Lee Johnson is an

arena football Indoor American football, or arena football, is a variation of gridiron football played at ice hockey-sized indoor arenas. While varying in details from league to league, the rules of indoor football are designed to allow for play in a smaller ...

coach and former

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

and

defensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numbe ...

. He played his

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 ...

at the

University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...

, and was an AFL offensive lineman and defensive lineman from 1995 to 1996. He has been a football coach since 1997. After being the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

for the

Orlando Predators The Orlando Predators were a professional arena football team based in Orlando, Florida and member of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team was most recently owned by Orlando Predators LLC, a company owned by David A. Siegel, and played its ...

from 2010 to 2011, he became the

San Antonio Talons The San Antonio Talons were a professional arena football team based in San Antonio, Texas. They played in the Arena Football League (AFL). Their home arena was the Alamodome, following their relocation to San Antonio for the 2012 season. The t ...

head coach in 2011. Lee then enrolled at

, and played defensive line on the

Missouri Tigers football The Missouri Tigers football program represents the University of Missouri (often referred to as Mizzou) in college football and competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Missouri's ...

team from 1987 to 1990. The

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

signed Johnson after he went unselected in the

1991 NFL Draft The 1991 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 21–22, 1991, at the Marriott Mar ...

. He played 2 years as an offensive lineman and defensive lineman in the AFL, with the

Charlotte Rage The Charlotte Rage were a professional arena football team based out of Charlotte, North Carolina. They were members of the Arena Football League from 1992 to 1996. They played their home games at the Charlotte Coliseum from 1992 to 1994 and ...

from 1995 to 1996. He first became a regular starting offensive/defensive lineman in

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

with Charlotte. In 1997, while not even being one year removed from the AFL, Johnson was a defensive line coach for the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fiel ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

. under head coach

Jeff Reinebold Jeff Reinebold (born November 19, 1957) is an American gridiron football coach who is the director of player development at the University of Hawaiʻi. Prior to Hawaiʻi, He was appointed the special teams coordinator for the Montreal Alouette ...

. In 1998, Reinebold promoted Johnson to

. In 2000, he returned to the AFL as a defensive coordinator for the

Carolina Cobras The Carolina Cobras were an expansion franchise in the Arena Football League. The team was formed prior to the 2000 season, which endured a player strike. The team was originally based in Raleigh, North Carolina, but moved to Charlotte followin ...

. He then became a defensive line coach at the

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

level, starting in 2001 with the

Berlin Thunder The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe. History The Thunder came into existence as an expansion team, after the London/England Monarchs franchise shut down operations, prior to the 1999 season. Home games f ...

. After coaching Berlin to 2 consecutive

World Bowl The World Bowl was the annual American football championship game of the World League of American Football/NFL Europe. The World Bowl was played each year from 1991 to 2007 (except 1993 and 1994). The game was conceived as the final of the NFL-r ...

championships in 2001 & 2002, he moved to the

Colorado Crush The Colorado Crush were an arena football team based in Denver, Colorado. They began play as a 2003 Arena Football League expansion team. The Crush played in the Central Division of the American Conference until the Arena Football League suspen ...

, and served as defensive coordinator during the 2003 season, before being demoted to offensive and defensive line coach and led the Crush to an

ArenaBowl XIX ArenaBowl XIX was the 2005 championship game of the Arena Football League (AFL), and was played at the Thomas & Mack Center in Paradise, Nevada. The first neutral-site title game in AFL history drew 10,822 fans to see the Colorado Crush defeat ...

championship. After the 2006 season, Johnson was named the defensive coordinator for the

Austin Wranglers The Austin Wranglers were an arena football team based in Austin, Texas. They played four seasons in the Arena Football League from 2004 to 2007 and spent one season in af2, the AFL's developmental league, in 2008. They made playoff appearances i ...

of the AFL. After the Wranglers folded, Johnson joined the

Cleveland Gladiators The Cleveland Gladiators were an arena football team based in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The Gladiators played their home games at Quicken Loans Arena, which they shared with the Cleveland Cava ...

as their offensive/defensive line coach. When the AFL shut down, Johnson took the role of line coach with the

af2 The AF2 (often styled as af2, and short for arenafootball2) was the Arena Football League's developmental league; it was founded in 1999 and played its first season in 2000. Like its parent AFL, the AF2 played using the same arena football ru ...

Peoria Pirates The Peoria Pirates were a professional arena football team that last played in AF2, the minor league to the Arena Football League (AFL). They played their home games at Carver Arena, part of the Peoria Civic Center in Illinois, and were coached ...

, where he worked under Arena Football Hall of Fame head coach,

Mike Hohensee Michael Louis Hohensee (born February 22, 1961) is a former professional football quarterback who played in the United States Football League, Canadian Football League, National Football League and Arena Football League. He most recently the hea ...

. Johnson then took the defensive coordinator job with the

in 2010 and 2011, helping them extend their longest playoff berth streak in AFL history to 18 and 19 seasons. After the Predators two postseason runs, Johnson was offered the head coaching job for the

. Johnson helped lead the Talons to a Central Division championship in 2012. Following the 2012 season, Johnson was signed to a 2-year contract extension. In October 2014, Johnson was hired as the Director of Football Operations for the

Portland Thunder The Portland Steel were a professional arena football team based in Portland, Oregon and members of the Arena Football League (AFL). The team started as the Portland Thunder, joining the AFL in 2014 as an expansion team along with the Los Ange ...

. He was also the Assistant Defensive Coordinator and Special Teams Coordinator of the Thunder.

Head coaching record

Arena Football League

College

* Johnson was interim head coach

References

External links

Lee Johnson (coach) at ArenaFan Online

Lee Johnson (player) at ArenaFan Online
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Lee Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American football offensive linemen American football defensive linemen BC Lions players Berlin Thunder coaches Charlotte Rage players Cleveland Gladiators coaches Denver Broncos coaches Lincoln Blue Tigers football coaches Missouri Tigers football players Orlando Predators coaches San Antonio Talons coaches Shreveport Pirates players Tampa Bay Storm players Winnipeg Blue Bombers coaches African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football Portland Thunder coaches Colorado Crush coaches Carolina Cobras coaches Austin Wranglers coaches Peoria Pirates coaches