BY MIKE LUCAS
UWBadgers.com Senior Writer
MADISON, Wis. — Braelon Allen didn't hesitate to dive into Al Johnson's background as a former Wisconsin offensive lineman. His inquisitive probing of Johnson, the newly-hired running backs coach, was a good icebreaker and an even better indicator of Allen's mindset going into his first spring practice.
"He asked me, 'When did it click for you?'" said Johnson, a third-team All-America center and 2003 second-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys. "For me, personally, it was my second spring where I made the biggest gains. I told him that's when the game slowed down — when everything slowed down.
"That's when I could become clear and decisive in front of all the controlled chaos.
"When you can slow everything down, you'll play fast."
That the 18-year-old Allen, a 1,000-yard-plus rusher last season, is so focused on self-improvement has impressed Johnson. And his not-too-subtle outward suggestion that he wanted it all to click now, and not wait until his second spring, had Johnson beaming and vowing, "Yeah, let's do it."
That the 43-year-old Johnson, a Division II head coach in Oklahoma the past four seasons, presents a balanced grasp of offensive football and penchant for developing player relationships, has impressed Paul Chryst, who said of his latest hire and Johnson's role, "I think it's a good fit for him."
Chryst went on to explain why someone who has never coached running backs would be able to make a successful transition to the position group. (Chryst went down this path before when he turned over his inside linebackers to Bob Bostad, a longtime O-line coach who had no experience on defense.)
In seeking a replacement for Gary Brown, who has been forced to step away from coaching due to health concerns, Chryst spoke to "thinking through" the process starting with candidates. "But also, you spend a lot of time thinking about the group," he said. "What does the group need? Who would be good for that?
"And then from the coach's end … Who's the guy that can teach and help them to improve?"
Johnson was an offensive grad assistant under Chryst's wing for two seasons (2016-17).
"I've always been impressed ever since I had a chance to be with him and work with Al," said Chryst, the UW tight ends coach during Johnson's senior year in 2002. "One of the things I've always been impressed with Al is kind of how he sees the whole game … the way he communicates.
"Players want a few things from their coach: they want to know that the coach cares about them and they want to know that the coach can help them get better as a player.
"There's no question in my mind that Al truly does care about the players he coaches. And there's no question in my mind that Al can help them be the best players they can be."
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After Tuesday's first spring practice, Johnson was asked, what was it like for him?
"That's a great question without probably a great answer because I'm trying to make sure I know all the details for the players so that I can coach," he admitted. "This is the honest truth, I was locked into every play, making sure I knew what to do, making sure the players were right."
On his way off the turf at the end of the 90-minute session in the McClain Center, he said, "I didn't even really think about it personally. There was no personal emotion because today, there was a million things going through my mind to make sure I helped the players get better."
Johnson believes that his previous coaching stops — following his 66-game NFL career — have prepared him for this moment. That includes serving as an offensive coordinator and O-line coach at Southern Door High School (his alma mater in Brussels, Wisconsin) and St. Norbert College (in De Pere).
Those entry-level jobs preceded his GA internship with Chryst and led to Johnson taking over as the head coach at East Central University (with an enrollment of slightly less than 3,000) in Ada, Oklahoma. Since last summer, he also has been the interim athletic director for the school's 11-sport program.
"The last four years, I was calling plays and I was still working with the O-line and the running backs and the run game," said Johnson, who changed the culture and guided the Tigers to 11 wins over their last 15 games. (Baby boomers will remember ECU as Mark Gastineau's alma mater).
"For all those years, I've been pretty much an offensive coordinator this whole time. When you're coaching the O-line, it means that you're coaching the backs, coaching the quarterbacks, coaching everything. I had a great assistant when it came to a lot of the passing game stuff."
On how that experience shaped his coaching growth, Johnson said, "I'm a much better coach than when I was here last … As a head coach, you have to see the whole picture … I had to become a better coach when I went to Oklahoma because there was a reason why they fired the last guy.
"I had to build that program. I had to show them what good football was."
His stint as the East Central athletic director opened Johnson's eyes to what he likely knew all the time about himself. "It made me realize that I'd rather coach," he said. "I love the players. Coaching is about relationships and helping them. And that's what I love — being around the players."
Johnson was on two Rose Bowl teams at Wisconsin. After redshirting as a freshman in 1998, he was the backup center to Casey Rabach in 1999. Rabach, who was a visitor at Tuesday's practice, grew up a few miles away from Johnson in Sturgeon Bay. They played side-by-side on the 2000 Badgers.
Johnson blocked for UW tailbacks Ron Dayne, Michael Bennett and Anthony Davis before moving on to the NFL, where he opened holes for Julius Jones in Dallas and Edgerrin James in Arizona. He has huddled with QBs like Brooks Bollinger, Tony Romo and Kurt Warner. And it has all rubbed off.
"Absolutely," he said, "because a great offense works in unison, works in sync. Whether it's the run game, or the pass game, it doesn't matter. The running back has to understand what the offensive line is doing, what the tight ends are doing. The offensive line has to know the running back's landmark.
"It all has to work together. Same as with the wide receivers."
Specific to the Badger running backs that he has now begun schooling on aspects of the pass game, Johnson noted, "We have to understand how we fit into the protection with the O-line. If they don't blitz, then we have to understand how we fit into the checkdown based on the routes.
"The biggest challenge I'll face here is really just getting the lingo down. The O-line and tight ends all have their own kind of lingo. They have their own kind of nuances. But pass blocking is pass blocking. And understanding where the hole is — footwork and steps — has come pretty naturally."
Johnson has encouraged his players to speak up when they may question something.
"At the end of the day, my job is to help them," he said. "But we're all in this together."
Johnson has already seen enough of Allen to know that he has some elite skills.
"From afar, it was, 'Wow, what a freshman year,'" he said of his reaction to Allen running for 1,268 yards, highlighted by eight games over 100, including seven consecutively. "Up close, he's an impressive person who wants to be great, who wants to continue to work hard, who asks questions.
"If Step 1 is, 'What's my assignment?' Step 2 is, 'How do I make this better?'
"He has a set of things on where he wants to be and how we're going to try and get there.
"That's what you want. That's what it takes. That's what the great ones do."
On Tuesday, Allen was taking snaps behind an offensive line featuring Jack Nelson at left tackle, Tyler Beach at left guard, Tanor Bortolini at center, Michael Furtney at right guard and Logan Brown at right tackle. Watching from the periphery were three injured tailbacks who will be limited this spring.
Johnson, though, has mapped out a plan for Chez Mellusi, Isaac Guerendo and Brady Schipper.
"The big thing is, you have to make sure they have value in it (spring ball)," he said. "They're standing there with the other guys and I'm asking them, 'What do we have on this play? Or what do we got here?'
"I'm making sure they're involved and I'm telling them that they have to help coach it up. It's no different than if they were in uniform. The only thing that changes is they don't actually take the rep. But they have to stay in it mentally. They have to talk.
"When their rehab is done, they're with us — helping us."
Johnson already has a working relationship with Bostad, who's once again coaching the offensive line. In Johnson's final year as a grad assistant, Bostad had the inside linebackers. Meanwhile, Johnson and new offensive coordinator Bobby Engram crossed paths as opposing players in the NFL.
"I had heard a lot of great things about him previously," Johnson said of Engram, who had been an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens since 2014. "He told me, 'I'm four weeks ahead of you here (at the UW). Ask questions. We'll figure this out together as we go.' He's been diligent. I'm excited."
When Johnson received the coaching inquiry and eventual offer from Chryst, he and his wife Brandy were in the midst of building a new house in Ada. The couple has four children, three daughters. One is in college; one is of high school age and the other two are younger.
"It was one of those decisions that was life-changing for me and them, so it had to be a family decision," said Johnson, who made sure everybody was on board before committing to the Badgers for a third time. "How do you say no to Wisconsin? You couldn't."
