UNA football adds former Auburn star to staff

Quite a few former Auburn football players go on to become coaches after their player careers have ended. Several of them coach on the Tigers’ staff right now, including running backs coach Cadillac Williams, wide receivers coach Marcus Davis, and secondary coach Zac Etheridge.

But there are also a number of former Tigers who find coaching careers away from the Plains, and that group grew in number this week.

On Thursday, the University of North Alabama announced that former Auburn football running back Kerryon Johnson will join the staff of the football program, becoming UNA’s Director of Player Development.

The move will return the former RB to his home state and reunite Johnson with multiple staff members who also have Auburn football ties, including head coach Brent Dearmon, who spent two seasons on the Plains under Gus Malzahn. He was a running backs analyst in 2013 and a wide receivers analyst in 2014.

Also coaching at UNA is former Auburn linebacker Deshaun Davis, who was teammates with Johnson for three seasons on the Plains, from 2015-2017.

Johnson, a 5-star recruit out of high school and a native of Madison, AL, finished his Auburn career with 19 starts in 37 games, 2,494 rushing yards, 32 rushing touchdowns, 478 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns. Following the 2017 season, Johnson declared for the NFL Draft, and was chosen by the Detroit Lions as the 43rd overall pick in the second round.

His first two NFL seasons were a success, and he racked up 1,044 yards with the Lions. However, injuries made things tough for the running back, and he hasn’t played in the NFL since 2020.

Coaching at UNA with his former teammates should be a great homecoming for former Auburn football running back Kerryon Johnson.