2015 | Nevada |
| 2016–2021 | Arizona |
| 2022–present | LSU |
| Head coaching record | |
| Overall | 454–234 (.660) |
| Tournaments | NCAA: 26–14 |
| Accomplishments and honors | |
| Championships | |
| |
| Awards | |
| |
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]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 31–27 | 15–15 | 4th | |||||
| 2015 | Nevada | 41–15 | 22–7 | 1st | |||||
| Nevada: | 72–42 (.632) | 37–22 (.627) | |||||||
| Arizona Wildcats (Pac-12 Conference) (2016–2021) | |||||||||
| 2016 | Arizona | 49–24 | 16–14 | 3rd | College World Series Runner-up | ||||
| 2017 | Arizona | 38–21 | 16–14 | 4th | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2018 | Arizona | 34–22 | 14–16 | 6th | |||||
| 2019 | Arizona | 32–24 | 15–14 | 6th | |||||
| 2020 | Arizona | 10–5 | 0–0 | Season canceled due to COVID-19 | |||||
| 2021 | Arizona | 45–18 | 21–9 | 1st | College World Series | ||||
| Arizona: | 208–114 (.646) | 82–67 (.550) | |||||||
| LSU Tigers (Southeastern Conference) (2022–present) | |||||||||
| 2022 | LSU | 40–22 | 17–13 | 3rd (West) | NCAA Regional | ||||
| 2023 | LSU | 54–17 | 19–10 | 2nd (West) | College World Series Champions | ||||
| 2024 | LSU | 43–23 | 13–17 | T–4th (West) | NCAA Regional | ||||
| LSU: | 137–62 (.688) | 49–40 (.551) | |||||||
| Total: | 454–234 (.660) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
See also
References
- ^ University of Arizona directory search for Jay Johnson
- ^ a b "Jay Johnson". Point Loma Nazarene University. Archived from the original on August 31, 1999. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Jay Johnson Named Arizona Baseball Head Coach". arizonawildcats.com. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Jay Johnson bio". University of San Diego Toreros. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
- ^ a b Chris Graham (June 28, 2013). "University of Nevada Hires Jay Johnson as Next Baseball Head Coach". CarsonNOW.org. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
- ^ Don Starks (July 1, 2013). "Nevada Wastes No Time in Signing New Baseball Coach". mwcconnection.com. Retrieved September 9, 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Assistant Coach Jay Johnson". Point Loma Nazarene University. Archived from the original on July 16, 2001. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Two assistant coaches added to USD baseball staff". University of San Diego. August 23, 2005. Retrieved March 10, 2017.
- ^ "Replay: Watch LSU introduce new baseball coach Jay Johnson". www.theadvocate.com. The Advocate. June 28, 2021. Retrieved June 28, 2021.
- ^ "2014 Mountain West Conference Standings". TheMW.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-30. Retrieved June 5, 2014.