Brian Johnson played for Dan Mullen at Utah and worked for him at Mississippi State. Johnson recently added offensive coordinator duties to his role as quarterbacks coach. (Photo: Kevin Camps/UAA Communications)
Brian Johnson: A Q&A with Florida's First Black Offensive Coordinator
Tuesday, September 22, 2020 | Football, Scott Carter
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By: Scott Carter, Senior Writer
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- The Dan Mullen-Brian Johnson connection covers more than half of the 33-year-old Johnson's life. As a senior quarterback at Lee High on the outskirts of Houston in 2003, Johnson discovered his mailbox empty of offers from state schools.
Fortunately for Johnson, then-Utah quarterbacks coach Dan Mullen was a fan and viewed Johnson as a future replacement for Alex Smith in Urban Meyer's multiple-spread offense. By the time Johnson's turn arrived to lead the Utes' offense, Mullen and Meyer were long gone and directing the Gators to a pair of national championships over a three-year span.
When Kyle Whittingham hired him to become Utah's quarterbacks coach in 2010, Johnson was only 22. Two years later, Whittingham named Johnson Utah's offensive coordinator, making him the youngest offensive coordinator in college football at the time, replacing then-26-year-old (and current Oklahoma head coach) Lincoln Riley at East Carolina.
Gators offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, left, with current Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and UF Athletic Director Scott Stricklin during their time together at Mississippi State University. (Photo: Courtesy of MSU)
You could say Johnson has been on the profession's fast track since he replaced his helmet with a pair of headphones on game day. More proof of that was revealed Monday when the Gators released their 2020 media guide heading into Saturday's season opener at Ole Miss.
There was a notable addition in Johnson's job title: offensive coordinator.
Florida's quarterbacks coach the past two seasons, Johnson's career received a boost recently when Mullen gave him a promotion, marking the third time in Johnson's career that he has been an offensive coordinator. Not only is it significant for Johnson, but the move is historic for the UF program. Johnson is the first African-American to serve as the Gators offensive coordinator, a fact pointed out to Johnson's surprise on Monday night by veteran UF beat writer Mark Long of the Associated Press.
"I didn't realize that," Johnson said. "If that is the case, it's obviously something to be very, very proud of. I haven't looked that up, so I'm not sure. But it's definitely something to be proud of, for sure."
No need for Johnson to look it up. It's true. While the Gators previously have never had a Black offensive coordinator, Randy Shannon, Teryl Austin and Charlie Strong have served as defensive coordinator. Strong was the first African-American defensive coordinator in school history when he was hired for the position in January 2003 by Ron Zook. The first minority coordinator in school history? Syrian-born defensive coordinator Zavien Yaralien in the mid-1980s.
According to an AP analysis of all 130 Football Bowl Subdivision schools in February, seven schools had Black offensive coordinators and four others had Black coaches with a co-coordinator title.
In Mullen's first two seasons, offensive line coach John Hevesy and receivers coach Billy Gonzales shared the title of co-offensive coordinator. In the new arrangement, Gonzales is now the passing-game coordinator and Hevesy the running-game coordinator.
Here is a Q&A with Johnson from Monday night related to the news: BRIAN JOHNSON Q&A
Q: How does your role change with the promotion?
A: Obviously our entire offensive staff has been together for a really long time. I talked to Coach Mullen, we talked probably before all this COVID stuff hit and obviously 2020's been a very weird year, so I guess it kind of just got lost in the sauce a little bit, but excited to make sure that we go out there and compete at a really high level on a consistent basis each and every week.
Q: What are the logistics of the move?
A: I don't know how much will change from a day-to-day aspect. Like I said, we have a lot of continuity on our staff, so our schedule and our routine is pretty set in terms of how we operate on a daily basis. In terms of game day, I've always been really heavily involved, myself and Coach Mullen, determining how we call the game and what we're calling and what we're running. From a logistical standpoint, I don't know how much [will] change in terms of our day-to-day operation.
Q: Are you excited by the title?
A: Yeah, definitely. It's really exciting. We have great players here and a great coaching staff. I'm excited to get that opportunity and help our team go out there and perform at a really high level.
Q: How much was a promotion to offensive coordinator discussed when you came here?
A: It's just a really unique situation because, obviously, I've known Coach a really long time, worked together a really long time -- as with everybody on the offensive staff with John and Billy and Knox, as well. Even when we were at Mississippi State we had a system in place of how everything worked on game day and throughout the course of the week. It's always been a really collaborative effort in terms of our plan. And you know one of things we always talk about is we really do most of the work calling the game on Monday through Thursday. When you get out there on the field it becomes a little bit of instincts and things take over. For the most part, you do your work early and the guys put in together and we've been very collaborative during the course of our careers together.
Q: Is that familiarity more important in dealing with COVID?
A: I think it's a huge deal just in terms of being ready to make adjustments. I think 2020 is a year where everybody has to be as flexible as possible. The fact that we have a lot of people on our staff who have been together and know the problems of what defenses are trying to do to you and have the adjustments ready to go and be able to present that and teach it very quickly and get it fixed on the sideline. That's something that's going to be very important to do this year. It definitely is a huge positive for us, I think.
Q: Did you have offers to leave UF in the offseason that played a role in promotion?
A: Not necessarily, no. Like I said, it was something that Coach Mullen and I kind of talked about for a little while. I think for him it was the perfect opportunity to make everything kind of fit into place. I don't know in terms of our day-to-day operation … I think we'll continue to have a really collaborative effort. Obviously, when your head coach is very involved in the offense, it's a little bit different. He knows the ability to advance in this profession, being a quarterbacks coach is a pipeline to that and it's something that's his specialty and he's done a good job helping me throughout the course of my career and helping me develop as a coach each and every day.
Q: Hope you weren't blindsided by any of that?
A: No, it was a good question. I just hadn't given it much thought to be completely honest with you. I mean, obviously that narrative has been out there in terms of guys climbing the ladder from an offensive perspective, kind of goes through that quarterback pipeline. There's definitely some truth to that. At the end of the day, I just want to make sure that our guys play really, really well and consistent week in and week out and I've always been under the impression that you know, be where your feet are and make sure you can do the best job that you can in your current position and good things happen.
