Lewis Promotes Matt Johnson to Running Backs Coach
1/27/2020 3:30:00 PM | Football
KENT, OHIO- Kent State head coach Sean Lewis has announced the promotion of offensive graduate assistant Matt Johnson to running backs coach in advance of the 2020 season.
Johnson has spent the last three seasons working alongside Coach Lewis at both Syracuse and Kent State including the last two seasons as a quality control coach focusing on the offense and the quarterbacks for the Golden Flashes.
"We are very excited to promote Matt Johnson to be our new running backs coach," head coach Sean Lewis said. "Coach Johnson is a rising star in the profession. He has an unbelievable ability to relate with people, something I witnessed firsthand with he success he had with us at Bowling Green. He has shown this trait and has built great relationships during his time as a graduate assistant and I am excited to see what Coach Johnson can do to develop our running backs and work relentlessly on the recruiting trail to make our FlashFAST Family better each and every day."
A 2016 graduate of Bowling Green, Johnson set numerous records as the Falcons' quarterback and helped lead Bowling Green to a pair of Mid-American Eastern Division and Conference titles. The 2015 MAC Player of the Year, he set the school record with 73 career touchdown passes and was named honorable mention All-America by Sports Illustrated.
After his collegiate career, he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals as an undrafted free agent and also spent time in the Canadian Football League with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
"I'm very excited to be the running backs coach for Kent State," Johnson said. "My goal is to make this talented group of backs the best version of themselves that they can be, looking forward to the opportunity to work with these young men!"
Johnson inherits a rushing corps that returns three players who ran for 300 yards or more last season, led by quarterback Dustin Crum's 707. As a team, the Golden Flashes ran for over 2400 yards and 17 touchdowns, an average of over 185 yards per game and 4.4 yards per carry.
Kent State opens the 2020 season at Penn State on September 5th. Ticket packages for the Flashes' five home games are on sale now.
