3-Star LB Brian Johnson ready for spring games, more offers

As players around the state continue to pick up offers this spring, Manvel, Texas, outside linebacker Brian Johnson is seeing his recruitment make some moves forward as well.

Within the last two days, Johnson has picked up offers from Arkansas State and Louisiana-Lafayette. Both schools may have got in on him early enough to grab his attention, but they’re going to have their work cut out for them staying in the picture. Johnson also recently picked up an Arizona State offer and has been getting more serious about his relationships with Iowa State, Oklahoma State and West Virginia, who have all offered as well.

“The coaches really want me to come down there and view the campus,” he said of the ULL offer. “If they just keep in touch with me and show me more about themselves that would help, but I’m ready for that SEC offer or something to come in also.”

The Sun Devils staff had a similar message to Johnson in wanting him to come have a look at what they have to offer before before asking him to make any decisions as far as they were concerned.

“When I got on the phone with them, they were telling me some pretty good things,” he said. “He told me, ‘I’m going to give you this offer, but I don’t want you to commit right away’ he said that he wanted me to come meet the coaches, see the facilities, then we would talk about if I wanted to go there.”

Johnson said the he and his father were going to try and make it out to Tempe and Lafeyette and the pair have already been to Ames and Stillwater to see what the Cyclones and Cowboys had to offer. Both Iowa State and Oklahoma State are currently marked for return visits when they each have their upcoming spring games.

Recapping his Iowa State visit

“The went well - I really love the coaches,” he said. “They call me or text me every single day. A day doesn’t go by where they’re not at least checking in on me asking me ‘Brian how’s it going’ so the coaches - and the facilities - were real good. I loved it.”

“I really loved the weight room, it was really cool - I saw stuff I’ve never seen before,” he said. “They took us into a place they just built I think, like, two years ago where they eat their food at and you can see the game while you’re in there eating.”

“Coach (Matt) Campbell is a real good coach and I really think he’s going to fix it up there,” he said. “Me and him and my mom and dad all sat down with him and had a good conversation. We just talked about my future up there, where I could be playing at and he was just telling me how I could help them, so it was a good talk.”

Recapping Oklahoma State visit from several weeks ago

“That went real well - I loved the facilities, loved the coaches, it’s a great place up there,” he said. “I brought my dad and he really liked it too, and he was like ‘you got some big choices to make’ because every time he goes to a college, he’ll be amazed. They really want me to bring my mom when I come back next time, so I’m going to bring the whole family to their spring game.”

“I talk to Coach (Andre) Sexton and he keeps in touch with me - he probably texts me like every other day or sends me like a motivational quote,” he said. “Coach (Glenn) Spencer might text me like each week and says ‘we really love you’ or ‘we really want you up here,’ so they probably keep in touch with me second-most behind Iowa State.”

On West Virginia

“I actually didn’t really watch West Virginia last year, so I’m going to catch up with them this year,” he said. “One coach was telling me the defensive coordinator said that he thought Brian Johnson was too good to come here and play for West Virginia. I loved that, I was like wow. A school as big as West Virginia saying that they thought they couldn’t get me because I was too good to come there.”

Johnson’s mold as a player certainly seems well-suited for the Big 12 style of play, but he’s certainly not limited to options in just one conference. He said that Indiana and Penn State have been sending him more information about their programs as of late, and that much-anticipated SEC offer might not be too far behind, either.

“Arkansas has been keeping in touch with me a lot and most of their coaching staff follows me on twitter,” he said. “So I’m hoping to hear from them soon - as in getting an offer.”