Lewis & Clark College

JJ Johnson is set to return for his second season at Lewis & Clark in the fall of 2023. He will be serving as an offensive assistant for the Pioneers with a focus on the team's wide receivers. 

In his first two teams with the program, Pioneer wide receivers have racked up five All-Conference honors and three players have gone over 1,000 career receiving yards. During the 2023 season, seniors Elijah McGee (Northwest Conference First Team), Devon Guest (NWC Second Team) and Ben Burnham (NWC Third Team) were all named to the All-Conference Team. It was the first time three Pioneer receivers had been recognized in the same season since 2011. The trio all finished with at least 487 yards and five receiving touchdowns. 

In his first season with the program, Devon Guest (Second Team) and Sean Bodi (Third Team) each earned Northwest Conference All-Conference honors.  

Johnson has spent the past 12 years coaching high school football in Oregon and Washington.  

For the past three seasons, he has worked as the offensive coordinator for Evergreen High School in Vancouver, Washington. Johnson instituted a new offensive scheme that helped Evergreen earn their first playoff appearance in 14 years. During the 2019 season, Evergreen averaged 38 points and 478 yards of offense per game.  

Prior to that, he worked as the wide receiver coach at Clackamas High School under current Pioneers head coach Joe Bushman. Johnson was part of the coaching staff in 2017 when Clackamas won the program’s first-ever State Title. He helped seven wide receivers go on to play college football, with multiple student-athletes earning All-League and All-State honors. 

Johnson also served as a wide receivers coach at Burns and Milwaukie High School. 

During his playing career, Johnson was named the Gatorade Player of the Year after leading the state in yards and touchdowns. The Central Catholic High School (’03) product went on to play collegiately at Foothills Junior College. 

Johnson currently works at Frontier Middle School in Vancouver, Washington and serves as the head boy’s basketball coach.