Quick Chat: Wes Johnson

By John Frierson
Staff Writer

Wes Johnson has had a lot of stops in his coaching career. Georgia's Ike Cousins Head Baseball Coach didn't plan it that way, he just evaluated opportunities as they came his way, starting with his first job at Sylvan Hills (Ark.) High School, back in 1997.

Georgia will be Johnson's first collegiate head coaching job, but he's no stranger to the SEC. Since 2016, he's been the pitching coach at Mississippi State, Arkansas and LSU, with a stint with the Minnesota Twins in there, as well. June was a big month for Johnson, who after being hired by the Bulldogs, finished out the season at LSU — a season that ended with a national championship and a Tigers pitcher, Paul Skenes, selected first in the Major League Baseball Draft.

A native of Sherwood, Ark., Johnson played at the University of Arkansas Monticello. After a couple of assistant coaching jobs, he was the head coach at Abundant Life High School in his hometown from 2004-07 before beginning his collegiate coaching career as the pitching coach at Central Arkansas in 2008.

Georgia is the eighth collegiate program he's worked for and the 12th stop overall in his career. On Friday, Johnson and the Bulldogs begin their first fall practice together.

During a Quick Chat on Thursday, Johnson talked about his coaching career, what kind of player he was, his favorite baseball movie, and much more. Here's some of what he had to say:

Frierson: How has the transition to Georgia and the head coaching job been? You're used to new stops, but this is a new chapter in your career.

Johnson: This one is a little different than my other ones, just because of the move and recruiting. Recruiting's always on. I was finishing the season with LSU, but I also had to be looking at recruiting.

The transition's been fast [laughs]. We joke around here: "What time is it? It's 8 p.m." That's how fast we feel like we go every day. It's like, we're here at the start of the day, and then the next time anybody looks at their watch, it's already 8 o'clock. It's been fast, days go by quick, I guess in a good way. You wish it could slow down so you could pack more into it, but we're off to a good start.

Getting the foundation laid has been good, but the transition will truly happen maybe late November or early December. Right now, it's just get up and go.

Frierson: When you first started coaching, did you have any kind of plan for where you wanted your career to go?

Johnson: I always just wanted to see players get better — and win. I didn't have this plan of one day sitting in this chair as the head coach at the University of Georgia. Back then it was, OK, let's try to get this team as good as we can — and win. Let's try to get out players better and build some momentum with our program.

That leads into other things. I've never been this guy that's constantly seeking out a job. Just put your head down, work really hard, try to be really good where you're at, and if it's good enough, people are going to call. And that's what's happened.

Frierson: Do you like the challenge of starting somewhere new and trying to build something?

Johnson: I think life tells you about your stops. I'm a big man of faith, so I'm going to take into account, for me, what the Lord has for me. I'm going to pray about those things, and at the end of the day, and I don't mean this to sound arrogant, I really haven't ever applied for a job. You put your head down, you go to work, and somebody calls you. Then you have to reevaluate with your family and decide if that move's going to be good for you, and if the opportunity is better or if it fits your family better.

If the answer is yes, then we move on. If it's not, we stay where we're at. That's kind of how I've approached my life and the way I do things.

I think that staying at one place too long can hamper a coach. Now that I'm here at Georgia, I'm able to reflect back, and I've been around some special coaches. Dave Van Horn, for example, at Arkansas; my time in the big leagues with guys like Rocco Baldelli, Jayce Tingler and Tommy Watkins. I could go on and on about some of these guys that probably the college game doesn't know how good of a baseball coach these guys are.

Obviously last year, working with Jay (Johnson, LSU's head coach), or working with Dan Heefner at Dallas Baptist — being able to take bits and pieces from each one of those guys, I think it helps you. For me, I'm able to draw on a lot of things in different situations.

Frierson: How would you describe yourself as a player?

Johnson: Just a little [laughs] gritty. Obviously I'm not the biggest guy in the world, and I say it all the time, and other coaches have said it too: big, fast players beat little, fast players. I had one tool, I could run, and I could play different things. I was just an athlete, and my day in the sun's long gone. I was fortunate to play in college on a really good team. My junior year, we won our conference, won our conference tournament.

I grew up playing a lot of different sports, and when you get into that sport, you've got to go. It's almost like you're playing catch-up, because you've been in football or whatever else it is. I think, looking at my baseball career, if I would have not played as much football, I could have been even better. But I don't want to take back the time I played football. I don't wish I hadn't played football, but I do know that it would have helped me be even a better baseball player than I was.

I just played whatever the team needed. That was the mentality back then. You needed to play a position you weren't comfortable with, you just did it, because the team needed you. I think that's what people would say about me.

Frierson: What is your favorite baseball movie? And why is baseball the sport with the best movies?

Johnson: It's a passionate game, right? My favorite movie: I had a couple, but now I'm a huge "Moneyball" guy, because I think that's where the game is. I think what Oakland did back then was huge, and you can't say that the game is where it's at today without looking back at what Oakland did.

They make the best movies because the passion for the game is like no other. Things can change on a whim, and it's truly every player that's in the game affects the game. In basketball, if Georgia had Michael Jordan right now, yeah, the other four guys would be important, but there might be some nights where No. 5 in that lineup may not touch the basketball. But everybody has to hit in baseball, and there's a high probability that everybody's getting a ball that's going to matter at some point hit to them or played toward them.

(This Q&A was lightly edited for length and clarity.)

Assistant Sports Communications Director John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.

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