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Denver Johnson: The Record

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
It often gets mentioned that Denver Johnson coached Offensive Line at some pretty major programs prior to being hired at CU. But I'm not sure that people have really examined the record.

He hasn't coached offensive line since 1996. During those 12 years away from OL coaching, he was a head coach at the 1-AA level. Overall, he compiled a 69-66 record as the head man. But he was only 48-54 during his 9 years at Illinois State. Previous to that, he'd done fairly well at Murray State over 3 seasons (21-12).

So, we hired a guy who hadn't been recruiting 1-A athletes or coaching offensive linemen for the past dozen years.

But how did he do when he was coaching OLs all those years ago?

That 1996 season that represented his last OL job: Oklahoma. Looks good on paper. But Oklahoma went 3-8 that year (Johnson's only season in Norman).

Prior to that, Johnson coached the OL at Mississippi State from 1993-1995. Their record during that time? 15-17-2.

And Johnson's other 1-A job? Oklahoma State from 1989 -1992. Those teams achieved a record of 12-30-2.

So, including the 4-10 record CU has had since he has been the OL coach for us, Denver Johnson has a career record as a 1-A Offensive Line Coach of:

34-65-4
 
Hawk, Johnson, riddell and collins all need to be fired.....

Johnson can't get talent to pass block or plow over smaller dl's.

Riddell's special teams suck-5 years and our PR's still fair catch at the 5.

Collins has the worst blitz packages i've ever seen. We can bring 8 guys and never touch the qb.
 
Well....the Cal stats are out and the only thing that shows is the number of plays each lineman played....no rating for any of them....hmmmm...should note that depth chart as of Sep 14 shows Atkins starting at LG. I was blasted for sending Denver Johnson an email after the CAL game...Well the evidence supports the fact that he sucks ass as a coach. Also, I called it after the CSU game. suggested that Tyler Hanson would be running for his life at CAL and many of the koolaid drinkers pooh poohed my comments. Denver Johnson is a disaster. I would give any HS World History teacher/JV coach the job over Johnson.
 
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Well....the Cal stats are out and the only thing that shows is the number of plays each lineman played....no rating for any of them....hmmmm...should note that depth chart as of Sep 14 shows Atkins starting at LG. I was blasted for sending Denver Johnson an email after the CAL game...Well the evidence supports the fact that he sucks ass as a coach. Also, I called it after the CSU game. suggested that Tyler Hanson would be running for his life at CAL and many of the koolaid drinkers pooh poohed my comments. Denver Johnson is a disaster. I would give any HS World History teacher/JV coach the job over Johnson.


So now they aren't even releasing the grades for the offensive line?!?

LOL
 
That 1996 season in Norman... his running backs lost yardage on 47% of the plays. They gained 2-yards-or-less on another 33%. So, for 4-out-of-5 running plays (and these 'rushing attempts' cover QB scrambles, too), Johnson's O-Line coaching netted an average of -2.1 yards a play. The longest rushing plays that season was a couple of 40-yarders against TCU and San Diego State - the first two games of that season.

His ability to 'coach up' an O-Line was pretty tragic, therefore.

This was one of OU's worst-ever football seasons with one of the worst-ever OU coaches. It should be noted, however, that even this OU-destroyer John Blake didn't keep Johnson around. He IS the coach that Dan Hawkins wanted, however. "Look at all that Big 12 experience he has!"
 
That 1996 season in Norman... his running backs lost yardage on 47% of the plays. They gained 2-yards-or-less on another 33%. So, for 4-out-of-5 running plays (and these 'rushing attempts' cover QB scrambles, too), Johnson's O-Line coaching netted an average of -2.1 yards a play. The longest rushing plays that season was a couple of 40-yarders against TCU and San Diego State - the first two games of that season.

His ability to 'coach up' an O-Line was pretty tragic, therefore.

This was one of OU's worst-ever football seasons with one of the worst-ever OU coaches. It should be noted, however, that even this OU-destroyer John Blake didn't keep Johnson around. He IS the coach that Dan Hawkins wanted, however. "Look at all that Big 12 experience he has!"

Hawk should be fired for hiring someone with those credentials. Another log on the bonfire that is CU football right now. Soon to be ashes if someone does not put the fire out quickly. Rick and barnett did NOTHING to burn to program to the ground like Hawk has. Please Bohn, fire him today. I do not want to see Dan on the CU sideline ever again (unless he is coaching the team we are playing agianst. In which case I would like him to be on the other sidelines every week).
 
So who is in charge of calling offensive plays for us?? And making adjustments when they are necessary like when your O-Line is getting blown up?? How come he escapes culpability?
 
So who is in charge of calling offensive plays for us?? And making adjustments when they are necessary like when your O-Line is getting blown up?? How come he escapes culpability?

Kiesau doesn't escape culpability. He has been awful as an offensive coordinator. But this thread is about Denver Johnson.
 
We will have more penalty yards this season than rushing yards.
 
Well....the Cal stats are out and the only thing that shows is the number of plays each lineman played....no rating for any of them.

They never show the stats for every game, only the totals and the high game. The totals are in there, it's just sad that not one single OL had a better game vs. Cal than CSU.
 
lvbuff - I was against your email, not criticism of Johnson. I too hate Johnson, but I don't think sending him hateful email is good practice. I want Johnson gone immediately, but it's not going to happen until potentially after this year.

Johnson is only the most recent sign that Hawk can't hire assistants. Collins over Hankwitz??!! Come on, that was a horrible move, especially since Hankwitz wanted to stay. Pittman has our guys looking really slow out there. Bandison looked good for two years due to Nicholas and Hypolite, who he inherited from his predecessors that had run the program to the ground supposedly... Greg Brown called up Hawk, not the other way around, because Brown liked CO the state. Riddle is a joke. I liked Grimes, but he was nothing amazing. Same can be said of Kiesau. He chose to retain Cabral and Hagan. Cabral was a no-brainer, and Hagan was a bad move. He hired himself for WR?!?! Prince - jury is out. Hawk can't hire assistants...that's it. I honestly believe that a head coach's success is primarily driven by the staff he hires, because a head coach can't do everything. Helfrich was okay, but like Grimes, we didn't get to see what he's really capable of. Short of it - all assistants should be let go in my opinion. I love Cabral, but let's face it, he should be a DC somewhere learning from others. That way, he can come back to CU as a HC.
 
I should note over the years I have sent the staff positive emails as well however, it has been a long time since I had reason to do it.
 
Sure, we don't like him now because our line is struggling.

BUT... he is probably the most highly decorated line coach ever. How many other line coaches have been a HC elsewhere for 10+ years?
 
Now Johnson says Iltis is moving to center and Adkins is back at LG....Johnson: "This is not a demotion for Keenan...we just continue to evaluate to find the most consistent fit."

Hawkins: "We can fix this."

Really?

Good ****ing grief...WTF have they been doing since last spring? I love the fact that Johnson doesn't want to hurt Keenan's feelings.
 
It often gets mentioned that Denver Johnson coached Offensive Line at some pretty major programs prior to being hired at CU. But I'm not sure that people have really examined the record.

He hasn't coached offensive line since 1996. During those 12 years away from OL coaching, he was a head coach at the 1-AA level. Overall, he compiled a 69-66 record as the head man. But he was only 48-54 during his 9 years at Illinois State. Previous to that, he'd done fairly well at Murray State over 3 seasons (21-12).

So, we hired a guy who hadn't been recruiting 1-A athletes or coaching offensive linemen for the past dozen years.

But how did he do when he was coaching OLs all those years ago?

That 1996 season that represented his last OL job: Oklahoma. Looks good on paper. But Oklahoma went 3-8 that year (Johnson's only season in Norman).

Prior to that, Johnson coached the OL at Mississippi State from 1993-1995. Their record during that time? 15-17-2.

And Johnson's other 1-A job? Oklahoma State from 1989 -1992. Those teams achieved a record of 12-30-2.

So, including the 4-10 record CU has had since he has been the OL coach for us, Denver Johnson has a career record as a 1-A Offensive Line Coach of:

34-65-4

Yep, this is pretty much the point I was making here, in the last Denver Johnson thread:

Let's look at the W-L records of the assistants in their careers in games in which they were a full time coach (from the CU Media Guide) thru 2009:

Cabral: 145-96-4 (CU)
7-14-1 (Purdue)

Kiesau: 16-33 (CU)
33-17 (Cal)
9-13 (Utah St)

Collins: 16-33 (CU)
53-11 (Boise)

Prince: 33-6 (Boise)

Ambrose: N/A (1st season as Div I coach)

Bandison: 16-33 (CU)
53-11 (Boise)

Hagan: 23-39 (CU)

Johnson: 3-9 (CU)
15-17-2 (Miss St)
12-30-2 (Okla St)
3-8 (Oklahoma)

Riddle: 16-33 (CU)
53-11 (Boise)
26-40-1 (Army)

I still absolutely love Cabral-- he is CU Buffs through and through!!!

The verdict is out on Ambrose, but from the things I've read about him, he may have a bright future. But we'll see how the DBs do this year under him.

Kiesau had some moderate success at Cal, but has been a failure elsewhere.

The other coaches' "success" seems to all have been at Boise, and I think the entire country has seen that success is completely due to Chris Petersen and the coaches that remained there.

And finally, in relation to the title of this thread, look at Denver Johnson's record. Ridiculously bad!!!!!!

Cabral's a no-brainer. Ambrose is an unknown (but might have a future). I think Bandison has done some good things with the DL in spite of his CU record. Hagan, I'm sorry to say, has not worked out as an RB coach. It was painful to watch DH Jr. put the final nail in the coffin yesterday!

Unquestionably, outside of Cabral (and possibly Bandison and Ambrose), the staff (by virtue of their records) are an abysmal failure!
 
So, we hired a guy who hadn't been recruiting 1-A athletes or coaching offensive linemen for the past dozen years.

Hawk coached wide receivers last year. The guy's got a giant doughnut around his waste these days, and he's the most qualified to coach some of the most athletic players on the team? Many of coach's decisions make NO SENSE.
 
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What pisses me off is we are still evaluating this. Wtf? Either we have almost identical players on the oline or these ****ers dont know who the best 5 are. That is so incompetent it's pitiful.
 
This move is like when you forget the combination to a lock. You know the numbers but you don't know the order. This coaching staff is just randomly making changes in hope that something will click.

That's why when they say they are "close", they honestly think that one of these combinations is going to be the one that works.
 
This move is like when you forget the combination to a lock. You know the numbers but you don't know the order. This coaching staff is just randomly making changes in hope that something will click.

That's why when they say they are "close", they honestly think that one of these combinations is going to be the one that works.


Its worse than that...its more like they have never seen a combination lock. they don't even know which way to spin the reel to clear it before they enter then numbers. Hawkins is a ****tard douchebag....
 
What pisses me off is we are still evaluating this. Wtf? Either we have almost identical players on the oline or these ****ers dont know who the best 5 are. That is so incompetent it's pitiful.

Ummm, wasn't this supposed to have been figured out during spring ball and oh yeah, F***ING FALL CAMP?!?!
 
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