Jerrod Terrel Johnson (born July 27, 1988) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

and current coach who is the quarterbacks coach with the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). After previously working for the Vikings in an assistant role. He was signed by the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

in 2011. He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

. Johnson was Texas A&M's starting quarterback from 2008 to 2010, finishing his collegiate career ranked first in school history with 8,011 passing yards and 8,888 yards total offense. He is currently second in school history in passing yards (behind

Kellen Mond Kellen Louis Mond (born June 22, 1999) is an American football quarterback for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a four-year starter and became one of three SEC qu ...

) and third in total offense (behind

Johnny Manziel Johnathan Paul Manziel ( ; born December 6, 1992) is an American football quarterback for the FCF Zappers of Fan Controlled Football (FCF). He played two seasons with the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL) and was also a mem ...

and Kellen Mond).

College career

2006 season

Johnson saw no action during the 2006 football season as he was

redshirted Redshirt, in United States college athletics, is a delay or suspension of an athlete's participation in order to lengthen their period of eligibility. Typically, a student's athletic eligibility in a given sport is four seasons, aligning with the ...

. He was also on the Aggie basketball team for a while during the 2006–07 basketball season, playing minor minutes under coach

Billy Gillispie Billy Clyde Gillispie ( ; born November 7, 1959), also known by his initials BCG and Billy Clyde, is an American college basketball and current men's basketball coach at Tarleton State. Gillispie had previously been head coach at UTEP, Texas A ...

in three games against Big 12 opponents, recording just a single assist and no points or rebounds. He chose to focus on football after the season.

2007 season

During the 2007 football season Johnson backed up junior

Stephen McGee Stephen Richard McGee (born September 27, 1985) is a former American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys. He also was a member of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was ...

. He took 20 snaps the entire season, and 13 of those 20 were running plays. He compiled 161 all-purpose yards for five touchdowns.

2008 season

Prior to Johnson's sophomore season, head coach

Mike Sherman Michael Francis Sherman (born December 19, 1954) is an American gridiron football coach and former player who most recently was the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was the head coach of the Green B ...

became the Aggies' new coach. During fall camp Johnson competed for the starting job with senior

, but lost out to the veteran team leader. Johnson was then moved to part-time receiver. He made his first catch vs

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

for a gain of 36 yards. His role as a wide receiver continued for only a brief period. In the second game of the season, vs New Mexico,

suffered a right shoulder sprain on the opening series. Johnson stepped in and completed 10-of-19 for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns. He returned to the wide receiver position against Army, but McGee re-injured his shoulder during the game, paving the way for Johnson to step in and lead Texas A&M to a victory. Against Kansas State, Johnson compiled 419 passing yards and 487 total offensive yards, setting then-single game school records in both categories. He threw for 381 yards and a career-best four touchdown passes against

Iowa State Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

. Johnson threw for a career-high of 4 interceptions against Baylor.

2009 season

Johnson and

Ryan Tannehill Ryan Timothy Tannehill III (born July 27, 1988) is an American football quarterback for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Texas A&M, where he was a wide receiver until his junior year, an ...

battled for the starting position during the 2009 offseason, but Johnson eventually prevailed. Johnson led the team to a 6–6 regular-season record including an upset road win at Texas Tech. He compiled a school-record 3,217 passing yards in the regular season, and also led the Big 12 in touchdown passes for the season. In the 2009

Independence Bowl The Independence Bowl is a post-season National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-sanctioned Division I college football bowl game that is played annually each December at Independence Stadium in Shreveport, Louisiana. The Independence Bowl ...

against

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, he completed 29 of 58 passes for 362 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked three times and intercepted twice in the loss. He was named Second-team All-Big 12 for his performance during the 2009 regular season.

2010 season

In the spring prior to his 2010 season, Johnson had

arthroscopic Arthroscopy (also called arthroscopic or keyhole surgery) is a minimally invasive surgical procedure on a joint in which an examination and sometimes treatment of damage is performed using an arthroscope, an endoscope that is inserted into the jo ...

shoulder surgery. He entered the 2010 season as the Preseason

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Offensive Player of the Year and a

dark horse A dark horse is a previously lesser-known person or thing that emerges to prominence in a situation, especially in a competition involving multiple rivals, or a contestant that on paper should be unlikely to succeed but yet still might. Origin Th ...

Heisman Trophy The Heisman Memorial Trophy (usually known colloquially as the Heisman Trophy or The Heisman) is awarded annually to the most outstanding player in college football. Winners epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard ...

candidate. However, he failed to meet the high expectations. He threw nine interceptions in the first five games of the season, and then struggled in the 30–9 loss to Missouri. A sports editor noted that Johnson struggled with his accuracy and seemed to have less of a "zip" on his passes. During the ensuing Kansas game, he split time at quarterback with second-string

. Tannehill outperformed Johnson with his 12-for-16 passes for 155 yards and three touchdowns. Johnson lost the starting job to Tannehill after the Kansas game. Over the first seven games, Johnson posted 158-of-279 passes for 14 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His passing efficiency rating was 125.4. He was also sacked 25 times on 304 plays. However, during the Kansas game, he raised his total career yardage to 8,888, breaking the school record of 8,876 held by

Reggie McNeal Reginald Parrish McNeal (born September 20, 1983) is a former professional American football player. He played five seasons in the Canadian Football League. He played college football at Texas A&M University. High school career McNeal attended ...

from 2002–05. He is the A&M career leader in both total offense (8,888 yards) and passing yards (8,011 yards). Johnson continued to stay on the sidelines for the remainder of the season. Despite losing the starting position, Johnson was noted for his humility.

College statistics

Professional career

Johnson played in the 2011 East–West Shrine Game. A sports editor commented that Johnson had the least zip of all the quarterbacks who played, and did not throw like he used to during the 2009 season. He went undrafted in the

2011 NFL Draft The 2011 NFL Draft was the 76th installment of the annual NFL Draft, where the franchises of the National Football League select newly eligible football players. Like the 2010 draft, the 2011 draft was held at Radio City Music Hall in New York C ...

Hartford Colonials

Johnson was selected first overall in the

2011 UFL Draft The 2011 UFL Draft was the third and final draft of the United Football League. The draft took place on Monday, May 2, 2011. The draft was held over a period of 10 rounds during which each of the five UFL teams was allowed one pick per round, in re ...

by the

Hartford Colonials The Hartford Colonials, originally the New York Sentinels, were a professional American football team that played in the United Football League in its 2009 and 2010 seasons. A charter member of the UFL, the Sentinels began play in 2009 nominally ...

. However, the Colonials went out of business and Johnson was a free agent.

Philadelphia Eagles

He signed as an undrafted free agent with the

on July 26, 2011. He was waived on August 13.

Arizona Rattlers

He was assigned to the

Arizona Rattlers The Arizona Rattlers are a professional indoor American football team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They are currently members of the Indoor Football League (IFL). The Rattlers were founded in 1992 as an expansion team in the Arena Football League ...

on September 27, 2011.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

signed Johnson on January 13, 2012. They then cut him on August 31, 2012.

Sacramento Mountain Lions

Johnson signed with the

Sacramento Mountain Lions The Sacramento Mountain Lions was a professional American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rect ...

in September 2012, serving as the team's backup quarterback. He became the team's starter in Week 2 of the 2012 season after an injury to starter Josh Johnson.

Seattle Seahawks

The

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 as ...

signed Johnson on April 24, 2013. He was released on June 14, after the Seahawks signed

Tarvaris Jackson Tarvaris D'Andre Jackson (April 21, 1983 – April 12, 2020) was an American football quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). Jackson played college football for both Alabama State and Arkansas. He played professionally for the ...

who had just been released by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Chicago Bears

On September 1, 2013, Johnson was signed by the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

to the practice squad. He was released on September 4, 2013, and was brought back on September 9. He was again removed from the practice squad on September 24. Johnson was re-signed by the Bears on December 30, 2013.

Baltimore Ravens

Johnson was signed by the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

. On August 29, 2016, he was waived by the Ravens.

Dallas Cowboys

Johnson was signed by the

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

on September 1, 2016. On September 3, 2016, he was released by the Cowboys.

Coaching career

Johnson joined the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...

under the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship in 2017, and had a similar position with the

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

in 2019. He was promoted to offensive quality control coach with the Colts on February 17, 2020. Johnson got a job with the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) North division. Founded in 1960 as an expansion ...

under Kevin O'Connell as the new assistant Quarterbacks coach. Johnson was hired as the Quarterbacks coach for the

on February 12, 2023 by new head coach

DeMeco Ryans DeMeco Ryans (; born July 28, 1984) is an American football coach and former linebacker who is the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). Ryans played college football at the University of Alab ...

, who Johnson had previously worked with in San Francisco.

Personal life

Jerrod has one brother named Marquis. Their father, Larry Johnson, who also played for the Aggies, died of a stroke in December 2007. Jerrod married his wife Braidee Ireland in May 2021.Molitor, Jack (November 25, 2008) Currently in a committed relationship
This one's for you, Dad
thebatt.com

References

External links

Montreal Alouettes profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Jerrod 1988 births Living people American football quarterbacks American men's basketball players Arizona Rattlers players Baltimore Ravens players Dallas Cowboys players Hartford Colonials players Philadelphia Eagles players Pittsburgh Steelers players Sacramento Mountain Lions players Seattle Seahawks players Texas A&M Aggies football players Texas A&M Aggies men's basketball players Players of American football from Houston Basketball players from Houston San Francisco 49ers coaches Indianapolis Colts coaches Minnesota Vikings coaches