HOOVER – Ala. Some players pay attention to records more so than others, but that is not the case for one of the top tackles in Tennessee football history.
Throughout A.J. Johnson’s career at Tennessee he has been a tackle machine.
In 18 of his 36 career starts the Vols senior linebacker has recorded double digits in tackles, earning him a chance to make a huge climb in Tennessee record books this season.
While he is currently outside of the program’s all-time top 10 leading tacklers, with 324 career bring downs, Johnson can move all the way up to second on the list if he can record 90 tackles in the 2014 season.
This shouldn’t be a challenge for the Preseason First Team All-SEC selection, as he totaled a conference leading 138 tackles as a sophomore and 106 as a junior.
“When people tell me stuff like that I wouldn’t even know it happened if they hadn’t,” Johnson said at SEC Media Days July 15. “If I see it on Twitter I would think that it was cool, but I don’t feed into anything like that.”
Tennessee’s middle linebacker already ranks third in school history for the most assisted tackles at 164, but he wouldn’t know that either.
“All I know is each day I am going to go the hardest I can and be the best I can,” he said. “It would be great for me to break records but I am more worried about the team and what we are going to do the first game. The focus is on this season and not myself.”
Johnson made the decision to come back for his final season despite being projected to be picked up in the later rounds of the NFL Draft.
“It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve had to make so far,” he said. “There were two things that really sold me on coming back to Tennessee. I came here to build the program up and help bring back a winning program. I have one more year to do that and get some wins and leave a winner.”
Something else that factored into the student-athletes’ decision was his education, as he realizes that life is more than just about football.
“I get to graduate in December and leave with a degree,” he said. “That’s going to help me throughout life.”
When considering the pros and cons of his decision, the communications major also couldn’t look past the importance of getting to play with his best friend for one more season.
“Curt (Maggitt) didn’t pressure me or anything,” he said. “He just let me play it out and talked with me throughout the decision. I know he has my back and I have his. We’ve been roommates since freshman year, it all plays together.”
While the Vols have continued to bring in huge recruits this off-season, second-year head coach Butch Jones said that the teams biggest ‘brick’ was the return of their senior leader.
“We are excited to have A.J. back,” Jones said at SEC Media Days in Hoover, Alabama. “He means so much to our football team, being our middle linebacker. He’s the quarterback of our defense.”
While the Gainesville, Georiga native is considered one of the best linebackers in the country for the upcoming 2014 season, Jones said he believes Johnson has the opportunity to be even better this season.
“Returning gives him the opportunity to improve his coverage skills,” Jones said. “It can also help him with his overall knowledge of the game, and to get bigger and stronger as well as be able to play at the next level.”
This season Johnson will not be anxious to see his name among the tackle leaders after the games, instead he will be focused on helping his team add to the win column.
