LITTLE ROCK — Reggie Johnson
POSITION Inside linebackers coach
COACHING EXPERIENCE 14th year overall, Fourth at Arkansas HOMETOWN Hollandale, Miss.
EDUCATION Morgan Park (Chicago) HS; University of Louisville
RECRUITING TERRITORY South Georgia, Alabama
COACHING HISTORY Louisville; Alabama A&M; Texas-El Paso; Louisville; Arkansas
FAMILY Wife Eulice, daughters Sydney and Jordan
BIO Racked up 252 tackles as a four-year letterman at Louisville (1987-90). Capped his senior year with a 10-1-1 record that included a 34-7 victory over Alabama in the Fiesta Bowl. Earned a political science degree and a master’s in education at Louisville. Began coaching career as a graduate assistant at Louisville in 1997. Joined Bobby Petrino’s first Louisville team in 2003 as defensive line coach, and moved to linebackers in 2004.
FUNNIEST PLAYER That’s a tough one. They’re not too funny when I’m around.
ACTRESS I like Angela Bassett ACTOR I don’t know about favorite actor but I like the movie Deep Cover, and Laurence Fishburne was in that.
MUSIC R&B
MEAL A steak, we’ll go medium well. A ribeye. You got to have meat, man.
DESSERT Chocolate cake
FAVORITE PLAYING MEMORY We beat Alabama in the 1991 Fiesta Bowl. We had a really good day. We all played well.
WHEN YOU KNEW YOU WANTED TO COACH I was realistic about my opportunities to move on [to pro football]. I worked in juvenile corrections for a few years and after being in that environment, I had to do something positive. I volunteer high school coached for a year and I said, ‘OK, this is it.’
CHILDHOOD IDOL I always enjoyed watching linebackers, watching [Mike] Singletary, Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Carl Banks.
WERE YOU ALWAYS A LINEBACKER I played tight end in high school. Coming up I played some offensive line and defensive tackle.
UNSUNG RAZORBACK I don’t know if it’s a breakout year because this kid constantly makes plays for us — it’s Jerico [Nelson]. When you put the video on, he makes plays.
WHAT IS IT LIKE HAVING TWO DAUGHTERS I have no say in nothing. It’s ‘Yes, dear’ to my wife and it’s ‘OK, baby’ to my girls. I have no status. It’s me and the dog and the dog may be a little bit higher than me.
GREATEST FEAR I don’t like snakes.
Sports, Pages 21 on 08/16/2011