Column: Jay Johnson’s coaching strengths are also his weaknesses, LSU’s losses show

When Jay Johnson walked out of the LSU dugout in the eighth inning of Sunday’s series finale at Texas, the frustration had been building for hours, arguably days. His team was down four runs, and a call at the plate finally pushed the Tigers’ head coach over the edge.

In a move that epitomized the weekend, Jay Johnson was thrown out of the game by the first base umpire, Kellen Levy.

LSU dropped two of three games to the Longhorns in Austin, suffering its first SEC series, and back-to-back losses of the season. But beyond the box score, the weekend was revealing Johnson’s coaching style – one that thrives on preparation, trust, and precision, but can collapse under its own rigidity.

The weekend started the way most do for LSU: clean baseball, strong pitching, and a handful of big swings.

Sophomore Kade Anderson improved to 5-0 on the mound, striking out eight across six innings while allowing just two runs on seven hits in 101 pitches thrown.

Catcher Luis Hernandez drove the offense, finishing 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs and it was total domination by the Tigers on Friday.

LSU walked away with a commanding 8-2 win and stretched its win streak to 17 games, at the time, the longest active streak in the NCAA. Johnson’s plan from the lineup to the rotation to the bullpen matchups looked air-tight.

But something out of the ordinary occurred, Johnson pitched Zac Cowan, one of the Tigers strongest relief arms in the absence of Gavin Guidry, who is still out with a back injury, through the rest of the game.

Cowan pitched three innings and threw 55 pitches, effectively burning him for the rest of the weekend. Johnson’s decision to leave Cowan and make him unavailable would come back to hurt the Tigers in the final two games of the series.

Game 2 had a much different story to tell.

LSU led 2-0 in the first inning and again held a 7-6 lead in the sixth. But pitching decisions and defensive miscues slowly turned the tide. Texas rallied behind catcher Rylan Galvan’s three-run homer in the eighth and never looked back. LSU’s bullpen couldn’t hold off the surge, resulting in the 11-7 loss.

It was the Tigers’ first defeat since Feb. 22, when they dropped the first game of a doubleheader against Omaha, and perhaps more concerning than the result was the way it unfolded – with Johnson sticking to his guns as the game spun out of control.

Still, after the game, Johnson didn’t show panic.

“I told the team that we just won 17 games in a row – that’s really hard to do in baseball,” Johnson said. “So I told them I was proud of them.”

Certainly a single loss, and a late game breakdown at that, isn’t the end of the world, but the coaching decisions the Tiger head coach made that resulted in it should certainly be looked at with a little more scrutiny.

In the fifth inning alone, LSU had three pitching changes. Connor Ware came in for starter Anthony Eyanson. After a passed ball and a walk, William Schmidt entered for Ware. And following a three-run home run by Rylan Galvan, Connor Benge would enter and pitch one third of the way into the seventh.

All in all, the Tigers would use eight different arms in the Saturday loss, and Texas would force a rubber match on Sunday.

By Game 3, LSU was running on fumes.

Starter Chase Shores was roughed up early, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks, while recording just three strikeouts. Then, Texas right fielder Max Belyeu torched LSU’s pitching for four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

The Tigers mustered just two runs on six hits, and in the eighth, with LSU trailing 6-2, Johnson’s tensions boiled over, leading to his ejection.

“There’s some history with that umpire and a similar play that affected our team last year,” Johnson said after the game.

Texas closed the game with little resistance, taking the series and handing LSU its first series loss of the season, and earning their first SEC series win on their home field.

After the game, Johnson acknowledged his team’s missed chances.

“They did a better job with two strikes than we did,” he said. “I think that was the difference in the game.”

Johnson’s strength as a head coach has always been preparation. His staff scouts meticulously. He and his staff control every detail – pitch calls, substitution timing, bunt decisions, alignments. And when it works, it’s surgical.

But when games get chaotic – as they often do in SEC play – that same control can sometimes become a barrier to adjustment.

Pitching decisions in the final two games drew criticism. Fans and analysts alike questioned why certain relievers were used in tight spots, or why matchups weren’t shifted sooner.

At times, Johnson’s refusal to deviate from his plan felt less like discipline and more like defiance.

To be clear, Johnson’s style is not one that can be criticized when he wins, but it often feels like when LSU loses, it has a lot more to do with coaching and matchup decisions than it does a single mistake or error by a Tiger on the field.

Players publicly support his structured, demanding approach, and he’s known for being fiercely loyal to the guys he believes in. But that structure comes with expectations: strict execution of roles, no missed signs and little room for improvisation.

That buy-in has helped produce elite results. But it also leaves little margin when plans fall apart like they did in Austin.

At 23-3, LSU remains a national title contender with one of the deepest offenses in the country. But with a tough SEC slate ahead, the Tigers will not have much room for error.