University of Missouri Athletics

Johnson played tackle for the Tigers from 1955 to 1957, then went on to a long and successful career as a football coach. A native of King City, Missouri, he began his career as an assistant at Arkansas under Frank Broyles, for whom he played one season at MU. He then returned to Missouri to work for Dan Devine in 1960-61, before serving another stint at Arkansas from 1962 to 1974. He rejoined Devine at Notre Dame from 1975-78, then moved on to Oklahoma where he coached from 1979 to 1997. He then served 20 years as OU’s director of football operations. He also was the radio analyst for the Sooners from 1999 to 2019. In his 41 years with Oklahoma, he worked 513 consecutive football games and was a part of 33 bowl games, 19 conference titles and two national championships. He is a member of the Oklahoma Coaches Association Hall of Fame and has received the All-American Football Foundation’s Mike Campbell Lifetime Achievement Award and the National Football Foundation Integrity Award.