LAFAYETTE, La. β A year ago Tuesday, Arizona athletic director Greg Byrne announced the hiring of Jay Johnson as the Wildcatsβ baseball coach.
The program hasnβt been the same since.
In a yearβs time, Johnson has revitalized Arizona baseball. For the first time since 2012, when they won the College World Series, the Wildcats are in the postseason and playing in a Super Regional. The UA will face No. 6 national seed Mississippi State in a best-of-three series starting Friday in Starkville, Mississippi.
Johnsonβs first acts as coach included contacting every returning and incoming player to reassure them that Tucson was the place to be to play college baseball.
βHe told me that this was going to be the best baseball experience of my life β that the baseball part was going to be taken care of, and it was going to be fun. Those words could not be any truer,β said junior shortstop Louis Boyd, whoβs in his first year at Arizona after transferring from Cochise College.
βHeβs a great coach to play for. I couldnβt imagine wanting to play for anybody else but him. I was a little thrown off by the coaching change, as Iβm sure a lot of people were, especially coming in my first year. And I couldnβt be happier.β
Johnson would rather not talk about himself, shifting the credit to his players and the narrative to the next game on the schedule. But before departing from the scene of Arizonaβs dramatic comeback triumph in the Lafayette Regional and heading to Starkville, Johnson took a few minutes to discuss Year 1 with the Star.
Youβve been on the job for a year. Have you taken any time to reflect on your first year at Arizona?
A: βFirst off, being here has been probably one of the greatest blessings in my life. I donβt think this is the time to dwell on how far weβve come (or) how fast. Iβm proud of it. At the same time, weβre ready to attack this opportunity, and thatβs all Iβm allowing myself to think about.
βIt was kind of strange last night. It was almost like, βWow, the gameβs really over.β It was so pitch-to-pitch and not looking up. I felt that from our staff. We impressed that upon our players. And they were rewarded for that.β
How has the experience compared to what you were expecting?
A: βI donβt know that I had any expectation of what it would be like, other than it would be a challenge. I love that. I embrace it. Thereβs 16 teams in the country still playing college baseball as of today. Itβs pretty exciting that Arizona is one of them. Iβm very happy for these players to get to experience this.β
When youβre picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12 and havenβt made the tournament since 2012 β and then you do and you advance β people will say youβre ahead of schedule. Do you agree with that? Did you have a schedule?
A: βNo. I want to win a national championship worse than I want to breathe. I believe the University of Arizona provides that opportunity. With that being said, it is extremely difficult. Youβre looking at teams that win the national championship in our sport (and) donβt make the postseason the next year. And in Arizonaβs case, the next three years. Thatβs just a testament to how many good coaches, good players and good programs are out there.
βWe will continue to try to take care of details on a daily basis as good as we possibly can. I have a lot of peace of mind knowing that everybody in our program does that on a daily basis.β
You said youβre only thinking about Mississippi State and the next game right now. But whatβs your vision for this program moving forward?
A: βI think weβre living it out right now, and thatβs cool. Itβs great for a couple reasons. No. 1, the players that are in the program right now really deserve this. The way theyβve revealed their character to our coaching staff is one of the most gratifying experiences Iβve had in my life. Itβs good (for) where we want to take it.
βItβs not easy. There are so many components of it: the draft, the competition, the outside distractions. Itβs really, as boring as it sounds, a one-pitch, one-day-at-a-time mentality. I really believe in that. And I believe if we can stick to that, we can have future success. But itβs pretty fun to see that in a one-year time frame, that committing to that, some remarkable things have been achieved.β