Inside Josiah Johnson's journey from Mac Jones' backup QB to Oklahoma State football TE

STILLWATER — Coming up as a high school quarterback at the Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida, Josiah Johnson understood his situation.

Playing behind Mac Jones, who was early on his path toward the NFL where he is now the starting quarterback for the New England Patriots, Johnson’s second-team status was essentially cemented for his first three years of high school.

“Josiah worked as hard as any kid we had in our program,” said Lance Picard, who was then the offensive line coach at Bolles. “He knew he was never gonna beat out Mac Jones, but he was always ready, and when he got the time to play, if we were way up on somebody, he came in and did his job.”

Those hard-working tendencies have followed Johnson throughout his career, which saw him go to Massachusetts out of high school, change positions, and now, land at Oklahoma State as the starting tight end in his super-senior season.

He’ll be on the field for his third game as a Cowboy when they play host to South Alabama at 6 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium, broadcast on ESPN+.

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When Johnson makes offseason trips back to Massachusetts, he’ll reach out to Jones, who had a stellar career at Alabama where he won a national championship and was third in the Heisman Trophy voting before being selected by the Patriots with the 15th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Jones and Johnson will reconnect for workouts on occasion, when it fits both of their schedules.

“Obviously, he’s a very busy dude,” Johnson said with a laugh. “We’ve been in touch a little bit.”

The two will be forever connected in the Bolles School history books, with Johnson having to follow in the footsteps of his superstar friend. But Johnson didn’t back down from the challenge.

“It’s hard to follow a guy like Mac Jones, or anybody who’s had a lot of success,” Picard said. “But Josiah came in and really outperformed everyone’s expectations, inside our program and outside our program.

“That’s a tribute to him and his work ethic.”

The Bolles School ran an offense based in the Wing-T formation, but not the 1960s version you might be envisioning. Wayne Belger, the head coach at the time, still liked to throw the ball plenty. Johnson passed for nearly 1,800 yards with 14 touchdowns as a senior. He also rushed for more than 300 yards on a team that was eliminated from the playoffs on a missed field goal in overtime.

“He was a good thrower of the football, not a great thrower,” Belger said. “But he made some big throws, and he made some tremendous improvement from his junior year to his senior year. “I probably didn’t run him as much as I should have, but sometimes, you try to keep your starter healthy and can’t do some things that you’d like to do.”

Neither Belger nor Picard are surprised to see Johnson succeeding as a tight end, because of his football intelligence and intense competitiveness.

“He was always a very hard competitor,” said Belger, who retired from coaching shortly after Johnson graduated. “He played basketball, too, and he was always one of those guys diving on the floor for loose balls and playing hard. He was an average basketball player, but he played hard.

“During football season, he was always in my office asking questions. ‘Where do we want to go with the ball on this play?’ He was just a big-time competitor and a good person.”

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Johnson went to UMass as a quarterback, but began to spend some time at tight end before fully transitioning to the position late in his five-year stint there.

Weighing about 180 pounds in high school, Johnson is up to 235 on his 6-foot-5 frame, showing the physicality to handle blocking in the Big 12, but also the athletic ability to run routes. He had a pair of catches in his first game as a Cowboy two weeks ago, and could continue to be a hidden weapon in an offense with so many talented receivers around him.

Arriving at OSU in January, Johnson quickly learned the playbook, something he attributes to his past as a quarterback, and his UMass experience.

“I had three (offensive coordinators) throughout my career at UMass,” he said. “Obviously, I would’ve wished for more stability, but it was a little bit of a blessing. Because of that, I know what works for me in learning the playbook fast. I’ve had to do it multiple times.

“But whenever I’ve had questions, our quarterbacks have been more than willing to work with me, throw to me extra, help me on the details of the routes. And the other tight ends have helped me quickly understand things, because I got here in January and it was a quick flip into spring ball. It wasn’t as hard as I thought, but I still have a lot more to learn.”

Of course, with his quarterback background, he’s had a suggestion or two for offensive coordinator Kasey Dunn.

“There’s not a day that goes by that he doesn’t want to throw a pass,” Dunn said with a laugh.

More realistically, Dunn sees promise for Johnson in his tight end role as the Cowboys try to increase the impact of the position in the offense this season.

“He’s a big part of what we’re doing,” Dunn said. “He’s one of those guys who can kind of do it all. He can block and hold the point, catch the ball, he’s a good player.

“He doesn’t miss assignments a lot, so that’s a good thing. The quarterback has to know everything, and the tight end has to pretty much know everything, because they’re involved in the pass game, he’s in protection, he’s in the run game. A tight end’s football IQ has to be high, and he has certainly proven that.”

Scott Wright covers Oklahoma State athletics for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Scott? He can be reached at swright@oklahoman.com or on Twitter at @ScottWrightOK. Sign up for the Oklahoma State Cowboys newsletter to access more OSU coverage. Support Scott’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com or by using the link at the top of this page.

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OSU vs. South Alabama

KICKOFF: 6 p.m. Saturday at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater (ESPN+)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma State football's Josiah Johnson once was Mac Jones' backup QB