Skip Johnson on Oklahoma's expectations: We always expect to win the title

Oklahoma holds its baseball program to a high standard. Reasonably so, the softball team is in the midst of a dynasty and just won the 2022 championship while the baseball team has a long history of success. The Sooners excel on the diamond.

In that sense, winning the softball crown and coming in runner-up in baseball has to be considered a monumentally successful season for the tandem as a whole. However, OU baseball coach Skip Johnson feels his team didn’t meet their yearly expectation. Which is: win the whole thing. Not come in second. Read below what Johnson had to say in full regarding his team’s expectations and takeaways given the result. And also, what he learned from his former mentor.

Johnson’s comments

“Well, our expectation is always to win a national championship. That’s not ever going to dwell on — as soon as we practice every day, that’s what we’re going to talk about.

“What I learned from Coach [Augie] Garrido is one pitch at a time and understanding what the moment does to — the environment does to kids and to try to be in control of themselves one pitch at a time because really that’s what the game demands you to do, and the game demands you to be a good teammate, too, and play as hard as you can.

“I’m thankful for my time with Coach Garrido. There’s no doubt about that. I love the University of Oklahoma and what it represents. It’s like a family environment. That’s what’s awesome about it.”

Johnson was then asked if he is able to appreciate the run as a whole despite a sour ending. Here was his answer:

“No, not really. I wanted to win the national championship. That’s what my goal was. It’ll continue to be my goal. You and John, y’all fueled us a lot all year long with the tweets about us, the last place team in the SEC. I wanted to wait until the end and tell you I appreciated that, and so did every player on our team.”

Never satisfied without the championship trophy. Skip Johnson refuses to appreciate second place.