Pepper Johnson
No. 52, 53, 99 | |||||||||
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Position: | Linebacker | ||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||
Born: | Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | July 29, 1964||||||||
Height: | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||
Weight: | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||
Career information | |||||||||
High school: | Mackenzie (Detroit, Michigan) | ||||||||
College: | Ohio State (1982–1985) | ||||||||
NFL draft: | 1986 / Round: 2 / Pick: 51 | ||||||||
Career history | |||||||||
As a player: | |||||||||
As a coach: | |||||||||
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Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Player stats at NFL.com · PFR |
Thomas "Pepper" Johnson (born July 29, 1964) is an American football coach and former linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, the first seven of which were for the New York Giants. He won two Super Bowls with the Giants before playing for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
After his playing career ended, Johnson began working as an assistant coach for the
Playing career
College
Upon graduation from Detroit's Mackenzie High School, Johnson played college football for the Ohio State University Buckeyes under head coach Earle Bruce. Johnson lettered every year from 1982 to 1985, and led the team in tackles in 1984 and 1985. He was a team co-captain and named defensive MVP by his teammates in 1984 and 1985, and in 1985 was named as an All-American. Johnson ended his college career with 379 total tackles, 5 sacks, and 12 tackles for loss. He was inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 2001.
NFL
Johnson was
Coaching career
Johnson began his coaching career as an assistant linebackers coach with the Patriots during the 2000 season.[2] Johnson then served as the Patriots' inside linebackers coach from 2001 through 2003, before moving to defensive line coach in 2004. In 2012, he returned to linebackers coach.[3]
With Bill Gutman, Johnson wrote Won For All, an account of the Patriots 2001 championship season, which was published by Contemporary Books, a McGraw-Hill company,
On January 21, 2014, Johnson announced he would be leaving the Patriots. On January 31, 2014, the Buffalo Bills announced Johnson as their new defensive line coach, replacing Anthony Weaver, who left for a similar position in Cleveland. After Doug Marrone quit as the Bills head Coach, Johnson was hired as the Jets Defensive Line coach. He was fired after the 2016 season.[4]
On December 18, 2018, Johnson was hired as the defensive line coach for the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football. In that role, he worked under head coach Mike Singletary.[5] After the league's midseason shutdown in 2019, he joined the Los Angeles Wildcats for the 2020 season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.[6] However, he was fired days after the Wildcats lost the season opener to the Houston Roughnecks 37–17, a game that saw Los Angeles' defense allow four passing touchdowns.[7] In 2021, Johnson was hired as head coach of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Personal life
Johnson's nickname of "Pepper" originated from his aunt who noticed Johnson liked to put
Notes and references
- ^ "1986 NFL Draft Listing". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-10-02.
- ^ a b "Pepper Johnson Biography". New England Patriots. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
- ^ "Assistant coach Pepper Johnson leaving Patriots - the Boston Globe". The Boston Globe.
- ^ "Q&A: Pepper Johnson on Drinking with Bill Belichick, Spygate, and Why the Jets Can't Get It Together". 31 August 2018.
- ^ "Memphis Express Announces Coaching Staff Additions". Alliance of American Football. Retrieved 29 December 2018.
- Profootballtalk.com. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
- ^ Seifert, Kevin (February 10, 2020). "XFL's Wildcats fire defensive coordinator Pepper Johnson after losing opener". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 10, 2020.
External links
- Buffalo Bills biography Archived 2014-07-06 at the Wayback Machine