Denver Johnson
Denver Johnson
Denver Johnsonis an American football coach and former player. In April 2015, Johnson became the head football coach at Missouri Southern State University. Formerly, he was the offensive line coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2011 to the end of the 2014 season. Johnson was let go when head coach Bill Blankenship was fired on December 1, 2014. Previously, Johnson was the head football coach at Murray State University from 1997 to 1999 and at Illinois State University from...
attractive committed couple fairly great past perceive program special
The past couple of years I've had other opportunities that were fairly attractive to me, but I'm committed to this. I still perceive this program to have great potential. I think we can do something special here.
adage behind came coaching fans fell great involved previous program run short success sure town
In coaching the old adage is you'd really like to come in behind someone they wanted to run out of town on a rail. (The previous staff) came in here and had great success, unprecedented success in the I-AA era. They set that high-water mark, and we fell short of it. That was disappointing to me. I'm sure it was disappointing to the fans and everyone involved in the program here.
dare great job obstacles perceived
I had a great job at Murray State, but I perceived some great potential, and I still do. Dare I say there were some obstacles that we've had to overcome.
carry deal grand great kevin learned mules people spring sure tough win
It's a tough deal when you've got one quarterback. Brockway has been like one of those mules that carry people in and out of the Grand Canyon. We're working him to death. I'm sure he's tired, but it's been a great spring for him. He's learned a lot and he's really improved. Right now, I think we could win with Kevin Brockway.
academic build evaluate good pillars program second social third three
We've got three pillars that we're going to try and build this program around. The first is academic integrity. The second is social responsibility. We want good citizens. Third is competitive excellence. When I evaluate our program on those three pillars, I think we're making good progress.
half halftime nail second team threat
With him they had a threat to get back in it in the second half (although down 28-0). At halftime I told the team that they had to nail it down and that's what they did.
again bit coach direction easy excited good head illinois leadership sure tenure time
To be honest, I'm excited again to be head coach here at Illinois State. There was a time here when I'm not sure I could say I was excited. My tenure here has not been an easy one. I feel we've got new leadership in the department, we've got good direction in the program. I feel that we're going to get a little bit of traction here and really become productive.
drowned enjoy feet football guy improved kids plays three win
Being two plays away is like being the guy who drowned three feet from the dock. Our kids feel like we're better, an improved football team. But we have to get a win to enjoy that.
against appreciate excited gives kids open opportunity playing recognized season worked
We are excited to get this worked out. It gives us another opportunity to open up the season against a nationally recognized opponent. Our kids are always excited about playing these I-A games, and we just appreciate the opportunity.
boomer
Boomer is what you want them all to be.
government worked
Brockway has been like a government mule. We've worked him to death. But he's done well. And I tell you, he's benefiting from it. He's getting a lot of opportunities to get better and he is.
forced good prove structure
We won't be better because Boomer's gone, but it has forced us to structure some things differently, and I think that will prove good for us.
boomer guys tackle
It has been Boomer's team, sometimes to a detriment. He was making the tackle that someone else should have made. We had guys just think that Boomer would be there.
ball good lots offensive overall side terms watered
I was really disappointed on the offensive side of the ball today. We are little watered down right now (in terms of offensive personnel), but overall I thought it was a good day - we got a little something done and lots of film to look at.