University of Texas assistant Skip Johnson talks about the past and future at UTPA

AUSTIN — Skip Johnson, who played baseball for the University of Texas-Pan American in 1989 and graduated from the school in 1990, is in his fifth year as an assistant to Texas coach Augie Garrido.

Johnson played two seasons for Ranger Community College in Ranger, Tex. before transferring to North Texas. After the Mean Green canceled their baseball program, he landed with the Broncs, playing for legendary coach Al Ogletree for one season.

This coming season, Texas will host UTPA for one game.

The Monitor recently caught up with Johnson.

Q: What did you like about playing for coach Ogletree? He just seems like someone who loved the game and loved coaching at UTPA.

A: Coach Ogletree has a lot of wins. It is unbelievable what he did in his tenure there. What’s really special about coach Ogletree is how he builds relationships. In reality that is what it is about. … I still talk to coach Al a lot and I still take to (former assistant) coach (Reggie) Tredaway a lot. That is what was so unique about that. My experience, I’ll never throw it away for as long as I live.

Q: Are you surprised by how much the Valley has grown since you played 20 years ago?

A: I’m not really surprised. It had some culture then. The school was growing. They built the business building when I was there, and it started taking off. They talked about building a new baseball stadium, and they finally did. I lived right across three street from the baseball stadium called the El Bosque apartments. Ain’t that funny?

Q: What have you heard about new Broncs coach Manny Mantrana and the things he wants to do with the program?

A: I have heard a lot of good things about him when he was in Florida. … I know he has been out on the road really working his butt off. That is what it is going to take those guys spending a lot of hours recruiting. I know they are working at it. The head coach seemed like a really nice guy to me. … He seemed like a baseball guy to me.

Q: Did you play any roll in getting UTPA on Texas’ schedule this coming season?

A: Coach Garrido says he likes having UTPA on the schedule. That is always what he tells me.

Q: Texas is really having a good year in athletics. Volleyball is in the Final Four, basketball is ranked No. 2 and football is in the national championship. Can fans expect similar success from the baseball team?

A: We are going to play it one game at a time. We went far because our team was a team last year. Coach Garrido is a good coach, and we went far because we were a team. You never know how teams gel every year. A team takes on a different character every year. Who knows what’s going to happen? That’s why you got to go out there and play the game.

Peter Rasmussen covers UTPA athletics for Valley Freedom Newspapers. You can reach him at (956) 683-4448.