The Arizona Wildcats have found their replacement for Andy Lopez.
Jay Johnson, the head baseball coach at Nevada the past two seasons, has been named the next head man of Arizona. Athletic director Greg Byrne announced the hire Sunday night on Twitter.
“Looking forward to introducing our new head baseball coach @UACoachJ at a 1 pm press conference on Monday. #BearDown,” Byrne wrote with an attached photo of he and Johnson.
He followed that up with: “I hope everyone will welcome @UACoachJ to the Arizona family. #BearDown.”
Johnson, 38, went 72-42 in his two seasons with Nevada and led the Wolf Pack to a 41-15 season this year.
Before he took over at Nevada, Johnson was an assistant at the University of San Diego for eight seasons. There, he served as the hitting coach and recruiting coordinator and helped USD land future phenom Kris Bryant, who is now playing third base in his rookie season for the Chicago Cubs.
Johnson also spent one season as the head coach at Point Loma Nazarene in California in 2005 and led the school to a 37-16 record. He was an assistant there in 2004. Johnson graduated from Point Loma in 2001 and later received a master’s degree from Azusa Pacific.
Johnson was identified as one of the original candidates for the job when Lopez retired. A week later, Nevada athletic director Doug Knuth said the school was beginning to work on a contract extension for Johnson, who was named the Mountain West Conference coach of the year this season.
“We think Jay’s done a great job and my goal is to make sure Jay’s happy here for as long as we can possibly keep him around,” Knuth told the Reno Gazette Journal last week. “We hope that’s a long, long time. That’s my goal.”
At that point, Knuth hadn’t heard from Arizona or any other schools with an inquiry to interview his coach.
“I haven’t talked to anyone, but it hasn’t surprised me that schools are going to take a long look at Jay Johnson,” Knuth said. “He’s done a phenomenal job for us and frankly he’s a good person. In any sport at any university, he’s exactly what you want. I would not be surprised at all if somebody contacts us or investigates it or wants to talk to Jay because of the job he’s done here. He’s been terrific.”
The Gazette Journal reported Johnson made $117,480 at Nevada last season. He will surely see a raise with the Wildcats.
The Wolf Pack went 31-27 in Johnson’s first season after going 25-32 the year before he arrived.
During his time at San Diego, the Toreros made six trips to the NCAA tournament and won four West Coast Conference titles. The coach has a strong reputation as a recruiter in Nevada, Arizona and most importantly, Southern California. He played a role in landing Bryant out of high school in Las Vegas. Bryant went on to win the Dick Howser Award, which is given to the top player in college baseball.
His former boss at USD, Rich Hill, told the Gazette Journal when Johnson was hired at Nevada that the coach’s recruiting ability is what separated him from other coaches.
“There are a lot of guys who look exactly like him,” Hill told the newspaper. “They all have really cool haircuts and a nice polo and great tennis shoes and they’re all taking notes at these recruiting events. But Jay is different because he can do the same thing as everybody else, but he can get players to commit, and that’s where he separates himself. He’s extremely gifted with recruits, guys that age group, and their parents.”
Hill also credited Johnson for being one of the primary teachers in Bryant’s development.
Johnson, who grew up in Oroville, California, will take over for Lopez, who led Arizona for 14 seasons and won the College World Series in 2012. Lopez, 61, announced his retirement on Memorial Day.
It didn’t take long for Lopez to offer his thoughts on the hire — also on Twitter: “Congratulations to @UACoachJ. The program is in great hands. Can’t wait to see what the future holds for #ArizonaBaseball. #BearDown.”
Predictably, Byrne has been quiet about the search and took just short of two weeks to find his coach.
