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Texas Tech Football Hires Kevin Johns As Offensive Coordinator

ByMatthew Conner|
AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders surveys the field as the team arrives before the game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - NOVEMBER 24: Head coach Kliff Kingsbury of the Texas Tech Red Raiders surveys the field as the team arrives before the game against the Texas Longhorns at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on November 24, 2017 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images)

Kevin Johns has been hired to be the new offensive coordinator at Texas Tech.  Here’s what fans need to know about the newest member of Kliff Kingsbury’s staff.

On Tuesday, Kliff Kingsbury made the most important hire of the offseason. The Texas Tech football head coach tabbed Western Michigan offensive coordinator Kevin Johns to same position  filling the opening left by the departure of Eric Morris who left to become the head coach at Incarnate Word.

Johns’ hiring signifies a change in philosophy for Kingsbury.  His previous two offensive coordinators (Morris and Sonny Cumbie) were former Texas Tech players with experience both coaching and playing in the Air Raid  offense.  However, last year’s offense was at times stagnant and ineffective prompting Kingsbury to look outside the Red Raider family to bring in a coach with a new perspective.

That is not to say that Johns is unfamiliar with spread offenses.  To the contrary, Johns’ resume includes a six-year run at Indiana where he coordinated one of the most high-powered spread offenses in the nation.

"“[Indiana] rewrote the school record book during his tenure as Indiana regularly ranked among the Big Ten’s top offensive units. Indiana snapped 54 school records over his six seasons and the Hoosiers led the conference in passing yards from 2012-15” according to TexasTech.com.“During that same time, Indiana ranked second each year in total yards and fourth in rushing yards per game. The Hoosiers were second in passing offense and third in total offense during his final season in 2016.”"

But while Johns is well-versed in the passing game, his major draw to Kingsbury could be his innovative nature to running the ball out of the spread.  Despite popular misconceptions to the contrary, Kingsbury has always valued the ground game in his offense and there is reason to believe that Kevin Johns could boost the Red Raider running attack.

"TexasTech.com reports, “Johns created one of the Big Ten’s top units while maintaining a balanced offense as Indiana became just the fourth team in FBS history to have a 3,500-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and a 1,000-yard receiver during the 2015 season. That same year, Indiana led the Big Ten for total offense, scoring offense and passing offense, marking the first time a Big Ten team had led the league in all three categories since Ohio State in 1995.The Hoosiers set the school single-season record with 3,163 rushing yards in 2014 after averaging 263.6 yards per game on the ground, which ranked ninth nationally and third in the Big Ten. It came just a year after the Hoosiers were one of six schools nationally to rank in the top 30 for scoring, passing and rushing offense and one of three programs to average over 300 passing yards and 200 rushing yards.”"

Last year at Western Michigan, Johns led an offense that averaged over 220 yards per game on the ground.  Conversely, Texas Tech averaged just over 140 yards per game last season.

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The hiring of Kevin Johns is also telling in regards to what Kingsbury felt his coaching staff needed.  As the search for a new offensive coordinator played out, many wondered if Kingsbury would hire an ace recruiter who would be enticed to come to Texas Tech by the opportunity to hold the title of offensive coordinator  but who would not be as involved with the game plan as a traditional OC.

However, Johns has no ties to Texas at all meaning any recruiting he does will likely be through new connections he makes after arriving in Lubbock.  On the other hand, he has coached on the offensive staff of the top two spread offenses in the Big 10 (Indiana and Northwestern).  He does have experience calling plays and many have wondered if Kingsbury would hand over those duties to his offensive coordinator this season.

There has been no indication about what Johns’ role will be on game day but his history of calling plays is intriguing.  This is the first OC ever to be on Kingsbury’s staff with such experience so it will be interesting to see if this is a sign that Kingsbury is looking to give that huge responsibility to his new hire.

In addition to being the offensive coordinator, Johns will also be the inside receiver coach.  Developing new inside receivers will be critical to the 2018 Texas Tech offense.  Both starting inside receivers from 2017, Keke Coutee and Cam Batson.

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With Kevin Johns on board, Kingsbury still has two positions to fill on his coaching staff.  Texas Tech still needs to replace departed running backs coach Jabbar Juluke, and fill the recently added 10th assistant coaching spot which was approved by the NCAA for the upcoming season.

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