‘Always Been With Pitt’: Kenny Johnson Wants to Play Ball Again

After the slow start to the season, Johnson broke out in the loss to North Carolina and began regularly earning double-digit snaps as a wideout — making three starts. He received 222 offensive snaps last season, double-digit snaps in each of the last nine games, but the targets weren’t always there. Consistent quarterback play wasn’t always there either.

Johnson’s usage was confusing last season. It was almost as if the previous coaching staff wasn’t sure what to do with Johnson outside of jet sweeps. He had an average depth of target of just about 13 yards, but the throws downfield never seemed to arrive.

He was targeted 29 times but hauled in just 15 passes. The disconnect was obvious, but it’s different now. It’s definitely been an adjustment to the new offense led by Kade Bell, but Johnson loves the newfound tempo.

“Just because it’s a different type of conditioning; you have to have to go run a 15-yard, 20-yard post and run right back, look at the sideline, and then go again,” Johnson said. “But I think it’s gonna throw teams off like crazy. It’s gonna slow down the pass rush a lot. And it’ll give us a good mix of coverages that we can predict. Because, I mean, we’re moving so fast, we’ll see everything happening in front of us.”

It’s still not the offense that Johnson watched on YouTube when he first learned that Pitt was hiring Bell away from Western Carolina, it will take time to reach that point, but Johnson has seen what an offense is capable of when it’s firing.

“It’s crazy because you get to one place, boom, you have a big drop back concept,” Johnson said. “You come back, boom, now we got a screen it. We go back, now we got a run with RPOs. I love the RPOs just because there’s always an option to pass. We get a lot of stacked boxes for some reason. I don’t know why, but we do, and that’s great. Perfect. Because that’s one-on-one coverage. That’s between me and a cornerback, and I like that matchup every time.”

If Bell has a calling card, it’s scheming his playmakers open. He says it. His assistants say it. His former players say it. It’s a complete 180 from the previous coaching staff (and still unproven at the Power Four level, to be fair), but a player like Johnson sees the game on the same level as Bell. There’s a shared view of the game.

Pittsburgh Panthers wide receiver Kenny Johnson (2) September 23, 2023 David Hague/Pittsburgh Sports Now

“He does a real good job diagnosing coverages,” Johnson said. “When he calls his plays, you can really tell he knows what coverage it is. He’s not just calling plays to call plays. I feel like a lot of OCs call plays to see what’s gonna happen, but he really knows.”

Johnson is the kind of wideout — the new “X” receiver in the system (stepping up in place of Bub Means) — that can win those one-on-one battles. He likes those one-on-one battles, and in his head, he’ll never lose those one-on-one battles, but Bell wants to put him in a position to do so organically.

It’s a relationship between offensive coordinator and wide receiver that’s growing by the day, and it’s the same with the relationship between new wide receivers coach JJ Laster and Johnson. Laster, who filled the vacancy left by Underwood (who was a major factor in luring Johnson to Pittsburgh), is still feeling it out with Johnson. They’re getting to know each other, and as Laster has gotten to know Johnson, he’s seen what he feels will take Johnson to the next level.

“The biggest thing with him is just understanding the assignments, understanding the alignments,” Laster said in February. “You’ll hear me say that a lot. Double A, alignment, assignment.

“I believe that Kenny is so talented as a young man. He’s so talented, but if he understands, ‘Why I have to cut my split,’ or, ‘Why I have to line up on top of the numbers,’ that’s going to help take his game to the next level because athletic ability, he has it. But understanding the route running and different things like that, I think that will help him out as much as possible.

“I’m excited for Kenny. Very athletic guy, very talented. Just excited to see what’s next for him.”

Johnson is just one receiver in the room, one of six who will likely see a lot of playing time this season, but he’s one of the most talented. He’s naturally gifted. He’s well-loved within the program. He’s perhaps the best bet for a star playmaker to emerge from the wide receiving corps this season. And he’s focused on proving that last season was just a blip on the radar.

“Last season was rough just because of the talent that we had in the room,” Johnson said. “Things just didn’t go our way. There were a lot of games we should have had that we didn’t take. But I feel like our demeanor has changed this year, we have a different group of leaders. Those dudes are just taking over.”

Johnson is one of those dudes who is taking over now.