By Jerry Hill
Baylor Bear Insider
            Thomas Wolfe once wrote that "You Can't Go Home Again." What might be even tougher is leaving home again.
            Justin "Juice" Johnson did just that, leaving his alma mater at the University of Houston after only one season to join Dave Aranda's staff as the running backs coach at Baylor.
            "It was (tough)," said Johnson, a Richardson, Texas, native who earned all-conference honors at Houston as a senior in 2011, when he finished with 1,229 yards and 12 touchdowns on 87 catches for a 13-1 team. "What made it easy was seeing the vision and understanding what was happening here and also still getting to recruit the great state."
            That was one of the things about Johnson that caught Aranda's eye when he was building his first staff at Baylor, a strong recruiter who "brings a lot of energy." He comes by the nickname "Juice" honestly.
            "Justin has a great track record of developing young players," Aranda said. "I think his ability to recruit the state of Texas, particularly the city of Houston, is going to be a great advantage for us. He's got a beautiful family. He's a family man that loves football and wants to be able to push our student-athletes to be the best they can be."
            A high school quarterback at Richardson (Texas) Berkner, Johnson played running back, tight end and H-back at Houston before finally settling in as a slot receiver.
            "I came in as a triple-option running quarterback, so basically a running back," he said. "Our offense went to a four-wide (spread). I did the math, and there were four receivers and one running back. So, I became a receiver."
            After graduating from UofH in spring 2012, Johnson started his coaching career as a quality control assistant with the Cougars and then spent one year as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M under Kevin Sumlin. Prior to returning to Houston, he spent three years at Kansas, including the 2018 season as the Jayhawks' receivers coach.
            Hired at Baylor in February, Johnson is tutoring a running back group that includes a pair of rising seniors in John Lovett and Trestan Ebner, sophomore Craig "Sqwirl" Williams, redshirt freshmen Qualan Jones and Jonah White and true freshman Taye McWilliams. Lovett has led the team in rushing each of the last three seasons and is 20^th all-time with 1,673 career yards rushing, while Ebner has a combined 1,716 yards rushing and receiving.
            Saying that "everybody has a clean slate," Johnson is looking for "tough, smart, high attention to detail, passion, energetic" players who are "just bringing some juice."
            "I think I've got a hungry group, a group that's ready to show and prove what they can do and what they have to offer," he said. "You're going to see toughness, guys that are not afraid to step in there and put their hat on somebody. I'm going to demand that they know what to do and how to do it. I'm looking for guys to not only lead with a voice but put actions behind it."
            Over the last couple of months, Johnson has been impressed with Aranda's leadership and knowledge of the game.
            "Anytime you can get up under a coach like Coach Aranda and just sit there and soak up all he has to offer – all the knowledge, all the wisdom – it's just been a pleasure to sit and watch him implement his own thing as he goes through and sees how he wants to do things," Johnson said.
            "I've been truly amazed and honored to be a part of it. His leadership and just how he does things is unbelievable. You just try to emulate that and take notes and model the things you see him do on a daily basis."
            Johnson also relishes the chance to work with offensive coordinator Larry Fedora, who was a head coach at Southern Mississippi and North Carolina after successful stints as an OC at Middle Tennessee, Florida and Oklahoma State.
            "He definitely knows how to run the room," Johnson said of Fedora, who started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Baylor. "You can get in there and get up under him and just learn and absorb everything you can. His track record, what he's done with different guys, he's had elite quarterbacks, receivers, running backs, every position, all across the board. It's exciting to be able to learn under that, grow under that, to continue my development as a coach as well."
            Baylor football is scheduled to kick off the 2020 season with a neutral-site matchup against Ole Miss in the Sept. 5 Texas Kickoff at NRG Stadium in Houston. For information on purchasing season or single-game tickets, go to the Football Tickets link.