Jay Johnson explains how he’ll use his past Omaha experience to guide LSU

LSU head coach Jay Johnson has brought the Tigers back to the promise land on Omaha in just his second season on the job. After a two-game sweep of this weekend in Baton Rouge, LSU has clinched its first College World Series appearance since 2017.

Three LSU players who have already played in Omaha thanks to experiences at their previous schools — right-handed pitcher Bryce Collins, left-handed pitcher Riley Cooper, right-handed pitcher Christian Little — but everyone else on the team will be making their first trip to the College World Series.

However, Johnson has coached, and succeed, in Omaha.

“I think for tonight they have to enjoy this tonight,” Johnson said after Sunday’s 8-3 win over the Wildcats. “Like tomorrow morning I’ll be guns blazing: Who are we playing; what day are we playing; what time; practices lined up at Creighton and all those types of things. I think you want them to enjoy getting to the College World Series. I mean, outside of Cooper and Bryce and Christian Little, none of these guys have been there. They need to enjoy this.”

Johnson made the College World Series twice as the head coach of Arizona. He first made the trip to Nebraska in 2016, which was first year as the coach of the program. The Wildcats made it all the way to the finals, where they lost to Coastal Carolina.

Arizona returned in 2021 after being the No. 5 overall seed in the tournament — just like LSU is this year. However, the Wildcats lost both of their games in Omaha.

“Then you start moving into the last couple of weeks haven’t been by accident,” Johnson said. “We have prepared at an elite level. I mean, the last two weeks have been awesome, like, back to training camp. January is my favorite time of year, because we’re, like, guns blazing. That’s what the last two weeks have been. We’re going to have a good practice Tuesday. Wednesday we’ll fly out there. We’ll practice there on Wednesday. Practice in the stadium on Thursday.”

After losing in the College World Series in 2021, Johnson was hired soon after by LSU. He went 208-114 in his tenure with Arizona.

The last time LSU made the College World Series in 2017, the team made the College World Series finals, where they lost to Florida.

“So enjoy all those things that come along with it,” Johnson said. “I have no worries about their self-discipline of turning it on when the lights come on. They’re salivating at the bat rack to get to the plate. Everybody wants to take the ball. And, so, I said this before, or going into last night, the things that we needed to do to win tonight are the same that won us 47 games before that. And it’s no different at — it’s not Ameritrade anymore, Charles Schwab Field. Sorry, I was about ready to say Rosenblatt.

“It’s the same things. They know what they need to do to prepare. They know what they need to be when they need to be it. And that gives me great confidence in how we’ll take the field on Saturday.”

The post Jay Johnson explains how he’ll use his past Omaha experience to guide LSU appeared first on On3.