LSU baseball coach [autotag]Jay Johnson[/autotag] is focusing on the transfer portal and recruiting trail after his national title defense team fell short in the Chapel Hill Regional.
However, that may not be all that’s on Johnson’s radar. He has been connected to a potential opening at Texas, which is yet to fire coach David Pierce though that has been rumored for some time now.
D1Baseball managing editor Kendall Rogers told ESPN’s Matt Moscona that while he doesn’t think Johnson would leave, he does expect that he would be the top target of a potential Texas search were that job to open.
“They’re gonna shoot their shot…” 👀 @KendallRogers joined AFR with @MattMoscona and said he expects Texas 🤘 will pursue Jay Johnson if they move on from David Pierce. ⚾️ pic.twitter.com/Tck62avqZM
— 104.5 ESPN (@1045espn) June 7, 2024
Johnson addressed those rumors head on during his press conference on Tuesday, and while he didn’t directly say he wouldn’t be interested, he reiterated that he’s happy to be at LSU, where he won a national title in his second season in 2023.
“I have not been contacted and contractually if I was to be contacted (AD) Scott Woodward would be the first person who knows because that’s what it says in my contract, and I’m very thankful to be here. Excited about where we’re heading. It’s going to look a bit different than I thought like 18 months ago, but that’s OK.
“Like I said, I think I’m built for this job incredibly well because you’re just going to face a lot of bullets coming at you. And as I told you guys, we’re not in Omaha but there was nobody better positioned to help us get through what we did than me, and that’s exactly what happened. And I’m not saying it’s because of me, but I feel like I’m very well-positioned to help LSU… And that’s where my focus is at.”
#LSU baseball ⚾ coach Jay Johnson comments on Paul Mainieri to South Carolina.
He also answers whether he's been contacted about the Texas job. @LSUCoachJ @LSUbaseball pic.twitter.com/qa6im8ScFo
— Mike Scarborough (@ScarboroughMike) June 11, 2024
It seems highly unlikely that Johnson would leave one of the top baseball programs in the nation, even for a job like Texas. But if the Longhorns ultimately choose to move on from Pierce, expect that Johnson’s name will at least be mentioned during the search.
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