FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas’ coaching staff will have even more Ohio State flavor next season.
Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino confirmed Sunday that former Buckeyes’ assistant Taver Johnson will be joining his staff as assistant head coach/linebackers coach. Johnson will be reunited with new Arkansas defensive coordinator Paul Haynes, who left Ohio State to join the Razorbacks in December.
“Taver is an extremely enthusiastic and devoted coach,” Petrino said in a statement. “He has a strong work ethic, is a great teacher of the game and is skillful at relating to his players. During his time at Ohio State, he became familiar with the principles coach Haynes has worked to incorporate here.
“He has also been a part of a program with a culture of consistently winning and will be instrumental in preparing our players to compete for championships.”
Johnson spent the past five seasons coaching cornerbacks at Ohio State, teaming with Haynes (who was the safeties coach) to build a strong secondary. It included 2008 Jim Thorpe Award winner Michael Jenkins.
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Johnson replaces former linebackers coach Reggie Johnson, who left for the defensive coordinator position at Alabama-Birmingham earlier this week.
Like Haynes, the 39-year-old Johnson is an Ohio native who was a linebacker at Wittenberg University in Springfield. He also spent several seasons coaching linebackers in his career.
Before joining Ohio State’s staff, Johnson was the assistant head coach/defensive coordinator at Miami of Ohio in 2005-06. He also had a previous stint at the school from 2000-03, working as linebackers coach.
Johnson also spent one season in the NFL as the Cleveland Browns special teams coach in 2004.