Kevin Johns - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks - Football Coaches

Kevin Johns

Title:
Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
Phone:
(919) 684-2635

Kevin Johns joined the Blue Devil gridiron program in January 2022, and serves as the offensive coordinator. Johns also coaches Duke’s quarterbacks.

Johns, who has over 10 years of experience as an offensive coordinator, mentored quarterback Riley Leonard to All-ACC honors during his first season in Durham. Leonard completed 250-of-392 (.638) passes for 2,967 yards with 20 touchdowns, while leading the team in rushing with 699 yards on 124 carries (5.64) and 13 touchdowns during his first season as Duke’s starter. In the ACC, Leonard ranked third in total offensive yards per game (282.00), third in pass attempts, third in pass completions, third in total points responsible for, tied for third in scoring, fourth in pass completion percentage, fourth in passing yards per game (228.23), fifth in touchdowns passes, and fifth in passing efficiency. In addition, he set school single-season records for touchdowns responsible for (33), most games with one-plus touchdown pass (12), touchdown-to-interception ratio (3.33-1), and pass completion-to-interception ratio (41.67-1).

In just one season under Johns, the Blue Devils went from last in the ACC in 2021 to fifth, fifth, and seventh in scoring offense, total touchdowns and passing touchdowns, respectively. In addition, Duke improved in pass efficiency (11th in 2021 to fifth in 2022) and total offense (seventh in 2021 to fourth in 2022).

Johns came to Durham after serving three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Memphis.

While there, Johns helped the Tigers earn three bowl invitations, including a 25-10 win over Florida Atlantic in the 2020 Montgomery Bowl. During each of his three seasons, Memphis was among the top five in the American Athletic Conference in scoring offense, including averaging 30.1 points this past season. The Tigers also finished last year second in the AAC in passing offense (298.8), third in offensive yards (435.8), third in first downs (22.5), and third in third down conversion percentage (71-of-174 for 40.8 percent).

In 2020, the Tigers finished the year 22nd in the nation in total offense (453.1) and ranked 17th in both passing offense (307.9) and first down offense (260). Memphis totaled five games with over 500 yards of total offense, including an impressive 703 total yards against Central Florida. During that game, the Tigers set a school-record, coming back from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter to earn the 50-49 win. The 703 total yards of offense were the fifth-most in Memphis history.

In his first season, Memphis ranked among the top 20 nationally in nine statistical categories: passing yards (7th), scoring offense (8th), passing yards/completion (9th), total offense (10th), first downs (10th), passing efficiency (10th), passing offense (17th), passing touchdowns (17th) and third down percentage (19th). The Tigers accumulated more than 500 yards of total offense seven times on the year, including 542 yards versus Big Ten foe Penn State in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. That season, Johns mentored a 4,000-yard passer (Brady White), a 1,000-yard rusher (Kenneth Gainwell) and a 1,000-yard receiver (Damonte Coxie).

Throughout his three years, Johns coached nine players to 12 All-AAC honors, including two-time recipients in Calvin Austin III, Sean Dykes and Dylan Parham. He also mentored Gainwell and Tahj Washington to All-American accolades. Gainwell garnered FWAA-Shaun Alexander, AFCA, and Sporting News Freshman All-America nods in 2019, while being tabbed the FWAA and The American Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year. Washington earned FWAA Freshman All-America praise in 2020 after recording 43 receptions for 743 yards (17.3 avg) with six touchdowns.

Before Memphis, Johns spent the 2018 season as the offensive coordinator/inside wide receivers and tight ends coach at Texas Tech University. He guided a Red Raiders offense that ranked fourth in the country with 352.6 passing yards per game and 12th with 485.2 total yards per game. Texas Tech also averaged 37.3 points per game that season, which was the fourth-best mark in the Big 12.
Prior to that, Johns served a one-year stint as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Western Michigan University in 2017. The Broncos ranked 25th in the country that year with 33.9 points per game and 21st with 224.8 rushing yards per game.

From 2011-16, Johns spent six years at Indiana, the final three as the program’s sole offensive coordinator. He also assisted with coaching the quarterbacks and wide receivers after arriving as a co-offensive coordinator in 2011. The Hoosiers rewrote 54 school records during Johns’ time there, including season marks for points, total yards, passing yards and rushing yards.

In 2015, Indiana had a 3,500-yard passer, two 1,000-yard rushers and a 1,000-yard receiver, en route to leading the Big Ten in scoring offense at 36.5 points per game. Two years prior, Indiana had five 1,000-yard receivers playing at the same time. One of them was Cody Latimer, who was one of eight NFL draftees during Johns’ time in Bloomington. Another one was Shane Wynn, who closed his career among the top four in multiple career categories at Indiana, including receptions (189), 250-yard games (13), 200-yard games (19), four-TD games (5) and all-purpose yards (4,429) before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Johns served a second stint on staff at Northwestern University from 2004-10 in a variety of different roles after a three-year tenure from 1999-2001 as an offensive graduate assistant. During his second term, he joined the staff as an assistant coach with the running backs from 2004-05 before beginning work with the wide receivers and serving as the program’s recruiting coordinator for the 2006-07 seasons. He then added passing game coordinator duties in 2008 and served in that role for three seasons until his departure.

He also made stops at the University of Richmond, where he coached the defensive ends (2003) and wide receivers (2002), and Piqua High School in Ohio as the quarterbacks and defensive secondary coach (1998).

Johns was a three-year letterwinner and two-year starter at the University of Dayton (1995-97), where he helped the Flyers to a 20-1 record. He earned Division I-AA All-America honors and was selected the Football Gazette Player of the Year in 1996. In addition, he was a two-time First Team All-Pioneer Football League team recipient in 1996 and 1997. He graduated first all-time on Dayton’s career total offensive yardage chart with 4,252, first in highest passing efficiency (151.1), and third in career passing yards (3,572).

He graduated from Dayton with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics in 1998 and received his master’s degree from Northwestern in educational administration in 2001.

Johns is married to the former Krista Tilley of St. Louis, Mo., and they are the parents of three sons, twins Logan and Tyler, and Carter. Logan works as a student manager with the football program at the University of Tennessee, while Tyler is a member of the baseball program at Elon University.

THE KEVIN JOHNS FILE
Hometown: Piqua, Ohio
Education: Dayton, 1998 (mathematics) and Northwestern, 2001 (educational administration)
Wife: Krista
Children: Logan, Tyler and Carter
Birthday: December 4, 1975

JOHN’S COACHING CAREER