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Entering his third season as cornerbacks coach at UTEP, Allen Johnson has already coached two players - Cornelius Brown and Melvin Stephenson II - who earned NFL free agent tryouts. Brown, the regular starter at right corner last season, inked a free agent contract with the Chicago Bears in the spring of 2010. He was credited with 41 tackles as a senior and closed out his Miner career with 24 pass break-ups - tied for the second-highest total in school history. Stephenson manned the left corner slot in 2009 and produced 58 stops and four pass deflections. He signed with the Washington Redskins. In 2008, Johnson also coached Clarence Ward, who posted 31 tackles and six pass break-ups before moving to safety his senior year. Ward was the Miners' second-leading tackler in 2009 with 73 stops. Johnson spent the 2007 season as the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Midwestern State University, which had the top defense in the Lone Star Conference. MSU led the league in scoring defense (18.6 ppg), total defense (294.2 ypg) and rushing defense (93.9 ypg), and ranked third in passing defense (200.3 ypg). Johnson coached first team All-Conference cornerback Patrick Roberts and second team All-League safety Ryan Craven. The Mustangs posted an 8-3 record in 2007. Johnson served as a quality control assistant at Oklahoma State in 2006, helping the Cowboys to seven wins and an Independence Bowl victory. Oklahoma State achieved national top-10 rankings in rushing offense (208 ypg, seventh), scoring offense (35.2 ppg, seventh), kickoff returns (24.6 avg., eighth) and tackles for losses (7.7 per game, eighth). He started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Texas A&M-Commerce, his alma mater, in 1999 and 2000. He spent the next four years in the prep ranks at Gaither High School (Tampa, Fla.), Plant High School (Tampa, Fla.) and Newman Smith High School (Carrollton, Texas). Johnson worked at Blinn College in 2005, doubling as secondary coach and recruiting coordinator, where he was a part of an NJCAA playoff qualifier. His stellar collegiate playing career included stops at Kilgore (Texas) College and the University of Central Oklahoma before taking a detour in the U.S. Air Force. He spent his senior year at Texas A&M Commerce, earning All-Lone Star Conference South Division honors and a trip to the 1999 Snow Bowl, which was the NCAA Division II senior all-star game at the time. Johnson also competed for the Texas A&M-Commerce track and field team and, off the playing field, served as president of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. He earned his bachelor of science degree in Kinesiology and Health in 1999 before receiving a master's degree in the same field a year later. Johnson and his wife, Jennifer, have three daughters - Jayla, Kyra and Olivia. 
 
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