Jay Johnson shares foundation of LSU baseball program

Expectations are high for LSU baseball this season. Head coach Jay Johnson found his team with a preseason No. 1 ranking next to their name on Opening Day. Between a talented roster returning and the Tigers’ use of the NCAA transfer portal, a trip to Omaha will be wanted by the fanbase.

Johnson knows a deep run is expected but the end result is not so simple. He is attempting to teach his team about what takes place in the middle. LSU needs to understand how to perform well and get to where you want to be. In other words, put in the required work and trust the process.

“Expectations for us are real simple,” Johnson said. “It’s maximum effort towards preparation and executing for what the game requires for the team to be successful. The player can’t do that if they don’t know what to do… Most people know what to do. They key is how to do it for the player. We had a great fall practice session.

“We were able to play 23 times in that fall segment. So, they players got exposed. So what you do with that is take where they are, take where you want them to get to and go. And then the middle part of that is important, the how to do it. They need to know what to do and then you have to lay out of plan for how they do that.”

LSU players taking self-ownership with work ethic

With the way college baseball works, coaches are not allowed to spend a ton of time with their team in the winter. If there are going to be any kind of workouts or practices, everything must be player-led. And when you have expectations for a team such as LSU, the buy-in can be crucial.

Johnson talked about how mature his team is, really grinding over the month of December. Having a good program means players are willing to improve on their own time. LSU has exactly that with the 2023 team.

“A lot of that is self-ownership,” Johnson said. “Not that I was counting but we didn’t get to be with them for 53 straight days. The ownership of them taking their strength and conditioning, their throwing programs as pitchers to be healthy, the developmental work of where they need to get to — was exceptional.

“There’s a lot of guys that barely went home for Christmas. That tells you the maturity of that. We’re operating in a way that’s very professional.”

Players wanting to work on their own is not something that’s always given. Johnson believes everyone has to learn the importance of buy-in. Whether it’s an older player falling short in years prior or a young pup following their lead — there is a maturity curve.

“Sometimes, guys have to mature into that and then once they get a taste of what that looks like and what it requires to perform at the level they’re going to perform, then sometimes they make the jump,” Johnson said.

Jay Johnson seeing players from last year help fresh faces

Johnson was in Year One last season, guiding LSU to a Super Regional. The foundation was just being set to bring baseball greatness back to Baton Rouge. Fortunately for Johnson, some players from last season have carried over into this year and the example is being set.

“When I talk about building off a foundation and building this program where — not just working on your own but working on your own properly and on the right things — can really elevate you as a player,” Johnson said. “I’ve seen a lot of that…

“That’s one way you could say last year impacted this year… For the guys that were on last year’s team that are still here, they’ve set a really good example for that.”

LSU is reaping the benefits of the offseason early in 2023. Saturday was the first loss of the season, dropping a game to Iowa in Round Rock. However, five straight wins were rattled off before then. Plenty more will be expected along the way as well.