Kansas State just made a sneaky strong move on the coaching trail, bringing in Coastal Carolina interim head coach Jeremiah Johnson as the new defensive backs coach. It’s one of those hires that won’t light up message boards right away, but if you know the game, you know how big this is for Collin Klein’s staff.
Johnson’s got 24 years of experience, and he’s been calling defenses for more than half of that. He’s not coming in to learn the ropes. He’s coming in as a guy who’s run multiple units at a high level, and he’s done it across the board from the FCS to the Group of Five. Most recently, he was Coastal’s defensive coordinator and took over as interim head coach for their bowl game. Before that, he was the DC at Louisiana Tech, where he turned one of the worst defenses in the country into a top-15 unit in total defense. That kind of jump doesn’t happen by accident.
The K-State connection runs deep, too. Johnson is a Kansas native, Scandia, to be exact, and he played his college ball at Kansas before starting his coaching career. He also spent time with Klein back at Northern Iowa in 2016, so this isn’t some blind hire. There’s history and trust already built in.
Johnson’s numbers speak for themselves. At Louisiana Tech, his defense allowed just over 21 points per game and ranked 12th nationally in total defense. He took them from near dead last in rushing defense to inside the top 50 in one year. At Coastal this past season, they finished top 20 nationally in fourth-down defense and had multiple players among the Sun Belt leaders in takeaways.
You also don’t rack up 13 years of coordinator experience without knowing how to run a room. Johnson has coached defensive backs, linebackers, and even spent time working on the offensive side of the ball early in his career. That kind of versatility is rare, and it fits what K-State does on defense.
This is a big get for Klein. Johnson’s not just another assistant; he’s a proven coach with a track record of developing dudes and getting results. The secondary in Manhattan just got a serious upgrade.
