LSU baseball's Jay Johnson named coach of the year following national championship win
LSU baseball head coach Jay Johnson received more hardware after leading his team to the 2025 national championship.
The American Baseball Coaches Association named Johnson its NCAA Division I coach of the year. The Tigers finished with a 53-15 overall record in 2025 and lost just one game in the postseason.
Johnson's squad went 5-0 in the College World Series, defeating SEC rivals Arkansas twice and Coastal Carolina twice in the finals to raise the program's eighth trophy in Omaha. Led by the country's best one-two punch in starting pitching, the Tigers played the best when the lights were the brightest.
Kade Anderson and Anthony Eyanson soared up MLB Draft prospect boards with their 2025 performances. The pair combined for 15.1 innings and 19 strikeouts against the Chanticleers and ended the season first and third, respectively, in the NCAA in strikeouts.
Johnson, who just finished his fourth year with the Tigers, pushed all the right buttons in the NCAA Tournament. In the super regional vs. West Virginia, Johnson put outfielder Josh Pearson in the leadoff spot, a mix-up from the Tigers' traditional order, and it paid off with Pearson mashing a grand slam.
Johnson received praise for how LSU handled its pitching staff in the College World Series and the Tigers defense was one of the best-coached units in the country.
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