Reports: Craig Johnson to be Associate Head Coach and Running Backs Coach
/Written by: TJ Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)
Matt Weaver of peegs.com has reported Craig Johnson has been hired as IU’s new associate head coach and running backs coach. The position was vacant after Deland McCullough left Bloomington to be the running backs coach at Notre Dame.
Craig Johnson was most recently a senior analyst at Maryland (2020) but prior to that, he has a wealth of experience in the sport. A former quarterback at Wyoming, Johnson began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Wyoming in 1983 before one season at Arkansas. He was the RB/FB coach at Army in 1985 and then at Rutgers from 1986-1988 before getting a chance to run the offense at VMI from 1989 to 1991. Northwestern hired him to be the quarterback coach in 1992 and he stayed in Evanston until 1996 before moving to Maryland to be the offensive coordinator and quarterback coach for three seasons. He moved to the NFL in 2000, becoming an offensive assistant and quality control coach and then moved up to quarterback coach from 2002 to 2009. He helped Steve McNair progress and earn MVP honors and helped Vince Young win Rookie of the Year in 2006 and then was the running back coach in 2010, helping Chris Johnson become a breakout star. The Minnesota Vikings hired him to be their quarterback coach from 2011 to 2013 and he moved to New York as the running back coach for the Giants from 2014 to 2019. His time there included work with star Saquon Barkley.
Johnson and current Indiana strength coach Aaron Wellman were both members of the Giants staff and that connection may have helped facilitate the interest for both sides. The coaching pedigree and resume of Craig Johnson is extremely impressive. The question that only time can answer is whether or not Johnson can sell that experience to high school recruits and help get talent to Bloomington. Hoosier Huddle will have continuing coverage of this hire and developing story.