Tag: Jan Johnson

Former Penn State linebacker joins Virginia Tech coaching staff

Reports states Virginia Tech is adding former Penn State linebacker to its staff

Former Penn State defensive coordinator [autotag]Brent Pry[/autotag] continues to assemble his first football staff since becoming the head coach at Virginia Tech. The newest addition to his staff in Blacksburg has a bit of a Penn State flavor to it.

According to Rich Scarcella of The Reading Eagle, former Penn State linebacker [autotag]Jan Johnson[/autotag] is joining the Virginia Tech program as a defensive analyst.

Johnson had been trying to keep his professional football career going with the USFL after a brief taste of the NFL in the last two years. But Pry is taking advantage of Johnson’s desire to get into coaching. Serving as an analyst is a good first step for the former Nittany Lion linebacker.

Johnson is a former two-sport standout at Penn State, walking on for the football program and contributing to Penn State’s national championship wrestling program. On the football field, Johnson recorded 64 tackles in his final season at Penn State in 2019, including four in Penn State’s Cotton Bowl victory over Memphis. He had a season-high 14 tackles earlier in the season against Buffalo and 11 tackles in a road game at Minnesota, including three tackles for loss.

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Tennessee Titans hold tryout with LB Jan Johnson

Johnson has yet to suit up in a game in the NFL.

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The Tennessee Titans are apparently considering adding a linebacker ahead of their wild-card showdown with the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday.

Per the league’s transactions wire on Monday, the Titans held a tryout with Penn State product and inside linebacker, Jan Johnson.

The 6-foot-2, 231-pound linebacker was most recently with the Houston Texans during the summer before being waived. Since then he has worked out for the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In 33 games over four years with the Nittany Lions, Johnson totaled 150 tackles (72 solo, seven for loss) and 1.5 sacks.

In 2019, Johnson was named a team captain and made 13 starts, finishing with 64 total tackles (23 solo, 4.5 for loss), one sack, one interception, three passes defensed, one forced fumble and two fumbles recovered.

Here’s a look at what Tony Pauline of Pro Football Network had to say about Johnson before he went undrafted in the 2020 NFL draft:

Analysis: Johnson is a tremendous football player who lacks next-level size and speed, but he’s a serviceable linebacker who could also help out on special teams.

The Titans currently have five inside linebackers on their roster, so chances are Johnson would be added to the practice squad if he’s added at all.

Texans shuffle linebackers, strengthen special teams

The Houston Texans have released ILB Jan Johnson and signed LB Daren Bates and brought back LB Anthony Kukwa, both of whom have special teams utility.

The Houston Texans have retooled the depth of their linebacking corps to help out with their special teams unit.

Houston released inside linebacker Jan Johnson and will bring back linebacker Anthony Kukwa, who is also a long snapper. The Texans have also brought in linebacker Daren Bates. Both of the veterans have a history of working with Texans special teams coordinator Tracy Smith.

“So we released Jan Johnson and we added Daren Bates,” coach Bill O’Brien told the Houston Chronicle’s John McClain. “He’s been a very productive special teams linebacker. He played at Tennessee and Oakland and Tracy Smith had a familiarity with him. And then we also added a long snapper, linebacker named Anthony Kukwa.”

Bates was with the Oakland Raiders in 2016 when Smith was an assistant special teams coach under special teams coordinator Brad Seely. Kukwa was part of the Raiders’ offseason program after leaving Lake Erie College in 2017 and becoming an undrafted free agent the same year.

The move demonstrates the Texans seek to comprise their roster of veterans with experience rather than invest heavily in undrafted free agents such as Johnson, which is one of the twists the 2020 season is taking due to the effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and the lost offseason.

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