Justin Johnson has been going by the nickname "Juice" since he was 11 or 12 years old. His mother, his wife and fellow Texas Tech football assistant coach Kenny Perry, he says, are the only people at the moment who insist on calling him by his given name.
The nickname is a nod to his animated way of going about his football business. It dates to his days playing youth sports.
"I've typically got high energy," he said Saturday. "I'm coaching 24/7. I'm a little louder than most, right? Maybe a little more aggressive.
"So playing AAU ball, jumping on the ground, diving for the ball, just a lot of energy. And so they were like, 'Man, he's got a little more juice than everybody.' So 'Juice' just kind of stuck."
Tech coach Joey McGuire hired Johnson on Jan. 11 as assistant head coach, passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach.
Not even Myles Price claims to exceed Johnson when it comes to overt enthusiasm. That's saying something, because Price is a live wire, one of the smallest players on the team, but probably the loudest personality.
"Juice has probably got me," in that department," Price said. "Coach Juice gives me juice sometimes. ... It's just something about it. He's different."
Johnson says he's a stickler for detail, though, making sure the players under him do all the little things right. In an individual drill Saturday, he said, "We're talking about a half step here, a hand placement here, eyes here.
"We talk about, those things can cost you. We can't have a lapse of detail for not one play, not one play. So (I'm) obsessing over that and then getting these guys to obsess over wanting to be the best version of themselves."
Price said messages such as those resonate.
"I love that about him," Price said, "because sometimes you may get tired. We're getting so many reps, you may get tired, but he won't let you forget about the details. It can be something so small as your inside foot needs to be in. He won't let you forget that. Have a good posture when you're going to block. Everything is so attention to detail.
"I think it's going to be big for us, because sometimes you may get sloppy during the year. You may be tired. But with him not letting you think about those other things, it's huge for us, because now we're thinking, 'OK, you're tired. What do I have to really do?' Lock in on small details, so you can make the big play."
Johnson, a 2007 graduate of Richardson Berkner, played running back, tight end and receiver from 2008-11 at the University of Houston. When Tech beat Houston 35-20 in a 2010 regular-season finale at Jones Stadium, Johnson caught five passes for 63 yards and a touchdown, a detail he remembered during a post-practice interview Saturday after the Red Raiders' third session of spring football.
As a senior in 2011, he caught 87 passes for 1,229 yards and 12 touchdowns, earning first-team all-Conference USA.
Johnson's time as a player at Houston overlapped with that of former Tech coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was on the Cougars' staff from 2008-11, and former Tech receiver and assistant coach Eric Morris, who started his coaching career from 2010-11 at UH. North Texas in December chose Morris to be its head coach.
"Very familiar with Kliff," Johnson said. "I actually went out to the (Arizona) Cardinals when he was there with the Cardinals this past year and hung out with him a little bit there. Him and coach Eric Morris that was over there at UNT, a lot of those guys were at Houston when we were there. So I'm very familiar with Kliff and (have) a lot of respect for what he does."
Johnson started his coaching career as an offensive quality control staffer at Houston (2012), a graduate assistant at Texas A&M (2013) and an offensive analyst at Kansas (2016-17). Then he moved up to wide receivers coach at Kansas (2018) and running backs coach at Houston (2019) and Baylor (2020-22).
He presided over a pair of the Big 12's best running backs the past two years: Abram Smith, who ran for 1,601 yards and 12 touchdowns on Baylor's 12-2 Sugar Bowl champion in 2021, and Richard Reese, who rushed for 972 yards and 14 TDs as a freshman last season.
Tech hired Johnson the day after Oklahoma announced its hire of Emmett Jones off the Red Raiders' staff. Johnson's among 10 young Tech staff members McGuire knew from their time together at Baylor. Most of those 10 moved from lower-level positions on Dave Aranda's staff to more responsibility at Tech.
Asked if his jumping on the Waco-to-Lubbock train was a reflection of McGuire's magnetism, Johnson said, "Joey definitely has magnetism. We all know what type of guy coach McGuire is. I pride myself on having a lot of energy, and I think we're both cut kind of from that same cloth.
"Things worked out and timing was right, and it was a great opportunity for me," he said. "I know a bunch of the guys on staff. Being able to come in and work with coach (tight ends coach Josh) Cochran and coach (offensive coordinator Zach) Kittley ... Having played in this offense and then getting here and seeing the twist and the innovation and the spin that he's put on it, it's been fun to see. So all those guys have been great to me."
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Johnson pumps energy into Texas Tech receivers
