The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
Baseball
- Title:
- Associate Head Coach
JOHNSON'S CAREER HIGHLIGHTS | |
COACHING EXPERIENCE PLAYING EXPERIENCE |
Full name: Arthur Ray Johnson
Date of birth: February 17, 1967
Hometown: Denton, Texas
High school: Denton
Junior College: Ranger College, 1988
College: The University of Texas - Pan American, 1990
Graduate degree: The University of Texas - Tyler, 1993
Family: Wife: Cathy, sons: Tyler and Garrett
When head coach Augie Garrido went looking for a pitching coach following the 2006 campaign, the answer to his search was Skip Johnson, who is regarded as the best teacher of pitching skills by the most knowledgeable baseball people in Texas. Johnson enters his ninth season at UT, including third as associate head coach, having developed the Longhorns into one of the most consistent pitching staffs in the nation.
In Johnson’s eight seasons mentoring UT pitchers, the Longhorns have finished the year ranked in the top-10 nationally in ERA six times, leading the Big 12 in five of those instances. From 2009 to 2011, Texas finished second, first, and second, respectively, nationally in ERA.
In the last six years, Texas has maintained a staff ERA under 3.00 five times, finishing with a 2.95 in 2009, 2.45 in 2010, 2.35 in 2011, 2.63 in 2013 and 2.25 in 2014. The Longhorns led the league in opponent batting average four of those seasons, holding opposing teams to a .227 average in ’09, .219 in ’10, .198 in ‘11 and .226 in ’13.
Johnson has coached 14 Longhorns that have earned a total of 21 All-Big 12 selections, including 10 to the first team. Seven of Johnson’s players have earned a total of nine All-America honors, with five to the first team. In 2010, UT had three first team All-Americans in Cole Green, Taylor Jungmann and Chance Ruffin, and a second team All-American in Brandon Workman. A year later, Jungmann repeated as a first-team choice, while Corey Knebel joined him.
Those pitchers’ success hasn’t ended at UT. Since 2007, the Longhorns have seen 25 pitchers selected in the MLB Draft, including three first-round selections and seven in the first five rounds. Workman, one of Johnson’s pupils, helped the Boston Red Sox capture the World Series Championship in 2013, his rookie season.
Johnson had an outstanding first season as the Longhorns’ pitching coach, mentoring the staff to a 3.46 earned run average, the best mark in the Big 12 Conference and ninth in the nation. He also tutored Adrian Alaniz to Big 12 Pitcher of the Year accolades and coached three All-Big 12 pitchers including Alaniz, Randy Boone and James Russell.
In his second season, he continued to produce outstanding pitchers as Ruffin, then a freshman, earned All-America honors, as well as being named Big 12 Conference Rookie of the Year. Kenn Kasparek, Kyle Walker and Casey Whitmer were all drafted and had outstanding professional debuts.
In 2009, Johnson guided one of the top pitching staffs in the country. The Longhorns led the nation allowing the fewest hits per nine innings (7.52) and ranked second with a 2.95 ERA. He mentored third-team All-American and fifth-round draft choice Austin Wood, one of the nation’s top closers, along with Freshman All-Americans Jungmann and Austin Dicharry and All-Big 12 first-teamer Ruffin. That season, the Longhorns hosted and won the Austin Regional and Super Regional, advancing to the College World Series where they finished runner-up to LSU.
In 2010, the Longhorns led the nation with a 2.45 ERA and won a Regional for the second straight year. A year later, Johnson tutored Jungmann and Knebel to first team All-America honors as Texas returned to the College World Series.
The 2012 season brought another Big 12 Freshman Pitcher of the Year to the Longhorns as Johnson guided Parker French to the award.
Texas had a Big-12 best 2.63 ERA in 2013, Johnson’s first as associate head coach, a mark which ranked seventh nationally, with Dillon Peters picking up second team All-Big 12 honors.
Last season Johnson’s staff was the driving force behind a deep run into the postseason that saw the Longhorns finish third nationally. Behind the arms of All-Big 12 selections Nathan Thornhill and Chad Hollingsworth, Texas posted a 2.25 ERA on the year which was its best mark in 37 years (2.121 in 1977). The Longhorns were at their best in the postseason, accumulating a 1.25 ERA in 11 games.
Johnson came to UT after serving a 13-year stint as head coach at Navarro College in Corsicana, Texas.
Beginning his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant coach at Navarro, Johnson quickly moved up the ranks by assuming the reigns of the Bulldogs’ baseball program one year later. He compiled 450 wins at Navarro and led the Bulldogs to 13 National Junior College Athletic Association Regional Tournaments.
During Johnson’s stellar coaching career at Navarro, he led the Bulldogs to nine Texas Eastern Athletic Conference titles and four regional tournament titles.
In his final season at Navarro, the team won the TEAC title with an overall record of 38-15 and boasted a team ERA of 3.09. Navarro had 12 players total and eight pitchers selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft in Johnson’s final three years as head coach.
While at Navarro, Johnson mentored former Texas players Sam Anderson, Chris Houser, D.J. Jones, Joseph Krebs, Jesse Merle, Pat McCrory, Mike Pumo, Ryan Russ, James Russell, Josh Smith, Eric Tomlinson and Clay Van Hook.
He has also mentored a number of players outside of those he coached at Navarro and UT. Johnson regularly works with two-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds. He’s also worked with Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, among others.
A standout baseball player at Denton High School, Johnson began his collegiate playing career at Ranger (Texas) College. After a two-year career at Ranger, Johnson moved on to play baseball at the University of North Texas in 1988, where he played one year for the Mean Green before the school dropped its baseball program. He completed his collegiate playing career at UT-Pan American, lettering for the Broncs in 1989 and receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1990. Johnson earned a master’s degree in education from UT-Tyler in 1993.
A native of Denton, Texas, Johnson and his wife, Cathy, have two sons, Tyler and Garrett.
