Wes Johnson addresses his plan for Georgia's coaching staff, names one specific thing he's looking for

Earlier in June, the Georgia Bulldogs hired LSU pitching coach Wes Johnson to be their head baseball coach. On June 13, the Bulldogs officially introduced him as their next head coach in his introductory press conference. Johnson took a few moments to introduce himself while also outlining his goal and vision for Georgia baseball going forward. And he also addressed his plan on how he will build his coaching staff.

“I will do pitching; I’ll start with that one. I’ll do the pitching,” said Johnson. “We’re going to get an offensive guy. I’m currently in the process right now. I think our ballpark is very unique in the best way. It has the ability, hitting the ball to right field, you can run on balls out of the yard. It’s Yankee Stadium; they got a short right field. But it also can play speed. So when you look at the gaps you got in left-center and just a big center field.”

Johnson has experience at both the collegiate level and professional. In the MLB, he was the Minnesota Twins pitching coach from 2019 to 2022. Prior to that, he has been a coach at a handful of other programs, including two SEC schools, Mississippi State and Arkansas.

“So I’m looking for a guy who can not only — there’s a lot of things now with lunch angle and different things of that nature, and the homerun — but we’re gonna be able to score runs in a lot of different ways. You can’t beat Paul Skenes by hitting homers. You’re gonna have to get guys on. You’re gonna steal bases. You have to put the ball on the carpet. You’re gonna have to get them over and get them in. And we’re going to do that as well.”

Georgia officially parted ways with former head baseball coach Scott Stricklin following an abysmal season in the SEC this year. The Bulldogs went 11-19 in conference play and missed the SEC conference tournament. Stricklin’s struggles over the past few seasons are arguably what ended his 10-year reign as Georgia’s head baseball coach. Including this season, Georgia failed to qualify for the tournament two out of the last three seasons.

Johnson is currently pulling double duty right now as he is still pitching for LSU, who has advanced to the College World Series in Omaha. But his previous obligations to the Tigers will not stop him from building a solid powerhouse program in Georgia.