LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson forged a path to coaching stardom at Shasta College
LSU head baseball coach Jay Johnson expressed gratitude while reflecting on his experience living in Redding.
Johnson helped LSU capture the program's seventh NCAA College World Series title beating Florida 18-4 at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha on Monday night.
Before Johnson was crowned national champion at LSU, he was a 19-year-old Shasta College student-athlete in 1997. He played second base for the Knights before rising up as one of the country’s top college baseball coaches.
“I’m grateful for that small chapter in my life,” Johnson said after beating Florida 4-3 in Game 1 of the College Baseball World Series. “It set the stage and helped build the foundation for the success that has followed.”
Shasta College baseball coach Brad Rupert explained how Johnson charted his path to the top college coaching ranks as a freshman — he claims Johnson knew he wanted to coach, specifically at LSU.
“He told me his plans at a young age, step by step, of what he was going to do,” Rupert said. “He told me he was going to play at Point Loma Nazarene University, become an assistant, then a head coach at Point Loma, then become a Division I assistant and then a Division I head coach.”
“It’s pretty eerie when you think about it,” Rupert added.
Johnson created this vision for himself back in 1997. Now, those childhood dreams are a reality.
After his high school career, Johnson would later star at Point Loma Nazarene University, batting .326 for the Sea Lions in his senior year in 2000.
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He went on to become an assistant coach from 2001-04 before being named head coach of Point Loma Nazarene University in 2005. Johnson led the Sea Lions to a division championship and an NAIA No. 6 national ranking.
After being an assistant coach at the University of San Diego from 2006-13, he took over head coaching duties at Nevada (2014-15), Arizona (2016-21) and has led LSU since 2022.
Johnson has guided three teams to the College Baseball World Series — including two championship appearances with Arizona (2016) and LSU (2023) — accumulating an overall record of 411 wins and 211 losses in 11 seasons as a head coach.
Johnson credited his father Jerry for providing him with the foundation on how to run successful athletic programs.
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The elder Johnson led successful track programs at Oroville throughout the 1980s and won six Eastern Athletic League titles and five CIF Northern Section titles during the decade.
“It was always my dream to coach as a kid,” Johnson said. “Obviously having my father was a huge influence. I came from a blue collared family and he taught me how to work hard. It wasn’t just about understanding sports. You had to care about your players and the people around you.”
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Rupert recalled Johnson’s attention to detail as a player. For example, Johnson kept a handwritten notebook that kept the standings of each team within Shasta College’s conference.
He would also voluntarily scout against teams and drove far distances to watch games by himself. Rupert remembered running into Johnson during a game in Weed. College of the Siskiyous played Lassen College; if College of the Siskiyous won, Shasta College was in the playoffs.
“There was nothing online at that point and time,” Rupert said. “Coach Bentley and I just looked at each other and confirmed that this was a different kid. He was really into winning and doing whatever it takes.”
The stakes for LSU were at its highest Monday night receiving a record-breaking walloping 24-4 at the hands of Florida in Game 2 of the College World Series last Sunday.
Johnson has leaned on the philosophies he learned as both a player at Shasta College/Point Loma Nazarene and coach in San Diego, Arizona, Nevada and Louisiana.
“The goal of each game is to stay in character and try not to change too much,” Johnson said before Game 3.
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LSU's 2023 Golden Spikes winner outfielder Dylan Crews went 4-for-6 with a triple and an RBI while the Tigers combined for 24 hits and avenging Sunday's defeat.
Johnson knew it was going to take a collective effort to win his program's seventh national championship and his first as head coach. All 11 LSU hitters who came to bat Monday night recorded hits.
“Teams who play their role, play good defense and stick together perform better than winning off of pure talent alone,” he said.
Johnson is now a national champion, which means an integral part of LSU's success originates in Redding.
Johnson has passed along the mindset that he has used to forge his path from the fields in Redding to stadiums in Baton Rouge and Omaha.
“If you have a dream, don’t build a fence around yourself,” Johnson said. “Set goals, be deliberate and take action.”
North State baseball players coaching in the MLB or NCAA
Anderson alum Bill Plummer managed the Seattle Mariners in 1992.
LSU assistant coach Paul Wanaka was a teammate with Johnson at Shasta College. Wanaka was raised in Weaverville and attended Trinity High School.
Drew Hedman, a 2005 Shasta High School alum, is an Assistant Hitting Coach and Director of Minor League Hitting for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Aaron Westlake, who graduated from Shasta College in 2007 and led Vanderbilt to the College World Series in 2011, is the Sugar Land Space Cowboys Hitting Coach, the Houston Astros Triple-A team.
Enterprise 2017 graduate Easton Waterman is the Director of Hitting Development at Dallas Baptist University and is the current head coach for the Macon Bacon.
Ethan Hanson started working for the Redding Record Searchlight after four years with the Los Angeles Daily News as a freelancer. His coverage includes working the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament in South Bend, Indiana, and writing about the St. Louis Rams' move to Los Angeles with the Ventura County Star. He began his career as a play-by-play broadcaster for LA Pierce College from 2011-2017. Follow him on Twitter at @EthanAHanson_RS and ethan_a_hanson on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: LSU champion baseball coach Jay Johnson played at Shasta College
