Q&A: Michael Johnson Sr. opens up about his son and PSU staff

Penn State signs plenty of prospects with fathers that coach football.

But it's not often that the Nittany Lions sign a prospect whose father coaches at a separate Power Five program. In adding QB Michael Johnson Jr. to the Class of 2019, though, that's exactly what James Franklin and his coaching staff did.

His father, Michael Johnson, currently coaches the wide receivers at the University of Oregon but has been in coaching for two decades now, most of his years spent working in the NFL.

We caught up with Johnson recently to discuss not only his son and his recruitment, but what he saw from Franklin and the rest of his staff that earned his stamp of approval.

Our Q&A, below:

Snyder: Can you talk about Michael’s youth as it relates to football? When did he start playing the sport? Was he always a quarterback?

Johnson: He first started playing around 7 years old. That was for a flag football team in Baltimore when I was with the Ravens. He started out playing wide receiver, but when he moved to tackle football the next year, he played a little bit of both, wide receiver and quarterback. By the time he turned 9, that’s when he started focusing specifically on quarterback. He played free safety on defense, but that’s when he started really focusing on quarterback. He played defense until he was probably 13 or so. That’s when he stopped playing defense altogether and just focused on being a quarterback.

Snyder: When did you know that Mike was going to be a special athlete? Was there any moment playing youth ball or early in his high school career that really stood out to you?

Johnson: He started to stand out probably when he was around 11 or 12. That’s when you saw his coordination compared to other kids. He also had the size. But also, he was a very good track athlete. He was hurdler and when he was 12 years old, he finished second in the country at the USATF Track & Field Championships. He ran the hurdles for another couple years, until he was 13 or 14 before deciding that he didn’t want to do that anymore. But that was important for him. That was part of his development as an athlete. When you’re young, it’s important to play baseball, play basketball and run track. All of those things help you as an athlete, especially with football. Things like lateral quickness, judging a ball, how to throw a ball, all of those types of things are important.

Snyder: You became the head coach at King’s Academy in California and coached Michael his first two years. What was that experience like? You coached in the NFL and college, so what was it like coaching your son at that level?

Johnson: Well first, let me give you the whole background. I started working with him when he was probably in eighth grade. I would have him do different drops and workouts that I actually learned from Norv Turner. Basically, you start him with a one-step drop, three-step drop, then five, plant and throw, things like that. I worked with him like that throughout eighth, ninth and tenth grade and all of it was under center. The development that I did with him was always something that I did with pro quarterbacks. As you can probably imagine, with a young quarterback, that was never something he really liked. He just wanted to go out on the field and have fun. Honestly, I was probably a little more serious about his development than he was at that point.

But looking back, he still built the muscle memory and the little things that he’s going to need. When I was coaching him at King’s Academy, I would spend 10 minutes everyday with him working on pass protection pickups. I would force him to do different line calls, even though he would never see those blitzes in high school. So, he has a background with some of these things that most young quarterbacks don’t.

Now, since we moved to Eugene, he hasn’t done any of that. He’s been in a shotgun the entire time and they ran a run-based offense. In my opinion, his passing regressed a little bit because of that, but I know he’s going to pick up on these things again once he gets to work on them because he has the muscle memory. That’s why I always wanted to do that stuff with him because, like I said, I knew around that age that he had the potential.

Now, in regards to your question, I thought those two years at King’s Academy were the best two years of my life. Even though I wasn’t coaching at the top level and doing the things that I love about my profession, it helped me develop my son and gave him an opportunity to play at a level like Penn State. That’s the part that I’m really thankful for.

Snyder: Appreciate the background info. When you decided to make the move back to the college game, what was it like having a son that was also going to be recruited by many of the programs you’re competing against?

Johnson: When I got to Oregon, I told Willie Taggart and the coaches there that I’m not going to recruit my son. So, if we wanted Mike to come to the University of Oregon, we would have to recruit him like everyone else. I taught my son from a young age that you go where you’re wanted, that you go where you feel you fit in best. His decision was about going where he’s comfortable and finding a school that fit him when it comes to their system. All of those types of things were what he looked at the most. The one thing, looking back, that I’m happy about and proud of is that, out of his four or five schools that he was considering towards the end, all of them had great leaders of men in charge of the program. That was something I wanted for him. I wanted someone that wasn’t going to treat him just as a football player, but also teach him the traits that’ll make him a good father, husband and person in the community.

That’s something that I think is important and James Franklin was at the top of that list. I was at a camp during Mike’s recruiting visit [to Penn State], so I didn’t get the chance to come, but I did listen in over FaceTime. The one thing that really stuck out to me about Franklin was that he said he didn’t like average people. I remember him saying, ‘if you don’t go to class, you’re not going to like me very well. If you don’t practice hard, you’re not going to like me very well.’ Those are the things that, if Mike gets those things and someone pushes him to that level of accountability, the sky’s the limit. I truly believe that. Then, it comes down to how hard he’s willing to compete for a spot. If it’s something he really wants, he’s going to have the chance to go get it. But before you get the chance to do all of that, you have to understand that being early is being on time. You have to go to class and do all the little things right. That’s why I wanted him in that kind of culture and Coach Franklin’s program fit all of that. I actually just got the chance to go see Penn State for myself this past weekend. That was the first time I was there. After seeing the place, seeing the town and everything about the place, I could definitely see why Mike liked the place. It fits who he is and his personality. It’s everything he’s looking for in a school.

Snyder: Did you get the chance to speak with Franklin at all this past weekend? I know he had to head out of town for the AFCA convention, but did you get the chance to speak with him briefly?

Johnson: I did, but it was just for a couple minutes. He was there in the morning, when all the [coaches] came in and gave their messages to the early enrollees. But he was probably there for only an hour or so before he had to leave and head out to the convention. But I did get the chance to speak with him for a few minutes.

Snyder: When I spoke with Mike a few months before he committed, he told me that you had a previous relationship with Ja’Juan Seider. I believe you were with the Chargers when he was drafted? Did that relationship have any impact on you approving of Penn State? Also, do you have any other previous relationships with any of the coaches at Penn State?

Johnson: Yeah, we drafted Ja’Juan Seider in the sixth round that year. It was actually the same draft that Tom Brady came out in. See, I actually have relationships with a few of the coaches on their staff. Like we said, I coached Seider in San Diego. With James Franklin, I knew him going back to his time at Idaho State. When I was at Oregon State, he was recruiting [Los Angeles], so I met him then. I actually played with Terry Smith. I was the quarterback for the Shreveport Pirates in the Canadian Football League and Terry was my receiver at the time. So, I have multiple connections to the staff at Penn State. One thing I have to say about all of them is that they’re all good people.

Snyder: Did you participate in any of the in-home visits with Franklin or Ricky Rahne when they came to the house? As someone that’s been around college football, you know what to expect from these in-home visits and how different coaches go about them. Was there anything that stood out to you about the Penn State staff when they came to your house?

Johnson: Yeah, I was there for the in-home visits. The one thing that I know about James Franklin, and now I’m learning about Ricky Rahne, is that they have a consistent message. He has a certain way that he wants to build his culture at Penn State. When you try to build a champion and build that culture the right way, where you have accountability, responsibility, everyone being selfless, having a great work ethic, all of those types of things, you can’t have a mixed message. During the home visit, James’ message was very consistent with everything I had already heard. When I went to Penn State this weekend then, and sat down and listened to him again, it was a very similar message. It’s always about you being the very best you can be every single day. You probably saw on the internet how he makes the [early enrollees] come in and sit in the front row during their first class at Penn State. He then sends back, ‘that’s great, but lets do that for the next four years.’

That’s what I like. That’s the level of accountability that I like for my son. High school kids don’t always have to be that accountable. They can get away with that. Now, when you’re playing Ohio State and Michigan and all the other excellent programs in that conference, and you’re playing against all the excellent athletes that you just played against in the Under Armour All-America Game, you can’t get away with the little things, especially if you’re the quarterback. You have to be the face of team, so you have to be accountable. All of those little things are important, so that’s why I like Franklin’s message. Other than that, from talking and communicating, we know that their coaches have the same values and core beliefs that we have as a family. If you can find that at a good school where there are good players and good competition, that’s a home run for everyone.