Jay Johnson knew it would be hard to leave Arizona. In 5 seasons with the Wildcats, he's led them to 2 World Series Appearances, and in 2021, Arizona had the top offense in the nation. Then LSU called.
"I feel like I'm right for a place like this because I do invest in players, I do invest in their process to being good. That's the only difficulty and there was probably only one place in the country that it was a "let's go" attitude, and we're standing there right now."
Jay Johnson is a life long west coast head coach who left arizona to take on a challenge he said comes once in a lifetime.
During his introductory press conference, Johnson spent time talking about the role models former LSU coaches Skip Bertman and Paul Mainieiri have been in his career. Johnson specifically crediting two of the sports' legends for inspiring his career. But those two will also be the coaches that fans will likely judge him by. That pedestal - and the veracity of fans is something he's welcoming.
"I want passionate people that want to achieve elite things around me. What I think is important to do is we create the best home field advantage in college baseball, and I've heard we that's what we have here. Then put a product on the field theat they're extrmemely proud of, and when the Tigers show up they know what they're going to get. They can't wait to get to the ballpark."
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