Under The Gun: Britt Johnson

Under The Gun: Britt Johnson

Date: March 28
By: Eric Leary

We are joined today on Under the Gun with the recruiting coordinator from Appalachian State, Coach Britt Johnson. In his third season with the Mountaineers, Coach Johnson previously served as an assistant at Lander University under current ASU head coach Kermit Smith. As the 2019 season is underway, they look to move towards the top of the tough Sun Belt Conference.

Coach, your journey to being a D1 baseball coach is seemingly a unique one. From growing up in Eastern NC, your bio says you were a college football long snapper. And now here you are as a DI baseball coach. Fill in the gaps for us and share how your journey has taken this path and who some of your major influences have been.

Well, all my life baseball and football have been loves of mine. To be as honest as possible I loved baseball growing up and played as much as I could. But my physique around 7th grade was quickly becoming more of a football physique. I had a dream to play collegiate athletics. My dad told me in middle school if you plan to play college football you better learn to long snap or place kick and you’re not going to be a kicker. So I ended up walking on at East Carolina as a long snapper. I spent as much time as I could at the baseball field watching practice and workouts during my years of college. The coaches were great about allowing me access to watch and learn. I spent time going to games with different scouts and trying learn from them through High School and College. I wanted to be a sponge since I didn’t have the opportunity to play the sport at a higher level. Howard McCullough a scout with the Arizona Diamondbacks was a great teacher and mentor for me at games all over Eastern North Carolina when our paths crossed. I graduated and spent two years teaching and coaching at Nash Central HS in Rocky Mount. I realized during my time there that I wanted to give college baseball a shot if someone would have me. I began looking at every team I could on the east coast to see how many teams only had two coaches listed. I knew that I was going to have to go somewhere as a volunteer coach since I didn’t have a true baseball background. I ended up talking to Chris Anderson assistant coach at Lander University (now Head Coach at Belmont Abbey) and he sat down with  Lander Head Coach Kermit Smith because they were losing a volunteer at the end of their season. I went down and interviewed with them at Lander in Greenwood, SC and they offered me a chance to come down and be a volunteer coach. I came back to Nash Central and submitted my resignation and left a full time job to chase my dreams. After three years Coach Anderson left for Belmont Abbey and Coach Smith offered me the full time job at Lander. We have now been together for 9 years. I am very thankful for his loyalty and taking a chance me.

As a recruiting coordinator at the D level you are tasked with finding players that not only fit your program’s philosophy and needs, but can also perform both academically and athletically at a high level. What challenges do you face in these circumstances and how does being at a school like App State in Boone benefit your efforts?

During the recruiting process once we identify guys that can be great student athletes we get them to campus as quickly as possible. This University and the people sell it self. The best recruiters in our program are our players. They do a great job when we bring guys on campus. When we get players here in the fall for football games, it’s hard not to be excited when you’re in the best college football atmosphere in North Carolina. They see the passion of the fan base and how many people give their all for Appalachian State. We are making major improvements to our facilities and we are also very up to date on the analytic side of baseball with Trackman, Rapsodo, and HitTrax. We are really excited about where our program is headed. When guys get here they can see the vision and see that our University is providing the resources to help us get where we want to be.

Coaching at any level can be a taxing job when it comes to time.  How do you balance the responsibilities of being a husband, a father and a college baseball coach?

As a young coach years ago I didn’t understand this balance at all. I was baseball all day everyday either practicing, playing, or recruiting. Understanding the balance really started when I found the woman that I knew I was going to spend the rest of my life with. She became my wife in August of 2016 and then things changed even more when we had twins last January. I have tried my best to learn that when I walk in the house at night to take off my baseball hat and be the best husband to Sam and dad to Cade and Dax  that I can be. One thing that I try and do during the season is take them with me to high school games sometimes during the week and that kind of becomes our quality time together in the car. I try my best to have my priorities as faith, family, and baseball, and when I am aligned like that everything is so much better at home and the office. I have been blessed to work for a man in Kermit Smith who has modeled that for me. Our families are around a lot and are part of our program. Coach Smith makes it known to coaches and  players that our families are a priority and I am extremely thankful for that.

In your coaching career, you have worked with infielders. Give us your best drill to aid players into being able to carry practice reps to the game.

Over the years a staple in our practice every single day is our pick routine that we do after catch play. This works on short hop balls straight on, forehand, and backhand. We do 45 reps in the progression daily. Over the last year or so on social media you have basically seen what we do in videos with Ron Washington of the Atlanta Braves. Sometimes this drill can get monotonous for players. Seeing big leaguers do the exact same drill has made it a little more exciting for our guys to do on a daily basis.

With such a beautiful setting in the mountains and such an outstanding facility, take us through a typical game day experience for the Mountaineers playing at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

Our Game Day experience this season has been great for our players. Players show up about three hours before game time, we have a hitters meeting to see the pitcher that we will face that day and some of the top relievers. We go straight into early work, stretch, throw, and take batting practice. When we come up from BP our players have a pregame meal waiting in their lockers and they eat, watch MLB Network in the Club House, and get themselves ready to play.

Well, that’s all for today here on Under the Gun. The Dirtbags extend a huge thank you to Coach Johnson and wishing him and the Mountaineers all the best as they continue on in the 2019 campaign.  

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