Wes Johnson breaks down his plan to attack recruiting within the state of Georgia

For new Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson to succeed as the leader of the Bulldogs program, he knows that he is going to have to recruit well in-state.

Georgia is loaded with high school talent, but the Bulldogs didn’t keep enough of their top players at home under former coach Scott Stricklin.

Johnson doesn’t expect that to be a problem now that he is running the program.

“Here’s a fun fact, I was born in Atlanta, Georgia,” Johnson said, when asked if he has ties to the state. “So I know the area well. Know a lot of the coaches. Obviously I’ve coached and recruited for a long time. If you’re going to be any good, you come to the state of Georgia. They’ve got phenomenal baseball players here.”

Wes Johnson is taking over the Georgia program after serving this season as the LSU pitching coach. Prior to that, he was the Twins pitching coach for four seasons.

LSU’s pitching staff has been excellent this season as the Tigers have reached the College World Series. Ace Paul Skenes has led the way, but junior Ty Floyd out of Georgia has also been very good. Johnson plans to use the fact that Floyd is from Georgia as a part of his recruiting pitch for in-state players.

“I’ve recruited a lot of players out of Georgia. I’m coaching one right now who’s going to be a first-rounder at LSU from right outside of Atlanta – Ty Floyd. A lot of ties and connections here. We will enhance those even more,” Johnson said. “So yea, you’ve developed a lot of relationships with coaches here over years, just because they have such good baseball here in the state.”

Wes Johnson details his approach towards the transfer portal, recruiting

New Georgia head coach Wes Johnson was introduced Tuesday to the media and, unsurprisingly, the first-time head coach was asked about recruiting and the transfer portal. Of the two main roster building approaches, Johnson said he likes more traditional recruiting.

However, he knows the importance of the transfer portal.

“Unfortunately the way the game is going — not only in our sport but in all sports — you’re gonna have to be active in the portal,” Johnson said. “It’s just is what it is. I’m more so-so on that side of things. But when you look at recruiting, anytime facilities are improved it should help. But at the end of the day, we should be selling a product and we are selling a product that shows that we’re not only going (to) develop them on the baseball field — and we’re going to do it better than anybody in the country — but we’re developing them as men, as student athletes.”