Utah Utes football: Assistant coach Brian Johnson is still just a kid

SALT LAKE CITY — For most of his life, Brian Johnson has been younger than those around him.

Because he was smart enough to skip first grade, he was always the youngest among his peers. That was a big disadvantage in sports, but Johnson was talented enough to earn a college scholarship to Utah at age 17. Even with sitting out a year with an injury he graduated from the U. at age 21.

Now at age 23, Johnson may be the youngest fulltime assistant college football coach in the country. At least that's what a national media member told coach Kyle Whittingham earlier this year.

"And I believe everything I hear," Whittingham said with a smile.

But it is unlikely there is a younger full-time assistant coach at a major college than Johnson, considering that most players don't graduate until at least age 22. And then they have to work their way up as a graduate assistants or assistants at smaller colleges before advancing to a major college staff.

One thing's for certain — there aren't any coaches in college football that have 16 players on the team older than they are, as is the case with Johnson at Utah. Heck, Johnson isn't even old enough to rent a car, for crying out loud.

For Johnson, being the youngest guy in the group comes naturally by now, even though he admits he hasn't always liked it.

"I was always younger than everyone and didn't have a license until I was a senior in high school," he said. "When I was 17, I wanted to be a junior in high school. When I was a freshman, I couldn't go out with the other guys here because I wasn't 18 yet. It was an adjustment, but it ended up working out."

After leading Utah to a 13-0 record in 2008, Johnson served as a grad assistant for Utah last year. But after cornerbacks coach J.D. Williams left for UNLV, Johnson was quickly named to the Ute staff. He took Dave Schramm's place as the quarterbacks coach, while Schramm was put in charge of the tight ends.

"He's a guy that has intelligence, energy and character — three things we look for when we hire assistants," said Whittingham. "Brian carries himself very well, he's articulate, well-spoken and from a recruiting aspect that's critical."

Johnson joined a staff with coaches ranging in age from 30 (Morgan Scalley) to 66 (John Pease). However, he says his fellow Ute coaches have treated him great and don't call him anything like "junior" or "sonny boy."