 Johnson as a coach for theNew England Patriots in 2007 | |||||||||||
| No. 52, 53, 99 | |||||||||||
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| Position | Linebacker | ||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||
| Born | (1964-07-29)July 29, 1964 (age 61) Detroit, Michigan, U.S. | ||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||
| Weight | 250 lb (113 kg) | ||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||
| High school | Mackenzie (Detroit, Michigan) | ||||||||||
| College | Ohio State (1982–1985) | ||||||||||
| NFL draft | 1986: 2nd round, 51st overall pick | ||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||
Playing | |||||||||||
Coaching | |||||||||||
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| Awards and highlights | |||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||
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Thomas "Pepper"Johnson (born July 29, 1964) is an Americanfootball coach and formerlinebacker who played in theNational Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons, the first seven of which were for theNew York Giants. He won twoSuper Bowls with the Giants before playing for theCleveland Browns,Detroit Lions andNew York Jets.
After his playing career ended, Johnson began working as an assistant coach for theNew England Patriots. In New England he was reunited withBill Belichick, for whom Johnson played as a Giant and Brown. He spent 14 seasons with the organization, winning three Super Bowls, before leaving the Patriots to work as the defensive line coach for theBuffalo Bills and then theNew York Jets. After a stint as theMemphis Express' defensive coordinator in 2019, he joined theXFL. He had a brief stint with theLos Angeles Wildcats as their defensive coordinator in 2020, and theTampa Bay Bandits of theUSFL in 2022.
Upon graduation fromDetroit'sMackenzie High School, Johnson playedcollege football for theOhio State UniversityBuckeyes underhead coachEarle Bruce. Johnsonlettered every year from 1982 to 1985, and led the team in tackles in 1984 and 1985. He was a team co-captain and named defensive MVP by his teammates in 1984 and 1985, and in 1985 was named as anAll-American. Johnson ended his college career with 379 total tackles, 5 sacks, and 12 tackles for loss. He was inducted into theOhio State Varsity O Hall of Fame in 2001.
Johnson wasdrafted by theNew York Giants in the second round of the1986 NFL draft.[1] With the Giants, he was a member of both theSuper Bowl XXI andSuper Bowl XXV-winning teams, under head coachBill Parcells and assistantBill Belichick. After seven seasons in New York, Johnson re-joined Belichick with theCleveland Browns in1993, Belichick's third season as the team's head coach. After the1995 season, the Browns moved toBaltimore, Maryland, and neither Belichick nor Johnson followed the team there. Johnson instead joined theDetroit Lions, whom he spent one season with in1996. For what would become the final two seasons of his career, Johnson again re-joined Belichick, who was then serving as the defensive coordinator for theNew York Jets under Parcells. After the1998 season, Johnson retired from the NFL with career totals of 25.5 sacks, 12 forced fumbles, 14 interceptions, and had 983 tackles.
Johnson began his coaching career as an assistant linebackers coach with the Patriots during the 2000 season.[2] Johnson then served as the Patriots' inside linebackers coach from2001 through2003, before moving to defensive line coach in2004. In2012, he returned to linebackers coach.[3]
With Bill Gutman, Johnson wroteWon For All, an account of the Patriots 2001 championship season, which was published by Contemporary Books, a McGraw-Hill company,ISBN 0-07-140877-0.
On January 21, 2014, Johnson announced he would be leaving the Patriots. On January 31, 2014, theBuffalo Bills announced Johnson as their new defensive line coach, replacingAnthony Weaver, who left for a similar position in Cleveland. AfterDoug Marrone quit as the Bills head Coach, Johnson was hired as the Jets Defensive Line coach. He was fired after the 2016 season.[4]
On December 18, 2018, Johnson was hired as the defensive line coach for theMemphis Express of theAlliance of American Football. In that role, he worked under head coachMike Singletary.[5] After the league's midseason shutdown in 2019, he joined theLos Angeles Wildcats for the 2020 season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach.[6] However, he was fired days after the Wildcats lost the season opener to theHouston Roughnecks 37–17, a game that saw Los Angeles' defense allow four passing touchdowns.[7] In 2021, Johnson was hired as head coach of theIMG Academy inBradenton, Florida.
Johnson's nickname of "Pepper" originated from his aunt who noticed Johnson liked to putblack pepper on hiscorn flakes.[2] Pepper's son,Dionte Johnson (born June 28, 1986) is a formerfullback for theOhio StateBuckeyes and theArizona Cardinals. Dionte was elected as a captain of the Ohio State team in 2007, making Pepper and Dionte only the third father-son captains (after Jim andKirk Herbstreit and James andJeff Davidson) in Buckeye history. Pepper also has a daughter, Aanjeya Johnson, (born May 20, 2009) with his wife Shanna, a realtor from Massachusetts.
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