Jay Johnson named 2023 ABCA Coach of the Year

It simply couldn’t have been any more magical of a 2023 campaign for LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson. After all, in just his second year in Baton Rouge, he guided the Tigers to their seventh national crown in school history. Not only was it impressive that LSU went out and accomplished what so many expected them to do this season, but it was the way in which they got it done. There were plenty of dramatics and clutch plays that kept their national title run alive. On Sunday afternoon, Jay Johnson added yet another piece of hardware to his trophy case, earning 2023 ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) National Coach of the Year honors.

Check out the tweet from LSU baseball below.

Congratulations to @LSUCoachJ on being named the 2023 ABCA Coach of the Year!

🔗 https://t.co/EIuQnfcDIS pic.twitter.com/52LqK5IKmF

— LSU Baseball (@LSUbaseball) July 2, 2023

The ABCA Award marks Johnson’s second 2023 National Coach of the Year award he’s won this year, as he also won the same award from Collegiate Baseball last week.

LSU was the nation’s No. 1 team for the first 12 weeks of the 2023 season and the Tigers finished the year atop the college baseball world. You can read more about the award and LSU’s magical season in their press release.

Cade Beloso thinks Jay Johnson is just getting started

For more on the Tigers’ run to their seventh national crown and why Cade Beloso thinks this is just the first of many for LSU head coach Jay Johnson, check out this article by On3’s Griffin McVeigh.

The long wait for LSU baseball fans is finally over. Monday night was national championship No. 7 for the program and the first since 2009. Head coach Jay Johnson promised to bring one home when he was hired away from Arizona. Now, just two years later, Johnson delivered on his word.

But nobody thinks the run is going to end for LSU here. College World Series championship series Game 1 hero Cade Beloso says this is just the beginning for the Tigers under Johnson. Beloso believes due to Johnson’s love of the game, many more runs in Omaha are on the way.

“This guy just loves baseball so much,” Beloso said. “There’s not a person in the room that cares more about LSU, cares more about the game of baseball, more about people than this guy sitting to the right of me. This program is so lucky to have Coach Jay Johnson. They’ll have to build a new intimidator for what he’s about to do. He’s not stopping, I promise that.”

Paul Mainieri was previously in charge, winning the ’09 title. In the following 12 seasons, LSU made the College World Series just three times. A championship series loss to Florida in 2017 was in there as well, being the furthest the Tigers made it.

Athletic director Scott Woodward decided to make a change and brought Johnson in. Beloso was a player who played under both head coaches. He gives credit to Johnson for the culture change he installed, getting LSU over the hump after just two seasons.

“It’s just the culture change,” Beloso said. “We don’t really like to throw around the word ‘culture’ but we’re a group of hardworking guys that are never going to stop and are always going the keep playing through good things, bad things, et cetera. I think that’s what changed the most.”

When LSU takes the field next season, the squad is going to look different. Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews will be preparing for their first full seasons as professionals. And then veteran players such as Beloso will be out of eligibility.

Everyone believes Johnson will have the ability to reload though. Tommy White will return for his junior year and become the program’s leader. We know how aggressive Johnson can be in the NCAA transfer portal.

Beloso believes this is not the end for LSU baseball, this is just the beginning.

On3’s Griffin McVeigh also contributed to this article.