Wes Johnson addresses how much Georgia's commitment to baseball factored into decision

Former LSU pitching coach turned head coach for the Georgia baseball program Wes Johnson has big plans in mind for the Bulldog’s future. But with his current status with the Tigers and how successful he has been during his time there, what made him decide to make the switch from Baton Rouge to Athens? During his introductory press conference on Tuesday, Johnson addressed that question and made a bold proclamation on the baseball talent in the state of Georgia.

“A lot of things I think about when I come here is because you’re in this state so much recruiting,” said Johnson. “You look around, you go this, per capita, in my opinion, and I think you could get probably all 14 coaches head coaches in the league to say; Georgia is the best state for baseball. So that was a big draw. I think the facilities now are phenomenal. But what we’re doing, what Josh is doing, it will become the best place to play this game at this level. With the commitment not only they made to the facilities but with the technology that we’re going to be able to bring in and implement, I’m huge on development. They’re behind. That’s what they were looking for.”

Georgia is well-represented when it comes to Major League Baseball players. Players like Hunter Gaddis, Cole Waiters, CJ Abrams, and ace pitcher Adam Wainwright are just a handful of Major League players that call Georgia home. But instead of players representing the Peach State properly in MLB, Johnson wants them to do so at the college level at the state’s most prestigious athletic institution. And the additions that the Georgia athletic department is bringing to their baseball program will surely help him in that venture.

“I tell people all the time; you got to be careful (with) too generic programming, (and) generic development, players will get lost. You’ll just lose them. And so when I heard the fact that we’re doing the $45 million upgrade and we want the technology, I mean that was, yeah, it was a perfect match right there.”

There appear to be a lot of things that were in play when Johnson made his decision to leave LSU and head to Georgia. But one of the main things he looks forward to doing is keeping homegrown talent within the state. And given the amount the Georgia athletic department is willing to invest in their baseball program, Johnson could immediately succeed in that challenge.