Toughness, a word maybe associated with a boxer or a Navy Seal, but this 2024 Diamond Dawg squad exhibits a different type of toughness; a concentration when things aren’t going the way this team wants them to; a dedication to the process. That toughness is the one word head baseball coach Wes Johnson uses to describe his team.

The first year head coach has wowed the Classic City, the University of Georgia and the Southeastern Conference with an unprecedented start to the 2024 season. However, it’s no coincidence sprinkled on Foley Field from Munson and Lady Luck. It is a valiant leader with committed players keeping their heads down, focused on the trajectory of this program.

A native of Sherwood, Arkansas, Johnson has been around the baseball block at the high school, college and professional level, most recently as the defending national champion LSU Tigers’ pitching coach. The experience taken from these various stops all contribute to Johnson’s early success here at Georgia.

“The biggest thing for me being a pitching coach at that level is game management on the defensive side of the baseball,” Johnson said. “Having to make those moves at a very high level, and we [the Minnesota Twins] were good. You have to stay ahead of the game really fast at that level, and that experience there is really helping me be a head coach.”

While the MLB is the highest level of play, SEC baseball is no walk in the park. It is second to none in winning, and playing those types of opponents each weekend is a heavy load on a team and head coach. Johnson, surrounded by it for multiple years of his career, is accustomed to the grueling schedules, extended bullpens and hostile crowds. He’s shown his lineup can match up with those SEC opponents, sweeping No. 8 Alabama at home and grabbing a 16-2 win at Rocky Top over the No. 5 Vols. How is this conference so good and how can Georgia match that play?

“It’s resources,” Johnson said. Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, they all have these star-studded high schoolers. “All of these places, you’re kind of in the baseball mecca of the U.S … as a general rule, the majority of good players across the country come out of the southeast. You do your demographics homework, and those players only want to go so far from home, so they stay close by. And heck, I say it to everyone. ‘The education you get from the University of Georgia is second to none.’”

The high-powered offense of the 2024 Bulldogs is led by two Georgia guys: Charlie Condon (Marietta) and Corey Collins (Suwanee). These home-state Dawgs are a testament to that head-down, dedicated brand that Johnson and his staff are trying to promote. “They want Georgia to be good,” Johnson said. “They want this program; they want this University to be good. They grew up in this state, and it means a lot to them.”

The Georgia lineup doesn’t just see success from these two though. It is top to bottom, all nine raking home runs, all nine batting in runners, all nine contributing to the early wins of the Wes Johnson era. Johnson believes this lineup is unique, unlike any other he’s coached in his seasoned career.

“2016, we won the league while I was at Mississippi State. I’m trying to count the big leaguers on that team, but that lineup was good. 2018, I was at Arkansas, and we lost the national title on a dropped fly ball. That team has a lot of big leaguers on it as well. This one ranks up there with those two probably. This offense will rival those, but this offense has some dynamic pieces. I haven’t ever had a lineup with as much flexibility and is as deep. You look at what we’re doing: we’ve got four guys who are playing everyday, and then we run matchups the rest of the way.”

This early success has earned Johnson the support of the Athens community, but the humble leader doesn’t just want to be adopted into the Classic City, he wants his players to be adopted into the history of Georgia lore.

“I can’t thank our fans enough for the support we are getting, but I’ve said this many times, ‘Coaches are only as good as the players they have.’ Yes, it’s awesome they are adopting me, but I really hope they are adopting our players. Those guys are the ones out there doing it. My days in the sun are long gone.”

The diamond, the smell of fresh cut grass, perfectly groomed dirt, the sights and sounds of the ballpark, Johnson loves baseball, lives and breathes it. It’s his livelihood and so much more. It’s a sport he fell in love with at a young age and grows more in that devotion each day. Like it’s said in Moneyball, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?”

“My priorities are the Lord, my immediate family, then baseball,” Johnson said. “It’s everything, it’s all I know. I joke, ‘I don’t know where I bank, and my wife dresses me.’ I hate losing more than I like winning. There’s a lot of truth to that. You work so hard, but you have to ride those highs and lows just like romance.”

It’s safe to say, the performance on the field has brought support far and wide for the Diamond Dawgs. Furthermore, what Wes Johnson is doing beneath the surface, behind the curtain, not seeking recognition, Georgia baseball is in humble hands that will take this program to an everlasting YEA!

A final quick message from Coach: “Please continue to support. I can’t tell you how excited our players were at the Alabama series, the Iowa game and the Georgia State game. I wish the fans could see how much our guys fed off of your energy, so please, continue to support our guys! Then, even to the casual fan: if you haven’t seen Charlie Condon play, you need to find your way to Foley Field because these guys don’t come around but every 10-12 years, if that!”