Florida Gators

GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Brian Johnson has experienced an eventful first season as Florida's offensive coordinator.

The Gators opened the season with a 642-yard outburst in a victory at Ole Miss, quarterback Kyle Trask emerged as Heisman Trophy candidate, Florida beat Georgia for the first time under head coach Dan Mullen, and on Saturday at Neyland Stadium, the Gators clinched the SEC East and berth in the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2016.

Along the way, the 33-year-old Johnson has become a hot name in the coaching world.
 

Case in point: he interviewed for the South Carolina job last week and on Tuesday, Johnson was among 56 nominees for the Broyles Award, which honors the nation's top assistant coach. The winner last season was Joe Brady, LSU's passing game coordinator who helped the Tigers win a national title and quarterback Joe Burrow win the Heisman Trophy.

Johnson joined Mullen's inaugural UF staff in 2018 and prior to the season added offensive coordinator to his job title. A former standout quarterback at Utah, Johnson is also Florida's quarterbacks coach. The Gators are ranked 12th nationally in total offense (502.9 yards per game), 10th in scoring offense (42.0 points per game) and lead the country in passing offense (376.7 ypg) behind Trask, who has thrown for 3,243 yards, 38 touchdowns and only three interceptions.

Florida's explosive offense has boosted Johnson's status.

"He's obviously a great coach at his position,'' Mullen said last week. "Extremely smart, extremely involved in game planning as far as an offensive guy goes. The ability to be a great play-caller and to design offenses. And even though he's young, a really mature guy for his age. He's always been a mature guy and he's going to be a great head coach one of these days as soon as someone gives him his opportunity."

Johnson interviewed for the first time to become a head coach last week when he spoke to South Carolina about its vacancy. The Gamecocks hired 43-year-old Shane Beamer, but Johnson got valuable experience and is expected to one day get a shot at running his own program.

Johnson first made waves as an assistant coach in 2010 when he was hired to become Utah's quarterbacks coach before turning 23, making him the country's youngest assistant coach at the time. He has worked for Mullen at Mississippi State and Florida.

"I'm just really grateful for the opportunity and really grateful for everything I've learned from him,'' Johnson said after Monday night's practice. "I'm really appreciative of how he's really put people in a position to advance their careers and become a better football coach and develop as a football coach. I can't say enough about how I appreciate that from him.

"Ultimately, I think at the end of the day when you get in this profession and you do a good job, people notice. And you get opportunities. It was good to get those reps, but I'm really looking forward to what we have going on here, it's always great to be a Gator, and it's a big challenge this week against LSU."

Mullen isn't Johnson's only fan. Trask expects to see him become a head coach when the right opportunity comes along.

"He's a natural leader and knows how to score points and he's played in big games,'' Trask said Monday. "I think he would make a great head coach."