While Butch Jones has spent the past two years going toe-to-toe with some of the best football programs in the country for highly rated recruits, Johnathon Johnson was not one of those players.
The rising senior wide receiver took a slightly different path to Knoxville, making a pit stop at Blinn College, a junior college. Unlike most junior college prospects, however, Johnson was not there because of his grades.
Out of high school, Johnson was committed to play football for the U.S. Air Force Academy before having a change of heart and taking the “juco” route. From there, a little bit of luck landed him an SEC scholarship offer.
“Coach (Azzani) actually came down to recruit my roommate,” Johnson said. “Then he noticed me on film. I talked to him briefly on the phone the next day, after the spring game. I talked to Coach Jones as well, and they told me they wanted to offer me. I just committed over the phone, I was really excited to be a Vol.”
In his one season at Blinn, Johnson appeared in just four games, recording only 69 receiving yards in an offense that didn’t throw the football much.
With limited opportunities on the field, Johnson relied on film to try and get his name out there to coaches, and his plan worked.
“It was a blessing,” Johnson said of his offer from Tennessee. “It hit me in the face and was a complete surprise. I didn’t come off a huge season. I really just went out there and tried to put film out there for coaches to come look at it, and that’s what happened.”
Johnson appeared in 10 games in a limited role in 2013, his first year in the program, and pulled down 13 catches for 189 yards.
With an improved receiving corps in 2014 Johnson, caught 10 passes for 117 yards, but finally found the end zone as he caught three balls for two touchdowns in a win over UTC on Oct. 11.
With Marquez North and Josh Smith both coming off season-ending injuries and Jason Croom out, this spring has given Johnson a great opportunity to take more reps, an opportunity he has taken advantage of.
“He has taken, we said today at our staff meeting, he has 60 something more reps than anyone else on the team,” wide receivers coach Zach Azzani said. “He’s played almost three-quarters of a season in 11 practices … He’s an absolute warrior for me.”
One word that always shows up when talking about Johnson is ‘consistent.’ Even after picking up a minor injury earlier in the spring, the coaching staff has raved about the Friendswood, Texas, native’s toughness.
“Johnathon has been very very consistent,” head coach Butch Jones said. “He’s been banged up. He’s been injured. He fights through injuries. He’s reliable, he’s consistent, and he makes the plays you expect him to make.”
Jones went on to say that Johnson has been getting reps on special teams, working on punt and kick return as well as the kick-off coverage team.
At 5-foot-9, Johnson is one of the smaller receivers on the team, and he admittedly has struggled at times against more physical defensive backs, but he’s hoping the strength he put on this off-season can help fix that.
“I’ve been getting in the weight room so I’m stronger, so I can beat those press coverages,” Johnson said. “Being a smaller receiver that could hurt me, so beating press coverage can help me get more separation on most of my routes … I actually hit (personal records) on both my bench and squat this off-season. My bench PR was 325 and squat was 450.
While he may not get the same recognition as some of Tennessee’s other high-profile receivers, Azzani praised the skill set that the ‘resilient’ Johnson possesses.
“We have high school coaches and visiting coaches from colleges all the time that come out and go ‘Hey man, who is 81,’” Azzani said. “Cause he’s got a great skill set, he’s just not a towering presence.
“He is a good football player. He’s quick, he’s tough, he’s all those things you want. I say it all the time, if he was 6-foot-5 he’d probably be a first-round draft pick. He’s got those kind of skills.”
