Cal Has Their Strength Coach: Brian Johnson
Per Football Scoop, Cal has found their new head strength and conditioning coach. Brian Johnson, who spent the past three seasons at the University of Arizona, will reportedly be replacing Torre Becton, who left for the Texas strength and conditioning job last week. Johnson comes to the Bears from Arkansas State, where he had just been hired as their head strength and conditioning coach (with the assistant AD for athletic performance title).
In Johnson, Cal is getting a former SEC and NFL offensive lineman who has experience at multiple FBS programs. In addition to his time at Arizona, he has also worked at LSU, Florida State, and Texas A&M as an assistant strength and conditioning coach, also spending 2012 as the head strength and conditioning coach at Akron. Johnson has spent time in the Bay Area, working as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with the San Francisco 49ers in 2015-16.
Johnson was an all-SEC lineman at LSU, playing for the Arizona Cardinals, Baltimore Ravens and Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL. A back surgery that ended his playing career led him to working for his old offensive coordinator, Jimbo Fisher, at Florida State, which led him down the strength and conditioning path. Johnson also overlapped with Cal defensive backs coach Marcel Yates, who was Arizona's defensive coordinator from 2016-2019.
Update: January 15th, 3:35 PM
Cal has officially announced the hire of Johnson as their new Head Football Performance Athletic Coach.
"Brian will be a tremendous asset to our football program," Justin Wilcox said in a release. "He has been an integral part of several top football strength & conditioning programs over the past decade at the highest levels of collegiate and professional football, and that experience will allow him to hit the ground running. His ability to develop and motivate our student-athletes through hard work and character building in addition to his scientific and data-driven approach align well with the philosophy of our football program.""I want to enhance the tremendous culture that coach Wilcox and his staff have already built at Cal by echoing the messages they are already giving to our student-athletes," Johnson said. "I'm looking forward to becoming part of this environment while building relationships and trust with a great group of young men who share the hunger of our coaching staff to win championships. I will do everything the game demands to prepare our student-athletes for practice and competition while always making sure to keep the health, safety and well-being of our student-athletes front and center in all of our decision-making and training methods. I will also work closely with university and community health officials on the strict COVID-19 protocols needed to keep our student-athletes as safe as possible."
"Brian joins us with over a decade of collegiate and professional strength & conditioning experience, and he is the perfect choice for the leadership of our football athletic performance program," added assistant athletic director for athletic performance Mike Blasquez. "Brian's coaching style and philosophy optimally integrates the use of scientific principles, character building and objective physiologic performance data to maximize player development, team culture and injury prevention. Brian will have an immediate positive impact on the direction of Cal football."