Wes Johnson introduced as new Georgia baseball coach, details plan of action in Athens

ATHENS, Ga. — A little over a week ago, Georgia announced Wes Johnson as its next head baseball coach. Still acting as the LSU pitching coach for the Tigers as they make their way to the College World Series, one can imagine what the schedule looks like having to balance both responsibilities. Imagine no longer.

“I wake up really early, I go to bed really late and I drink a lot of caffeine in the middle,” Johnson joked with reporters on Tuesday during his introductory press conference in Athens. “I actually sat down and wrote out my days, how they need to look because I’m trying to lead those young men to a national title.”

First things first, his focus is on the duty that lies nearest in Baton Rouge. He wakes up and works on LSU game prep, breaking down film of his pitchers and other teams before taking a break to work on the Bulldogs. Johnson said he’s made it a point to speak with every player – some multiple times – to get to know what he’ll be working with when he arrives at Georgia.

“I want to get in there and talk to all of them and that takes time,” Johnson said. “Those phone conversations aren’t quick. They last a good 30 minutes. I want them asking me questions because I want to get to know them.”

That’s the gist of what an average day in the life of Johnson has looked like the last eight days. It’s been a lot of time split between the Tigers and Bulldogs, but it’s a challenge that Johnson certainly has enjoyed.

“It will become the best place to play this game at this level,” Johnson said. “With the commitment that they’ve not only made to the facilities but the technology that we’re going to be able to bring in and implement, they’re behind that. That’s what they were looking for.”

Johnson described himself as “huge on development.” That shows in his time as a pitching coach. This season, he’s helped turn LSU right hander Paul Skenes into a National Player of the Year candidate and potential No. 1 overall pick in this summer’s MLB Draft. On his career, he’s worked with 30 pitchers that have gone on to pitch at the professional level. However, to Johnson, every player is different. He believes that Georgia’s investment into baseball will help make that even more possible in Athens.

“I tell people all the time, you’ve got to be careful with generic programming and generic development,” Johnson said. “Players will get lost. You’ll lose them. So, when I heard the fact that we’re doing the $45 million upgrade and we want the technology, that was a perfect match right there.”

“Players today, when you make a change, it better be one hundred percent objective,” Johnson added. “They’ve got this cool thing called an iPhone and there’s this cool thing called Google and they can look it up and see if you’re right or wrong. As I’ve talked to all of our players and told them when I first met with them, when we make changes it’s going to be objective. It’s not going to be subjective. It’s not going to be, ‘My eye doesn’t like the way your swing looks.’ If it’s working, we’re going to go with it and enhance that process. So that’s what data does for you, and data helps you build that relationship with a player. When you make an objective change and they see the results, the buy in becomes higher. There’s a lot of people who say, ‘If you want to get better, you better measure it.’ We’re going to be measuring a lot.”

Johnson saw first hand what Georgia’s roster was made of this season when LSU came to Athens for the last series of the regular season. The Bulldogs gave the Tigers all they could handle in the opener, taking a top-10 team to 12 inning before falling 8-5. Then, after another loss on Friday night, Georgia bounced back on Senior Day to win the regular season finale and secure their spot in the SEC Tournament. The Bulldogs would fall in the first round to South Carolina, ending their season with a 29-27 record overall and 11-19 mark in the SEC.

That being said, there’s talent on the roster. Johnson is aware that he’s going to have to keep some players from transferring while pulling others out of the portal to add to the team. That’s the reality of college sports in 2023. However, he feels confident that he could work with what’s already in place and make it better.

One way to make it better is by recruiting, and in the state of Georgia, that shouldn’t be much of a problem. Johnson knows the Peach State is full of prospects. He’s got to fend off the rest of the SEC to land them though.

“I’ve coached and recruited for a long time, and if you’re going to be any good, you come to the state of Georgia,” Johnson said. “They’ve got phenomenal baseball players here. So I’ve developed a lot of relationships with coaches here over the years. 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, and we will enhance those even more.”

“There’s a lot of things that I think about in coming here. You look around and you could probably get all 14 head coaches in the league to say that Georgia is the best state for baseball. That was a big draw.”

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Despite that fact that he’s going to be a first time head coach, Johnson feels ready for the job. He believes that his experience working at all levels of baseball – high school, college and professional – has helped prepare him for what’s ahead.

“I’m ready now,” Johnson said. “I’ve had some opportunities at smaller places over the years. You get to the big leagues and the game is so fast. You understand how hard it is to maintain the level that those guys are at. As I went through there and running the defensive side of the ball, the pitching, the bullpen and winning back to back AL Central titles and making it to the playoffs, the knowledge that I gained from that, you might learn in 10 years doing what I’m doing right now and I was fortunate enough to do it in three and a half.”

“With anybody, you want to be at the highest level that you can be at and have a chance to be as successful as possible at that level. I think a lot about how fast paced this is, and that’s the way it should be. I don’t think it’s a marathon, I just think it’s a sprint that doesn’t have a finish line,” Johnson added. “You’ve got to wake up and sprint every day, and that’s something I like to do. My wife could speak to that. That’s just the way I’m wired. So, I enjoy it and I want to be around the best players. This league is that, and you learn more – I probably learned more from players in the big leagues than they learned from me. I’ve learned more from Paul Skenes than Paul Skenes has learned from me. If you get around great people and great players, you’re going to learn a lot, and so I don’t want to lose that. I want to constantly be learning.”

As Georgia athletics director Josh Brooks said in his introduction of Johnson – and others that have spent even more time around him attest to as well – the Bulldogs were looking for not only a great coach but also a great person and a great leader of young men. Johnson seems to be that guy, and his approach to creating a strong culture at Georgia is clear.

“The short answer is this: when you get guys together and you paint the vision, the first step you’ve got to have is you’ve got to think you can do it. You’ve got to believe, and then you’ve got to go get it,” Johnson said. “… I’ve said this, there’s one things that the team who wins the national title will do more than anybody else this year, and that will be high five each other. Right? So, that’s how we’re going to do it. We’re going to do it with consistency, we’re going to do it by showing up and everyone knowing that every single day everybody is trying to get better, when we get in that locker room the goals start to come together. I told them, we’re going to high five more than anybody next year. That’s our plan.”

“At the end of the day, it comes down to this: are you going to be so invested in the University of Georgia and the Georgia Baseball program that when you put that G on, you’re ready to go? You’re ready to do things that you may never have thought you could do before, but when you look back, you go, ‘Wow! That was actually enjoyable even though it was hard.’ That’s what I’m looking for. I’m looking for people who, when they put it on, they’re ready to go and know that they’re not only representing themself but they’re representing the University and a great baseball program that is going to do some things that haven’t been done here in a while.”