LSU hiring Jay Johnson is right up there with Bama hiring Saban!

“My biggest regret in life was leaving LSU for the NFL”

-Nick Saban

“Alabama hasn’t been to Omaha in the 21st century”

-Jay Johnson

He’s better than Saban. I look forward to the dynasty

Bear-Saban
Skip-Jay

I think the comparisons will be talked about in 15 years.

I'll be honest. I thought LSU dropped the ball hiring Jay Johnson over not bringing in a fleet of Brinks trucks to poach Tony Vitello. And maybe LSU tried to poach Vitello but was unsuccessful, we won't know. I thought Vitello was by far the best coach in college baseball.

After watching LSU this year, I believe I was wrong. Don't misunderstand though, prior to the 2025 CWS title, I still though Jay Johnson was a top 5 college baseball coach, I just thought Vitello was in a different tier.

I was skeptical of Jay Johnson in his first year, 2022, he seemed to make lots of weird in-game coaching decisions that year.

In the 2023 title year, it felt like he caught lightning in a bottle with transfer Paul Skenes becoming the greatest pitcher on Earth out of nowhere, transfer Tommy Tanks hitting home runs at every at bat, and 3rd year phenom Dylan Crews with what felt like a 1.000 batting average. Then you sprinkle in some luck, comeback wins, and crazy elite defensive plays, and they managed to win the title.

In 2024 it seemed like the team regressed which was expected after what they lost, but it seemed like the returning players regressed as well. They weren't bad at anything, but they weren't elite at anything either.

But in 2025, he finally changed my mind. Everyone improved, key transfers and freshman made major contributions. The pitching top to bottom was elite, the defense was elite, and the offense was very good. But they played so consistently and meticulously all season, there never seemed to be emotional lapses, and they were always perfectly focused.

Jay Johnson has proven to everyone that he is the #1 coach in college baseball.

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maybe LSU tried to poach Vitello but was unsuccessful, we won't know.

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Some of the best baseball posters on Tiger Rant all have said that we tried to get Vitello. These are the guys that always seem to have the inside scoop. I'd say you can pretty much bet that we went after him. That's who I wanted. I'm glad I'm not in charge of making that decision because Jay is quickly becoming my favorite coach LSU has ever had outside of Skip.

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Tony Vitello did not even get a call from LSU. Woodward wanted JJ from the word go; that is how I heard it.

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You heard correct. Feelers were put out and Tony was happy at TN. Things worked out for both programs.

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LSU hiring Jay Johnson is right up there with Bama hiring Saban!

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Well.... one was coaching college baseball when hired by LSU. The other was about to fired from the NFL, when he hired by bama... while denying he was being hired by bama.