Scott Johnson directing College World Series Credit: ESPN PR

Every year, college baseball teams and their fans come in droves to Omaha, Nebraska, for the Men’s College World Series. ESPN director Scott Johnson has been making that same trek for 35 years. However, this year’s MCWS will be his last.

Johnson, a former baseball player at Ohio University who joined ESPN in 1990, is hanging up his headset and retiring following this year’s College World Series, but not before helping to define the look and feel of college baseball’s championship event one more time.

ESPN paid tribute to Johnson with a special call-out during Saturday’s broadcast and also shared that on social media.

After 35 years of directing the #MCWS – ESPN’s Scott Johnson is hanging up his headset following the ’25 Championship Series,” read the post from ESPN PR. “Thanks for all the memories & congratulations on a tremendous career, Scott!”

The post was met with tributes from some of the biggest names around ESPN and the sports world, all appreciative for the work that Johnson did behind the scenes over the decades.

“The most electric atmosphere was that first year for me when Creighton played Wichita State. Creighton is located just a few blocks from Rosenblatt and Wichita beat them in a great game. [MNF director] Chip Dean directed that game as I was on the other crew that year. I was also in the ballpark when Warren Morris hit a walk-off home run in the 9th inning for LSU to win the CWS in the late 90s,” Johnson told ESPN Front Row in 2017. “My greatest memories will always be from the relationships I’ve built with crew members (some of whom have been here with me since 1991), announcers and Omaha natives who have shown us such great hospitality here over the years.”

LSU and Coastal Carolina will battle it out for in the 2025 College World Series best-of-three series, which gets underway Saturday at 7:00 p.m. ET.

About Sean Keeley

Along with writing for Awful Announcing and The Comeback, Sean is the Managing Editor for Comeback Media. Previously, he created the Syracuse blog Troy Nunes Is An Absolute Magician and wrote 'How To Grow An Orange: The Right Way to Brainwash Your Child Into Rooting for Syracuse.' He has also written non-Syracuse-related things for SB Nation, Curbed, and other outlets. He currently lives in Seattle where he is complaining about bagels. Send tips/comments/complaints to sean@thecomeback.com.