Taver Johnson (born July 8, 1972) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who is an assistant defensive backs coach for the

Ohio State Buckeyes The Ohio State Buckeyes are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, located in Columbus, Ohio. The athletic programs are named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, ...

. He previously served as an assistant coach for the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. The Browns compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The team is named after ...

, and

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

of the

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

and spent 23 years coaching in the college football ranks. Johnson attended and played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

Wittenberg University Wittenberg University (officially Wittenberg College) is a private liberal arts college in Springfield, Ohio. It has 1,326 full-time students drawn from 33 states and 9 foreign countries. Wittenberg University is associated with the Evangelical ...

(1990–1993), where he was a back-to-back All-American and the All-North Coast Atlantic Conference Defensive Player of the Year in 1992 and 1993.

Coaching career

Early coaching stops

After graduating from Wittenberg, Johnson joined his alma mater's staff and served as the defensive line coach for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. After leaving Wittenberg, Johnson joined the staff at

Millikin University Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA). History Millikin was initially esta ...

in Decatur, Illinois. During his three years at Millikin, Johnson served as the strength and conditioning coach (1996), the linebackers coach (1997) and the defensive coordinator (1998). During his one season as defensive coordinator, Johnson's Millikin team allowed just 14.1 points per game. Johnson served as a graduate assistant for Bob Davie's Notre Dame team.

Miami (Ohio)

In 2000, Johnson left Notre Dame to serve as the linebackers coach at Miami (Ohio). Johnson spent three years at the school and produced four first-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region (North America), Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Its members co ...

selections.

Cleveland Browns

In 2004, Johnson was hired by the

as their assistant special teams coach.

Miami (Ohio)

In 2005, Johnson returned to Miami to serve as the program's defensive coordinator for the 2005 and 2006 seasons. During the 2005 season, Johnson's defensive unit allowed 23.5 points per game, which was the 42nd best mark in the nation. Johnson's 2006 team allowed 25.3 points per game.

Ohio State

In 2007, Johnson joined the

as their defensive backs coach. Johnson would go on to spend five seasons at Ohio State, where he coached three consensus All-Americans in

Malcolm Jenkins Malcolm Jenkins (born December 20, 1987) is an American former professional football player who was a safety for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Ohio State Buckeyes, earning consensus All-Am ...

, Kurt Coleman and Chimdi Chekwa.

Arkansas

In 2011, after

Jim Tressel James Patrick Tressel (born December 5, 1952) is an American politician and retired college football coach who has served as the 67th lieutenant governor of Ohio since 2025. A member of the Republican Party, Tressel previously was the president ...

resigned from Ohio State, Johnson went south to coach the linebackers for

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

in 2012. After

Bobby Petrino Robert Patrick Petrino (born March 10, 1961) is an American college football coach who is the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Arkansas. He served as the head football coach at Missouri State from 2020 to 2022. P ...

resigned as head coach of the Arkansas program, Johnson was named as the interim head coach until John L. Smith accepted the full-time position. Johnson would switch back to coaching defensive backs in 2013.

Purdue

In 2014, Johnson joined the

Purdue Boilermakers The Purdue Boilermakers are the official college athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletics teams representing Purdue University, located in West Lafayette, Indiana. As is common with athletic nicknames, the Boilermakers nickname ...

as their defensive backs coach, spending three years at Purdue for three seasons.

Temple

In January 2017, Johnson was named as the defensive coordinator at

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a place of worship, a building used for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. By convention, the specially built places of worship of some religions are commonly called "temples" in Engli ...

under Geoff Collins, who was named the head coach of the Owls the month prior.

Ohio State

In February 2018, following a one year stint as defensive coordinator at Temple, Johnson re-joined the defensive staff as cornerbacks coach at Ohio State.

Oakland / Las Vegas Raiders

In 2019, Johnson was hired by the

Oakland Raiders The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team based in Oakland, California, from its founding in 1960 to 1981, and again from 1995 to 2019 before Oakland Raiders relocation to Las Vegas, relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan ...

as their assistant defensive backs coach under head coach

Jon Gruden Jon David Gruden (born August 17, 1963) is an American football coach and media personality currently employed by Barstool Sports. After beginning his coaching career in the college ranks and working as a position coach and as an offensive co ...

. In 2021, he was moved to offensive assistant, as new defensive coordinator

Gus Bradley Paul Casey "Gus" Bradley (born July 5, 1966) is an American football coach who is the current assistant head coach for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the Indian ...

had brought several defensive coaches with him from his previous stint with the

Los Angeles Chargers The Los Angeles Chargers are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Chargers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC W ...

Eastern Michigan

In May 2022, Johnson was announced as the defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach at

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, EMich, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern) is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1849 as the Michigan State Normal School, it was the fourth normal school (teachers' ...

. He replaced Fred Reed, who died earlier that month. Eastern Michigan Head Coach

Chris Creighton Christopher William Creighton (born February 7, 1969) is an American football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach at Eastern Michigan University, a position he has held since the 2014 season. Creighton has served as the head ...

said, "Thinking about the need to find a new coach has felt wrong, uncomfortable, and seemingly impossible. Thankfully, through the natural course of coaches who knew Fred reaching out to offer their condolences, we found the right fit. We thought it would be ideal if we could find a candidate who knew Fred, and had significant relevant coaching experience along with the maturity, sensitivity, and emotional intelligence to be able to come into this very complicated situation. Coach Johnson is this person and he really wants to be here. He will join us in honoring Coach Reed, as we give everything we have to make this program and this team the very best it can be both on and off the field."

Personal life

Johnson and his wife have a son and a daughter.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Taver 1972 births Living people Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Arkansas Razorbacks football coaches Purdue Boilermakers football coaches Temple Owls football coaches Wittenberg Tigers football coaches Wittenberg Tigers football players Millikin Big Blue football coaches Notre Dame Fighting Irish football coaches Miami RedHawks football coaches Cleveland Browns coaches Las Vegas Raiders coaches Oakland Raiders coaches Coaches of American football from Ohio Players of American football from Cincinnati