Report: Georgia hiring LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson as head coach

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, the Georgia Bulldogs will hire Wes Johnson as the baseball program’s next head coach. Johnson is currently the pitching coach for LSU and advanced to a Super Regional with the Tigers on Monday with a win over Oregon State.

Once the season in Baton Rouge is done, Johnson will go across the SEC and join Georgia. A big hire for the Bulldogs, hiring a top assistant off of Jay Johnson’s national championship-contending staff.

“Sources: Georgia is finalizing a deal to make LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson the school’s new head coach,” Thamel said. “Johnson has extensive SEC experience from his time at LSU, Mississippi State, and Arkansas as a pitching coach.”

Johnson was brought to LSU before the 2022 season and immediately got to work with the pitching staff. Future top-five draft pick Paul Skenes has given credit to Johnson for a lot of improvements this season, including adding a pitch to the arsenal.

LSU will wind up finishing in the top half of ERA in the SEC, being one of seven teams under 5.00. Opponent batting average will wind up in the top three as well and as they trek toward the College World Series in Omaha, will battle Tennessee for No. 1 in total strikeouts.

Prior to working with the Tigers, Johnson was at the major league level, spending time as the pitching coach for the Minnesota Twins. He spent four years in MLB before ultimately returning to college baseball.

Georgia looks at mid-major level before hiring Johnson

Kendall Rogers of D1 Baseball added to Thamel’s report, saying Johnson was somebody Georgia targeted from the beginning. However, Justin Haire from Campbell may have been the first choice for athletic director Josh Brooks. Haire decided to stay put though, leaving the door open for Johnson.

“Johnson was a candidate for this job from the get-go, as was Campbell’s Justin Haire,” Rogers said. “Was told over the weekend that Haire had decided to remain at Campbell for the time being.”

Georgia did not make the NCAA Tournament this year and has not advanced out of a regional since the 2008 season. Scott Stricklin was the head coach for the majority of that drought, spending 10 years with the Bulldogs. But a tough decision was made to move on from the program’s fourth-winningest head coach after this year’s shortcomings.

Johnson steps in with the hopes of bringing consistent baseball postseason success back to Athens.