USF baseball promotes volunteer assistant coach

Newly minted assistant coach Chris Johns helped coach Iowa Western to two NJCAA National Championships in 2010 and 2012. USF ATHLETICS PHOTO

Volunteer assistant coach Chris Johns was promoted to a full-time position for USF baseball on Monday. Johns’ promotion is the latest coaching change since the Bulls hired associate head coach Alan Kunkel on June 8.

Before joining the Bulls in 2022, Johns held positions at Northwest Florida State College, Hofstra University, Iowa Western Community College and the University of Northern Colorado.

At Northwest Florida State College, 10 former players were selected in the MLB Draft during Johns’ tenure from 2016-21. As a pitching coach with Iowa Western, seven players were drafted during his three-year stint from 2009-12.

In his current position with USF, Johns primarily works with the outfielders and oversees the development of players such as junior Drew Butcher. Butcher entered the 2023 season rated as the No.1 draft prospect in the AAC and 28th overall outfielder by D1Baseball.com. He was also a 2023 Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger Award Watch List member.

The Lakeland native finished his junior year batting .293 with 13 home runs and 45 RBI. Butcher was also one of three Bulls players named to the All-AAC first team.

As a player, Johns was a pitcher at multiple programs such as Lamar Community College, Louisiana Lafayette and Northern Colorado. In 2003, he was an All-American and was projected as the top junior college pitcher in the country by Baseball America in 2004.

Additionally, head coach Billy Mohl will handle coaching the Bulls’ pitching staff going forward, taking over former coach Karsten Whitson’s role with the program.