Wes Johnson, Georgia agree to contract extension after strong first season

Georgia baseball coach Wes Johnson is set to be in Athens for the foreseeable future. UGA Athletics announced on Wednesday that the head coach has received a contract extension through 2030 after a successful first season.

The Bulldogs went 43-17 overall with a 17-13 mark in the SEC, establishing new school records for most overall wins and most SEC wins by a first-year baseball coach. Johnson also became the first Georgia baseball coach to host and win an NCAA Regional in his first season on the job as his squad took down Army, UNC-Wilmington and Georgia Tech to advance to the Super Regionals. It marked UGA’s first time out of the regionals since 2008, and the Bulldogs fell just one game shy of a trip to the College World Series in Omaha.

It wasn’t just team success that Georgia fans were able to witness in 2024. Individually, Charlie Condon put together one of the greatest seasons in college baseball history as he became the first player in program history to win the Golden Spikes Award and the Dick Howser Trophy. Condon led the nation in batting average (.433) and slugging percentage (1.009), all while setting a new NCAA mark for single-season home runs in the BBCOR era with 37. He is widely projected as an early selection in the 2024 MLB Draft and is in consideration to go in the top overall spot.

“This past season is one we will always remember,” Georgia director of athletics Josh Brooks shared in a statement. “It is a testament to the tremendous work that Coach Johnson and his staff did — and continue to do — in developing our student-athletes both on and off the field. Today is another great day for our program as we look to the future and watch Georgia baseball continue to excel under his leadership.”

“I’d like to thank Josh Brooks, President Jere Morehead, and all our fans for their commitment to Georgia Baseball,” said Johnson. “We’ve received tremendous support, and if you drive by Foley Field right now, you can see the $45 million renovation currently underway that will enhance our program and help lead us to more success in the future.”

Johnson’s name had been mentioned as a potential candidate for the opening at Texas, and the subsequent void at Texas A&M after Jim Schlossnagle’s departure. Increase compensation is part of his extension agreement as Georgia looks to carry the momentum gained in 2024 into the future – already adding several talented pieces to next year’s roster by way of high school recruiting and the transfer portal.

“This game is really hard. We’ve moved in the right direction, but we have to continue to go out and recruit, as we have been already, to continue to get good quality players in here that fit our ballpark and what we’re trying to do,” Johnson said after Georgia’s Super Regional Game 3 loss to NC State, ending the season. “If you do that, especially now with the way things go in the transfer portal and the different things, you should put yourself every year to somewhat have some success, but success if defined a lot of ways.”

“As I tell our players, there’s always another level. I used to tell big-leaguers, there’s this guy named Nolan Ryan, right? He’s got seven no-hitters. I guess if you throw your eighth no-hitter in the big leagues, there’s not another level,” he added. “With that being said, if you’re not trying to improve every aspect of your program every year, then to me, you go backwards really fast. I’ve said this, you won’t ever find another Charlie Condon, at least in my time, in my coaching career. There will be another one come along probably after I’m dead and gone, but you’re lucky if you coach Charlie Condons once every 10 years. You’re extremely lucky. To go out and say you’re going to find another one of him is crazy. You just have to go out and you have to, maybe next year, depending on what you have, you do it a little more with speed, you do it a little more with pitching. I think this year our pitchers grew phenomenally from where we started day one. You started to see, we were a little tired there towards the end. Their heart was in the right spot but their stuff continued to get better throughout. They gave us all they had. Couldn’t be more proud of those guys than I am right now.”