Wes Johnson emphasizes the importance of building a strong culture at Georgia

New Georgia Bulldogs head baseball coach Wes Johnson knows that it’s difficult to win in the SEC. To find a way to succeed, the culture within the Georgia program is going to need to be strong.

While speaking at his introductory press conference, Johnson emphasized building that strong culture within the program.

“I’ll give you a short answer or we might not get out of here on time,” Wes Johnson told the reporter who asked about culture. “The short answer is this, when you bring guys together, and you paint the vision — you know, first step you’ve got to have is you’ve got to think you can do it and you’ve got to believe and then you go get it.”

Georgia finished the 2023 season at 29-27 and just 11-19 in SEC play. In particular, the Bulldogs struggled on the road and it’s on Johnson to start winning quickly in Athens.

“So, one of the ways that I think we do that is through our individual development plans. When everybody knows that we have a plan specific for each guy, and that we’re working to get each guy better, not just massive group of whatever where one size may try to fit all and it fits only really have the team,” Johson said.

“And when we’re having that individual relationship, you know I’ve said this, there’s one thing that the team who wins the national title will do more than anybody else this year and that will be high-five each other, right? So, that’s how we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna do it with consistency, we’re gonna do it with showing up and everybody knowing that every single day everybody’s trying to get better. When we get in that locker room the goal is start to come together. It’s like I told them, we’re gonna high-five more than anybody next year. That’s our plan.”

Georgia will be Wes Johnson’s first head coaching opportunity. Prior to that, he worked as a pitching coach at several spots, most recently at LSU where he coached players like Paul Skenes. Prior to that, he made the rare jump from MLB to college, leaving the Minnesota Twins, where he was also the pitching coach, for LSU.

Wes Johnson on the types of players he’s looking for

Wes Johnson has a specific type of player who he’s looking for at Georgia. He wants players who going to be invested in the program.

“At the end of the day, it’s going to come down to this. Are you going to be so invested in the University of Georgia and University of Georgia baseball program and when you put that ‘G’ on, you’re ready to go,” Johnson said.

“You’re ready to do things that you may never thought you could do before. But when you look back, you’re gonna go, ‘Wow, that was that was actually enjoyable, but maybe it was hard.’ That’s what I’m looking for.”