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    How WR Kenny Johnson is finding a comfort zone with Texas Tech football

    Don Williams, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
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    4 min read

    When Kenny Johnson was a high school football  prospect in Pennsylvania , recruiting services listed 16 colleges offering him scholarships, nine from power conferences.

    You might say the talented wide receiver had his pick. He had time, too, given that recruitment of high school players tends to unfold over weeks and months — a few years even. Ultimately, he chose Pittsburgh over West Virginia , Boston College , Rutgers, and Penn State .

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    The recruiting process in the NCAA transfer portal isn't like that, especially after the portal window was condensed this year to one two-week period in January.

    "How it is now, it's quick," Johnson said this week. "You've got to go on your visits, and you've got to make your decision fast, because those spots fill up fast. It was a lot different, a lot more stressful."

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    Texas Tech receivers coach Justin "Juice" Johnson looks on during spring football practice, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Womble Football Center.
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    See photos of the Texas Tech football team's 2026 spring practices

    Texas Tech receivers coach Justin "Juice" Johnson looks on during spring football practice, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Womble Football Center.

    When the former Pittsburgh wide receiver/return man landed in Lubbock and stepped inside the Texas Tech football facilities , however, all things were made clear.

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    "Honestly, I don't know why I was thinking of any other school, to be honest," said Johnson, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound senior. "I mean, I took one visit here and that's all I needed to see."

    The Red Raiders will be one-third of the way through spring practice after their workout on Saturday, March 28. Tech coach Joey McGuire said Johnson so far has fit in as well as the Red Raiders could have hoped.

    "One, he's one of the guys you love being around," McGuire said. "He's got a million-dollar smile. He's always happy. He's always smiling.

    "He's doing a really good job of learning the offense. We're doing some different things on offense, moving our receivers around in different spots, and he's really picking it up. He's got really good hands."

    Texas Tech's Kenny Johnson goes through warmups during spring football practice, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Womble Football Center.
    Texas Tech's Kenny Johnson goes through warmups during spring football practice, Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at the Womble Football Center.

    Johnson, born in Baltimore, spent his middle and high school years in York, Pennsylvania. His father's in the U.S. Army. He starred at Dallastown Area High School and won MVP honors of the prestigious Big 33 all-star game with a 9-catch, 161-yard performance. Then it was off to Pitt, where he played in 38 games over the past three seasons, never redshirting.

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    As a Panthers freshman in 2023, he caught 15 passes for 122 yards and a touchdown in 12 games. In 2024, he caught 46 passes for 537 yards and 3 TDs, and last year he caught 48 passes for 695 yards and 5 TDs. His numbers the past two years were similar to what 2025 Tech seniors Caleb Douglas and Reggie Virgil put up.

    He's part of a portal receiver class that also includes outside receivers Donte Lee Jr. from Liberty and Malcolm Simmons from Auburn, and inside receiver Jalen Jones from Alabama State. They join returning starter Coy Eakin and Micah Hudson , the returning receiver with the next-best numbers.

    "It's insane," Johnson said. "We've got maybe four or five number ones. We've got some dudes, and we're making plays every day."

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    Johnson suggests it's not that difficult to make plays with the quality of quarterbacking the Red Raiders are seeing in spring practice from Brendan Sorsby , the Cincinnati transfer who was second-team all-Big 12 last season. The 6-3, 235-pound senior from Corinth Lake Dallas last season threw for 2,800 yards and 27 touchdowns and ran for 580 yards and, for the second year in a row, 9 TDs.

    "I've had some talented quarterbacks," Johnson said, "and I've never seen the pop that comes off the ball (out of) his hand. It's insane. The throws that he makes — like on the run, rolling to his left, getting his hips square, getting the ball down the field.

    "And he's smart. He's making checks at the line, and we've been here for, like, three weeks. He's doing a great job."

    Tech plans to put Johnson to work beyond wide receiver, given his background as a return man.

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    He had a kickoff-return touchdown against North Carolina in 2023 and a punt-return touchdown at Syracuse in 2025. For his career, Johnson's averaged 23.0 yards on 42 kickoff returns and 10.2 yards on 24 punt returns.

    Johnson said he returned kickoffs in high school, and Pitt didn't use him to return punts until his sophomore year. But when Panthers coaches trotted him out in that role, it worked out well. Now his new coach calls him "a legitimate punt returner."

    "He has got a skill set at punt return — him and Malcolm Simmons — and so I'm excited," McGuire said. "He's doing a good job of fielding punts, and that'll bring a lot to the table. ... He is a natural. He's done it. At Pittsburgh, he did it at a really high level."

    This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Kenny Johnson is finding a comfort zone with Texas Tech football

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