Along each step, fuel has always been poured on Jon Johnson’s fire.
And in certain ways, he has been the fuel on the fire for Montana State’s improved cornerback group and secondary room over the last few years.
Despite playing at one of the most successful high school programs in the nation in St. John Bosco of the famed Trinity League in the Los Angeles area, and having a great career there, Johnson ended up having to go the junior college route before arriving at Montana State.
Since arriving in Bozeman, Johnson has at the same time been a rock-solid cover corner and part of an ultra-competitive group that has helped the Bobcat defense continue to climb. Now he’s entering the stretch run of his senior year as a steady cog in a defense that has helped Montana State ascend to the No. 2 team in the Football Championship Subdivision.
Johnson’s story and Johnson’s journey are each a bit different than many of his 22 senior classmates. Fifteen of the MSU seniors were recruited out of high school. He’s one of two junior college transfers (junior Blake Stilwell) on the Montana State roster.
And the soft-spoken, yet driven and competitive 6-foot, 185-polunder has had to earn his mettle all along the way.
Less than two years ago, Johnson was still fighting for his Division I dream. In the spring of 2023, Johnson was at El Camino CC and hungry to get picked up a by a D-I program.
“He’s a unique one,” MSU head coach Brent Vigen said. “He comes from Bosco, which is a program of all programs. He was an unheralded guy, and he had a chip on his shoulder going to El Camino.
“We were able to sign him late after he went unnoticed from December into January. He hasn’t lost that chip here, even though he played and played well last year. He’s continued to be driven. You want guys like that, that are maximizing their opportunity and doing everything they can to be their very best. Unconventional route to get here, but we’re very thankful to have him.”
That chip on the shoulder has carried over to the rest of the players in MSU’s cornerback room and secondary. It’s been a welcome influx of energy. His desire to continue to prove himself has stirred up an internal battle among the Bobcat’ starters and rotational players.
“I know that bringing Jon in here last year really pushed the competition level at both corner spots,” Vigen said. “You do it for depth but hopefully bring out the competition of them.
“I think they’re all (Johnson, senior Simeon Woodard, sophomore Andrew Powdrell) worthy of playing, but the competition has been a big piece. (Cornerbacks) coach (Bryan) Shepherd has done a great job with them.”
Johnson, Woodard and Powdrell have worked together to assemble one of the top cornerback groups in the Big Sky Conference as MSU enters November with an 8-0 record. MSU is allowing 179 passing yards per game (2nd in the league) and is allowing league-bests 5.7 yards per catch and nine total passing touchdowns.
Shepherd, a former standout cornerback himself, recognizes the change that Johnson has brought to the crew of cornerbacks.
“Those guys push each other every day but individually they help each other out as far as what they’re seeing is wrong,” said Shepherd, who played his college ball at North Dakota State before spending a brief time in the NFL and CFL. “It’s been great for the entire room. The young guys see that these guys are playing and competing against each other, but they’re brothers at the end of the day.”
Shepherd also has a good understanding of life at the California JUCO level and could see the effect it has had on Johnson.
“Jon is definitely a driven individual,” Shepherd said. “That drive of playing at JUCO, essentially having to play for himself and not having a place to go, is what drives him day in and day out.
“There’s a lot of times at those California JUCOs where there’s eight people living in a two-bedroom apartment. (They’re) just trying to survive out there in that junior college world. That gave him a lot of motivation. The guys love him. He comes to work.”
Desperate to prove himself, Johnson took little time getting into the mix on and off the field. He joined MSU last summer and transitioned to the locker room while climbing the depth chart.
“Jon fit in instantly during that transition last summer and had an impactful junior year with us,” Vigen said. “He carried that over to his willingness to take his game to another level.”
It wasn’t just Johnson’s skill set that caught Shepherd’s eye. His frame and his ball skills also turned heads.
“He was a former WR and that was the first thing that popped out to me,” Shepherd said. “On tape I saw that he was willing to hit and run. Once I saw that and that he had a great work ethic, the rest was history for me.”
The common knowledge of what life in a junior college as a football player is like gained prominence in recent years because of the Netflix series “Last Chance U.” The Bobcats even had a player – former wide receiver Tayvian Williams — who came to them from Laney College, a school featured on the popular documentary series.
And while JC transfers are not as common among FCS schools because of the prevalence (and plague) of FBS drop-downs and other D-1 to D-1 transfers, MSU has had as many stellar JC transfers as any school in the Big Sky over the last decade-plus.
Demetrius Crawford & Orenzo Davis were explosive JC running backs who made huge impacts at MSU. Travis Jonsen started his career at Oregon but came to MSU from Riverside CC, a junior college in the same JC league as El Camino. Daniel Hardy, who’s now an impact defensive end for the Chicago Bears, is also a JC product who thrived at Montana State.
“(El Camino) made me turn into more of a dog and go out get what I really want,” Johnson said. “Hone in on my techniques and play for the team, was a big part at JUCO because everyone wants to standout but you need to play for the team.”
Coming to Montana from southern California is always considered to be a culture shock regardless of your age or circumstances. Johnson has had great family support in making the transition.
“(My parents) think it’s great,” he said. “Something different. I’m the furthest away from home (among his siblings) right now. They like that I’m away from the city and I can hone in, and focus on football and not have any outside distractions.”
Johnson had a key interception return for a touchdown last season in a nationally televised game on ESPN against Sacramento State. He had family in the stands. The Bobcats were trailing 7-0 when he read a Kaiden Bennett pass and took it 16 yards for a score that helped MSU to a 42-30 road win.
He has played in six of MSU’s eight games this season due to a hand injury that cost him two games and forced him to wear a large club-like protection in two other games. He has eight tackles and two pass breakups on the season.
The Bobcats are gearing up for a game that will test their secondary perhaps more than any game has this season when they travel to Cheney, Wash. to take on Eastern Washington. The Eagles are led by Efton Chism III, a senior who is leading the league in catches (76), yards (864) and touchdowns (8).
Montana State is leading the league in scoring defense (16.3 ppg) and total defense (280 yards per game allowed) by wide margins and looks like a true national title contender.
“It’s very different from last year,” Johnson said. “Everyone is on the same page, not that we weren’t last year, but it’s a different mindset.
“We’re going to take the challenge for sure. We don’t care what (the Eagles) do, they gotta play us. That’s really what matters and this year we’ve been doing our jobs.”
Johnson is majoring in liberal studies and plans to change that to electrical engineering soon. He will graduate next year.
“It’s always been my dream to play D-I football, graduate, get a degree and make my parents proud and myself proud at the same time,” Johnson said.
The Bobcats are set to take on EWU this Saturday at 2:00 in Cheney, Wash. in a Big Sky Conference game.
