Staff

Skip Johnson

Head Coach

Skip Johnson is in his second season as head coach of the University of Oklahoma baseball program. He was named the 10th head coach in program history in June 2017 after serving one year as the Sooners’ pitching coach.

Prior to coming to Oklahoma, Johnson spent a 25-year coaching career in the state of Texas, including the most recent 10 years as an assistant and associate head coach at the University of Texas. In Johnson’s two seasons in Norman, Oklahoma has reached the NCAA postseason twice.

In 2018, Johnson coached OU to the program’s 38th NCAA Regional and saw nine players selected in the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft. The Sooners posted a 38-25 record and reached the finals of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional. Outfielder Steele Walker was named a Second-Team All-American by Baseball America and the NCBWA, and pitcher Levi Prater was selected as a Freshman All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Outfielder Kyler Murray, who went on to win the 2018 Heisman Trophy with the OU football team, was the ninth overall selection in the 2018 Major League Baseball Draft. Nine players were drafted, including five in the first 10 rounds (Walker in the second round, pitcher Jake Irvin in the fourth round, pitcher Austin Hansen in the eighth round and outfielder Cade Harris in the 10th round.

Johnson made an immediate impact on the Sooner pitching staff upon his arrival for the 2017 season. Oklahoma pitchers surrendered the fewest home runs in the Big 12 Conference in 2017 and combined for 531 strikeouts to rank fourth in the league and fourth in OU single-season history. The Sooners’ 9.26 strikeouts per nine innings ranked second in the conference. As a team, OU pitchers struck out 10 or more batters on 24 occasions.

Sooner pitchers combined for 17 starts of six innings or more in 2017, including the first two games of the Louisville Regional. Three Oklahoma pitchers were selected in the 2017 MLB Draft. Sooner closer JB Olson was drafted in the 10th round to extend a string of seven straight years with an Oklahoma player chosen in the first 10 rounds. OU saw starter Devon Perez and reliever Vincenzo Aiello selected on day three of the draft.

Johnson was hired as the pitching coach at Texas for the 2007 season under Augie Garrido, who stepped down from his position as the winningest coach in college baseball in May 2016 to take on new duties in the UT athletics department. In 10 seasons, Johnson helped the Longhorns to seven NCAA Regional appearances, four Super Regionals and three College World Series appearances.

During his tenure in Austin, 32 Texas pitchers were selected in the MLB Draft, including 14 in the first 10 rounds and three first-round picks. Johnson also oversaw the development of six Longhorn pitchers who have made it to the big leagues. The Texas pitching staff produced a team earned run average below 3.00 on five occasions and struck out better than 7.5 per-nine-innings in five of his last eight seasons. As Texas reached its second CWS with Johnson on staff in 2011, his pitchers led the Big 12 in ERA (2.35), batting average against (.198) and strikeouts per nine innings (8.28).

Prior to his time in Austin, Johnson was the head coach for 13 years at Navarro College of the NJCAA’s Texas Eastern Athletic Conference. From 1994-2006, he guided the Bulldogs to 13 NJCAA Regionals, nine TEAC championships and four regional titles while compiling 450 wins.

Johnson has also mentored a number of players outside of those he coached at Navarro and UT. Johnson regularly works with three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Homer Bailey of the Cincinnati Reds. He’s also worked with Chris Davis of the Baltimore Orioles, among others.

A standout baseball player at Denton High School, Johnson began his collegiate playing career at Ranger (Texas) College. After a two-year career there, Johnson moved on to play baseball at the University of North Texas in 1988 before the school dropped its baseball program. He completed his collegiate playing career at UT-Pan American, lettering for the Broncs in 1989 and receiving his bachelor’s degree in 1990. Johnson earned a master’s degree in education from UT-Tyler in 1993.

A native of Denton, Texas, Johnson and his wife, Cathy, have two sons, Tyler and Garrett.

Reggie Willits

Associate Head Coach

Former New York Yankees assistant coach and University of Oklahoma alumnus Reggie Willits joined the OU baseball program as volunteer assistant coach in January 2022. He was promoted to associate head coach following the 2022 season. He coaches the outfielders and serves as offensive coordinator, developing the team’s offensive game plan.

In his two seasons at Oklahoma, Willits has transformed the OU offense into a unit that features plate discipline and an aggressive style on the basepaths, creating chaos on the diamond. In 2022, the Sooners registered 145 stolen bases (the program's most since 1989 and ranked fourth nationally), 73 home runs (the program's most since 2010) and 378 walks (ranked third nationally). In 2023, OU generated 116 steals (the most in consecutive seasons since 1985-89 and ranked 19th nationally) and 350 walks (ranked 11th nationally).

Willits, who played at Oklahoma from 2002-03, was a member of the Yankees organization from 2015-21, including the 2018-21 seasons as the major league first base coach and outfield instructor. He also served as the club’s baserunning coordinator. During his stint with the Yankees, the team averaged 98 wins per season and reached the MLB postseason in all four years.

A former major league outfielder, Willits joined the Yankees organization as a minor league outfield and baserunning coordinator in 2015 and was promoted to major league first base coach and outfield instructor in 2018.

Willits was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the seventh round of the 2003 Major League Baseball Draft. He played six seasons with the Angels, batting .258 with 146 runs scored and 40 stolen bases in 414 major league games. He finished fifth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2007 after batting .293 and registering 20 doubles, 27 steals and 74 runs scored.

Following his major league playing career, Willits served as head baseball coach at Binger-Oney High School in Binger, Okla., from 2012 through ’15. During his four-year stint, he led the Bobcats to two state championships, including the Class A state title in 2014.

In his two-year playing career at Oklahoma, Willits compiled a .335 batting average and .438 on-base percentage, and totaled 144 hits, 105 runs scored, 28 doubles, 54 steals and 63 walks. He hit .295 with 12 doubles, 32 walks, 17 steals and 50 runs scored in 2002, and in 2003 batted .379 with team highs of 55 runs scored, 16 doubles, 31 walks (tied) and a .472 OBP.

Willits earned All-Big 12 Second Team honors with the Sooners in 2003 when he led the conference with 37 stolen bases, a figure that still ranks sixth in program history. His 54 steals over the 2002 and ’03 seasons are tied for 10th in program history while his .472 on-base percentage in 2003 is the fifth-highest average of the last 25 years and highest in the last 18 seasons.

A Chickasha, Okla., native, Willits graduate from Fort Cobb High School and transferred to Oklahoma after spending his first two collegiate years at Seminole State College. He received his bachelor’s degree in multidisciplinary studies from Oklahoma in 2014.

Todd Butler

Assistant Coach

Former OU player and Division I head coach Todd Butler returned to Oklahoma in June 2023 as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Butler, a 28-year college baseball coaching veteran who played at Oklahoma from 1987-88, served as head coach at Wichita State from 2014-19 and McNeese State from 2001-03. He also brings 17 years of experience coaching and recruiting in the SEC with stints at Alabama (1995-00 and 2004-05), Arkansas (2006-13) and Missouri (2020). Before returning to OU, he spent three years as Senior Associate Athletics Director at McNeese.

As a student-athlete, Butler played for legendary Oklahoma head coach Enos Semore and assistant coach Stan Meek, helping the Sooners to two NCAA Tournament appearances. He still holds the OU single-season record for stolen bases with 46, set in 1988.

Across his collegiate coaching career, Butler has produced 10 top-10 national recruiting classes. His teams have appeared in five College World Series, six Super Regionals and 17 NCAA Tournaments. He has coached 36 combined All-Americans and freshman All-Americans, 171 MLB Draft selections and 45 players who reached the major leagues.

During his tenure as Wichita State head coach, Butler oversaw 28 MLB draftees and 11 All-America or freshman All-America honorees. He routinely recruited some of the nation’s top talent, highlighted by the No. 2 national recruiting class in 2014. In 2018, Wichita State produced 11 MLB Draft picks, including five in the top 10 rounds.

While serving as associate head coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas, Butler and the Razorbacks reached the NCAA Tournament in all eight seasons and made three NCAA Super Regionals (2009, ’10, ’12) and two trips to the College World Series (2009, ’12). As the lead recruiting coordinator, Butler helped sign five top-10 national recruiting classes, including the nation's No. 1 class in 2009 and '13. He helped coach seven All-Americans, eight freshman All-Americans, 18 All-SEC honorees, 67 MLB Draft picks, 18 major leaguers and eight Team USA selections.

In two stints over a combined eight years at Alabama, Butler helped guide the Crimson Tide to four SEC Tournament championships, seven NCAA Regional appearances and three trips to the College World Series (1996, ’97, ’99), including a national runner-up finish in 1997. Across his two stints at Alabama, Butler oversaw 22 All-Americans, nine freshman All-Americans and 17 All-SEC honorees, and attracted four top-10 recruiting classes.

Butler first served as a head coach at McNeese State from 2001-03, leading the Cowboys to the Southland Conference tournament championship and an NCAA Regional in 2003. It was only the program’s fourth NCAA postseason appearance.

Butler began his collegiate coaching career as an assistant at Blinn College in 1992, helping the Buccaneers to a third-place finish at the NJCAA World Series and a Texas State Junior College championship. He then served as an assistant coach at McNeese State from 1993-94 before moving to Alabama prior to the 1995 season. He spent two summers (1991-92) coaching in the Alaska Baseball League and in 1993 managed the Liberal Bee Jays of the Jayhawk Collegiate League.

As a player, Butler transferred to Oklahoma for the 1987 campaign after spending the 1985-86 seasons at McNeese State. In his senior year with the Sooners, he earned third-team All-America, all-region and All-Big Eight Conference honors. In Butler’s two playing seasons, OU combined for an 87-41 overall record, and two of the top-seven team stolen base figures in program history (127 in ’87 and 143 in ’88). He is still tied for ninth in single season runs scored, with 74 in 1988. He later spent one season playing professionally in the Cleveland organization.

A Sulphur, La., product, Butler received his Bachelor of Arts in liberal studies from McNeese State in 1991.

Russell Raley

Assistant Coach

Former Oklahoma player and assistant Russell Raley returned to the Sooners as volunteer assistant coach in August 2022, and was hired as a full-time assistant coach in July 2023. Raley works with the infielders and assists with the offense at Oklahoma.

A player at OU from 2003-06 and an assistant coach with the Sooners from 2008-11, Raley spent five years at UTRGV from 2018-22, including the last four as associate head coach. He also coached at Little Rock, Incarnate Word and Texas Tech after his initial stint at OU. In his coaching career, Raley has tutored a total of 25 student-athletes that were selected in the MLB Draft, including 14 infielders. Shortstop Dakota Harris, an 11th round pick in 2023, was his most recent pupil drafted.

As a player at Oklahoma, Raley was a member of three NCAA tournament teams, including the 2006 squad that won the Norman Regional and reached the Super Regional. As an assistant coach, he helped the Sooners compete in the postseason all four years, host two regionals and play in the 2010 College World Series.

During Raley’s time at UTRGV, the Vaqueros posted a winning record in four seasons and fielded at .970 or better three times. He took over coordinating the offense prior to the 2019 season and oversaw an immediate 41-point increase in on-base percentage and a 27-point increase in team batting average from the previous year. UTRGV also increased its scoring output by 91 runs (243 in 2018 to 334 in 2019) and 1.6 runs per game (4.5 rpg in ’18 to 6.1 in ’19).

The Vaqueros maintained the offensive pace, averaging more than 6.0 runs per game and an OBP of .380 or higher for the 2020, ’21 and ’22 seasons, while posting a .284 team batting average in 2021 and .290 team average in 2022. Raley oversaw two of the top six home run seasons in program history (63 in ’22 [third] and 50 in ’21 [sixth]), two of the top five doubles totals (107 in ’21 [fourth] and 101 in ’22 [fifth]) and two of the top six fielding percentage marks (.972 in ’18 [second] and .971 in ’19 [sixth]) in program history.

Raley helped lead Little Rock to its best season as a member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2016, notching a program-record 17 SBC victories and a third-place finish. The Trojans led the league in team batting average (.302), OBP (.386) and slugging (.428) while posting a program-record .975 fielding percentage that season. In 2017, Little Rock led the SBC with 109 doubles and reached the conference tournament for the second straight season, a feat not accomplished over the previous 17 years.

In his season at Incarnate Word in 2014, Raley worked with infielders and assisted with outfielders and hitters, helping the Cardinals set a program record for fielding percentage (.974). He served as hitting and first base coach at Texas Tech in 2013 while also working with infielders and outfielders. That year, the Red Raiders turned a program record 68 double plays and fielded at a .974 clip.

From 2008-11, Raley helped guide Oklahoma to three NCAA Regional appearances, including a top-8 national seed in 2009, and the 2010 College World Series. The Sooners compiled 170 wins (average of 42.5 wins per season) and finished among the top three in the Big 12 over his four-year stint as an assistant coach. OU batted .307 or better in all four seasons and led the Big 12 in 14 offensive statistical categories, including batting average (2011), doubles (2008-09) and both hits and home runs in back-to-back years (2009-10). Oklahoma led the Big 12 in runs scored during each of Raley’s final three seasons on staff.

An All-Big 12 infielder at OU, Raley appeared in 208 games and compiled 237 hits in 754 at bats (.314 career average), along with 143 runs scored, 103 RBIs, 27 doubles and 75 walks. He still ranks among OU’s career leaders in games played (T-10th), at bats (10th) and hits (12th). He earned first-team All-Big 12 honors in 2004 and second-team honors in 2005 and ’06.

Raley was selected in the 21st round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the New York Yankees. He spent two years in the Yankees organization, playing at second base, third base and shortstop, batting .264 with nine doubles and 17 RBIs in 43 games at the Single-A and Double-A levels.

A Uvalde, Texas, product, Raley graduated from Oklahoma in 2007 with a degree in human relations. He and his wife Chelsey, also an OU alumnus, have one son and one daughter.

Britt Bonneau

Director of Player Development

Britt Bonneau joined the Oklahoma baseball staff in August 2018. A former OU baseball player, Bonneau joined the Sooners coaching staff after spending 22 years as head coach at Abilene Christian where he compiled 756 victories.

Bonneau built Abilene Christian into a Division II power before leading the program's transition to Division I beginning with the 2014 season. He led the Wildcats to eight Lone Star Conference South Division titles, two regular season championships and five LSC postseason tournament titles. Bonneau’s teams were also invited to nine of 13 NCAA Division II South Central region tournaments between 2000-13. In 2003, he led the Wildcats to the NCAA Division II World Series.

A six-time Lone Start Conference Coach of the Year, Bonneau tutored 17 Division II All-Americans, including six first-team selections, as well as 28 all-region selections. He tutored nine LSC MVP's, six LSC Pitchers of the Year and two Rawlings/ABCA Gold Glove winners. In the Division I era, he coached five all-Southland Conference players.

Bonneau completed his playing career at Oklahoma in 1992, when he scored 72 runs, knocked 19 doubles, six triples and nine home runs, stole eight bases and drew 55 walks, in helping the Sooners to the College World Series. He spent his first three seasons at Lubbock Christian, where he helped lead LCU to the 1991 NAIA World Series and was named Rawlings Region IV Player of the Year and a first-team All-American. He led the nation in hits (111), runs scored (109) and RBIs (98) and was third in home runs (19).

He began his coaching career as an assistant at the University of Texas-San Antonio in 1993 before moving to LCU in 1994 and then ACU in 1996. Bonneau, a native of Farmer’s Branch, Texas, received his bachelor's degree in kinesiology in 1995 from LCU. He his wife Cari have four daughters: Jaci Giletto and son-in-law Jack Giletto, Mati, Scotlyn and Landry.

Ryan Gaines

Director of Baseball Operations

Ryan Gaines enters his 14th season as OU baseball's coordinator of baseball operations in 2019. Gaines completed his first season on the staff in 2006 after returning to OU on August 1, 2005.

Gaines is responsible for the day-to-day operations off the fi eld, including team travel, serving as a liaison with the training room, equipment room, media relations, strength and conditioning, athletics administration and Home Run Club. He is also the camp director for the Oklahoma Baseball Camp.

The Harrah, Okla., native worked as a student trainer for the University of Oklahoma baseball and football teams from the fall of 1991 to spring of 1995.

In addition, he was the team trainer for the Peninsula Oilers baseball team in Kenai, Alaska, for three years, including the 1993 and 1994 seasons when the Oilers won back-to-back NBC World Series championships.

In 1996, he landed at Oral Roberts University where he served as the baseball team's administrative assistant in 1996 and 1997. Prior to his stint in Norman, he worked in the sporting goods industry as a successful team salesman from August of 1997 to July of 2005.

A graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Gaines received his bachelor's degree in health and sports science in 1996.

Gaines and his wife, Kate, have two children, Hannah (18) and Gabe (14).