It's been a big summer for OU baseball coach Skip Johnson, fresh off leading the Sooners to the College World Series title.
A national title, a grandbaby, a sandwich named in his honor- the coach's summer had a little everything.
At Midway Deli near campus, there's a sandwich called the Skip. It's been official since June, the same month Oklahoma baseball won its first national title in over thirty years, and the same month Johnson became a grandfather.
Career across the Red River
Johnson grew up in Denton, Texas, and played baseball at Ranger College, then at the University of North Texas — until North Texas dropped the baseball program entirely. "I had something taken away," he says. He finished playing at UT-Pan American, then spent thirteen years building the program at Navarro College and a decade as an assistant at Texas before Oklahoma hired him in 2017.
He describes the difference between the two programs simply: "Texas is like a corporation. Oklahoma is like a family business." At OU, he says, people ask how you're doing before they ask about the scoreboard.
“I plan to retire at the University of Oklahoma,” he said, “Hopefully we can make that happen.
Reigning champions
Oklahoma lost its last four regular-season series and its first SEC Tournament game. Nobody had them ranked heading into the postseason. Then they made it to Omaha, and beat North Carolina 13-2 for the title for the program's first since 1994.
Johnson gives the credit to players who didn't get to play much all year and remained exemplary teammates anyway. He said what made this team special was them setting their differences aside and putting it all out on the field.
"I thought the heartbeat of our team was our dugout," he says. "The guys that didn't play."
Johnson's staff runs the program on an acronym they lean on daily: COMPETE. Championship standard. Oklahoma before you. Mentality. Process. Engage. Toughness. Energy. He says it shows up in small, everyday questions — 'did you go to class, did you show up tired and practice anyway, were you an “energy giver” or an “energy taker” that day?'
He said the program is also here for these athletes to build a foundation- better fathers, better husbands and better men.
He said that even over the national title, he’s most proud of his team when they proudly represent the values that he coaches with. What he carries from his day is his approach in toughness: outwork, outthink, intimidate. What most might now know about Coach Johnson is he is a “bowler by trade.”
The Johnson Family
He and his wife, Cathy, don't talk baseball at home. He said he has the best coach’s wife of anyone.
His older son, Tyler, coached at a junior college and recruited at Dallas Baptist before joining Johnson's staff at Oklahoma this summer, where he now works with the catchers. His younger son, Garrett, is an agronomist in South Texas.
"That gives me the best of both worlds," Johnson says.
He says that's part of why it means something to have three generations of his own family living a few miles apart now in Cleveland County — a granddaughter down the street, a son at the ballpark every day.
Around the county
Johnson hunts most weekends from November through mid-January. He and former major leaguer Chris Davis, keep a ranch south of Altus on the Red River. For dinner, he'll point you to San Marcos in Newcastle, or Midway Deli — for the obvious pick, the Skip.
For Johnson, that's the whole point — the accolades are nice, but it's the people, community and the county that make it home.
Looking Ahead
The team is currently in their packed offseason for the fall. Conditioning, evaluating and getting to know the players is all under that umbrella before the Spring season starts.
He said he’s excited for what’s ahead for this program and watching the community grow to care and love the game. The staff is focused on getting to know players before they get on the field.
"If I never won a national championship, I wouldn't bother," he says. "I know I've changed people's lives. That's what this is about."