Jay Bradley Johnson (born April 20, 1977)
is an American
baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...
coach and former second baseman, who is the current head baseball coach of the
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...
. He played
college baseball
College baseball is baseball that is played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education. In comparison to football and basketball, college competition in the United States plays a smaller role in developing professional pl ...
at
Shasta from 1997 to 1998 before transferring to
Point Loma Nazarene
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene. ...
.
He then served as the head coach of the Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions (2005),
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
(2014–2015)
and the
Arizona Wildcats
The Arizona Wildcats are the sport, athletic teams that represent the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, Tucson. The Wildcats compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) NCAA Division I, Division I (NCAA Divis ...
(2016–2021).
Education
Born and raised in
Oroville, California
Oroville (''Oro'', Spanish for "Gold" and ''Ville'', French for "town") is the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. The population of the city was 15,506 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 200 ...
, Johnson graduated from
Oroville High School
Oroville High School is a public high school located in the rural north valley at the base of the Sierra Nevada foothills, about seventy miles north of Sacramento, California, United States. Founded in 1892, Oroville High School is the oldest hi ...
in 1995 and began his college baseball career at
Shasta College
Shasta College is a public community college in Redding, California, with branch campuses in Burney, Weaverville, and Red Bluff. It was founded in 1950 and later moved to a much larger campus while the original campus became the new locatio ...
, a junior college in
Redding, California
Redding is the economic and cultural capital of the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California and the county seat of Shasta County. Redding lies along the Sacramento River, north of Sacramento, and south of California's northern border wi ...
, in 1997.
After two years at Shasta, Johnson transferred to
Point Loma Nazarene
Point Loma Nazarene University (PLNU) is a private Christian liberal arts college with its main campus on the Point Loma oceanfront in San Diego, California, United States. It was founded in 1902 as a Bible college by the Church of the Nazarene. ...
in the 1998–99 school year to complete his college career. A second baseman and starter in the 1999 and 2000 seasons, he hit .326 for the Sea Lions as a senior.
Coaching career
While completing his bachelor's degree in physical education, Johnson became an assistant coach at Point Loma Nazarene in 2001 and remained an assistant coach after graduating before being promoted to head coach for the 2005 season.
Johnson led the Sea Lions to a #6 national ranking in the
NAIA and a division championship.
On August 23, 2005, Johnson became an assistant coach at the
University of San Diego
The University of San Diego (USD) is a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Chartered in July 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University (comprising the College for Men and Schoo ...
. The Toreros won three
West Coast Conference
The West Coast Conference (WCC) — known as the California Basketball Association from 1952 to 1956 and then as the West Coast Athletic Conference until 1989 — is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I consisting of ...
championships and made four appearances in the
NCAA Division I Baseball Championship
The NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is held each year from May through June and features 64 college baseball teams in the United States, culminating in the eight-team Men's College World Series at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Omaha, Nebr ...
with Johnson on staff.
On June 28, 2013,
Nevada
Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
announced that Johnson would take over as head coach.
In two seasons at Nevada, Johnson guided the Wolf Pack to a 72–42 record. In 2015, Nevada posted a 41–15 record and captured the school's first-ever Mountain West title with a 22–7 mark in league play. The Wolf Pack was ranked in the top 25 for much of the season and totaled a 13–1 record in series of at least three games. The 41 overall wins ranked second in program history. In 2015 Johnson was named Mountain West Coach of the Year.
In 2016 Johnson guided the wildcats to a seventh appearance in the College World Series where they ended up falling to Coastal Carolina in the championship series.
On June 24, 2021, Johnson left Arizona to become the head coach of the
LSU Tigers
The LSU Tigers and Lady Tigers are the athletic teams representing Louisiana State University (LSU), a state university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. LSU competes in Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) as a ...
.
Head coaching record
Below is a table of Johnson's yearly records as an NCAA head baseball coach.
See also
*
List of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches
The following is a list of current NCAA Division I baseball coaches. Currently, 297 programs compete at the Division I level in NCAA college baseball. Each program employs a head coach. The longest-tenured head coach is Tony Rossi, who has been ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jay
1977 births
Living people
Baseball second basemen
Shasta Knights baseball players
Nevada Wolf Pack baseball coaches
Sportspeople from Oroville, California
Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions baseball coaches
Point Loma Nazarene Sea Lions baseball players
San Diego Toreros baseball coaches
Baseball coaches from Nevada
Baseball coaches from California
Arizona Wildcats baseball coaches
LSU Tigers baseball coaches