FAYETTEVILLE — The 15th in a series profiling new additions to the Arkansas football team.Kirk Martin used the Internet to explain how great he thinks Taiwan Johnson is.
The coach at Manvel (Texas) High School didn’t post a video highlight of Johnson or a page of statistics as an illustration. Instead, he told a story of accountability and respect regarding his star defensive lineman, who signed with Arkansas in February.
Manvel had defeated an opponent earlier in the year when one of the players began to insult the Mavericks anonymously on the team’s website. A Manvel player went on the website and responded in kind.
“T.J. ended it. He said we didn’t need to do stuff like that,” Martin said. “T.J. has always been a great locker room guy. He squashed that kind of stuff.
“He’s an old-school, throwback football player. He doesn’t care about the hype or the glitz and glamor.”
Johnson brings more than leadership and respect for the game to Arkansas. Johnson, 6-3, 235 pounds, led Manvel to the Class 4A title game after making 81 tackles and 11 sacks as a senior.
Martin said Johnson is only beginning to realize his potential and could be either a defensive end or linebacker in college.
“I’m ready for the challenge,” Johnson said. “I want to keep working and get better. I’ll take any role they give me. When you put in the work, you get rewarded. It’s all up to me, basically.”
Martin said Johnson developed into a star despite the lack of offseason work in high school. Johnson had surgeries on his shoulders as a sophomore and junior that prevented him from working out after football season.
The surgeries were successful, and Johnson was completely healthy as a senior, Martin said. Martin also said he is looking forward to finding out what time in the Arkansas weight room will do for Johnson.
“He doesn’t know how strong he can be,” Martin said. “He’s a freak in that regard. He’s raw-boned strong. The sky’s the limit for that kid.”
Martin said he thinks Johnson is physically developed enough to play as a true freshman, but he hopes the Razorbacks redshirt him. If that happens, don’t expect Johnson to waste his year on the sideline.
Johnson didn’t play much as a sophomore at Manvel because of his shoulder problem and two talented senior starters playing in front of him. Rather than pout, Johnson decided to improve himself by watching game film.
“I sat the bench, but I learned a lot,” Johnson said. “I’m a playbook addict. I watched more film than any backup ever. I want to be the smartest player.
“If I’m smarter than the guy against me, I’m at the advantage. So I make sure I’m the smartest player I can be.”
Johnson also learned some hard lessons as practice-team fodder. Going against the first-team offense in practice, he managed to get himself noticed when he would occasionally hit the quarterback, which technically was a practice no-no.
“The coaches would yell at me, ‘Why is this sophomore hitting our quarterback?’ ” Johnson said. “I would get whipped in practice, but my competitiveness would get me over. I would never lay down for an older guy.”
Johnson said he gets his toughness from his father, Taiwan Sr., who served in the Marines. That toughness also helped the younger Johnson when he orally committed to Arkansas.
“It was pretty stressful because everybody had their own opinion where I needed to go,” Johnson said. “Arkansas was there on Day 1. They always wanted me.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 07/26/2012