Gators add Houston OC Brian Johnson to staff

Dan Mullen continued to round out his coaching staff on Sunday, hiring former Houston offensive coordinator and quarterback coach Brian Johnson.

Johnson joins Billy Gonzalez and John Hevesy as the third assistant coach that Mullen has added since he took over at Florida two weeks ago. Florida has not announced what roles the coaches will assume.

Johnson, 30, played college football at Utah from 2004-08. He set the school record for victories by a starting quarterback (26), while throwing for 7,853 yards and 57 touchdowns in four seasons. He added 848 rushing yards and 12 more touchdowns on the ground before EA Sports put him on the cover of NCAA Football 2010.

Immediately after his playing career Johnson began coaching. He spent two years coaching quarterbacks at Utah before being promoted to offensive coordinator (2012-13). Mullen brought Johnson with him to Mississippi State where he served as quarterbacks coach from 2014-16. In 2017 Johnson accepted the offensive coordinator and quarterback back coach position at Houston after three years at Mississippi State.

Nick de la Torre
A South Florida native, Nick developed a passion for all things sports at a very young age. His love for baseball was solidified when he saw Al Leiter’s no-hitter for the Marlins live in May of 1996. He was able to play baseball in college but quickly realized there isn’t much of a market for short, slow outfielders that hit around the Mendoza line. Wanting to continue with sports in some capacity he studied journalism at the University of Central Florida. Nick got his first start in the business as an intern for a website covering all things related to the NFL draft before spending two seasons covering the Florida football team at Bleacher Report. That job led him to GatorCountry. When he isn’t covering Gator sports, Nick enjoys hitting way too many shots on the golf course, attempting to keep up with his favorite t.v. shows and watching the Heat, Dolphins and Marlins. Follow him on twitter @NickdelatorreGC