'Have a positive influence': Former Auburn football RB Kerryon Johnson on new role at UNA

AUBURN — Former Auburn football star running back Kerryon Johnson was making dinner when his phone buzzed.

Reaching out was another former Tiger in Deshaun Davis, who played linebacker at AU from 2014-18 and was a teammate of Johnson's for three seasons. Davis, now the LBs coach at North Alabama, wanted to connect Johnson with UNA coach Brent Dearmon, who spent two years as an offensive analyst on the Plains under Gus Malzahn.

Dearmon had an opening on his staff — director of player personnel — and wanted to gauge Johnson's interest.

"We had a meeting and things moved fast and here we are," said Johnson, who was officially named to the UNA staff earlier this month. "I was very grateful. ... I’ve known Coach Dearmon since my freshman year of college. ... I know what he’s going to preach, I know who he is as a person (and) I know what he wants to get done."

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Johnson had been trying to break into the college game for the last few months, and with an opportunity falling into his lap so close to home — Johnson went to Madison Academy, less than 70 miles away from UNA's campus — it was an easy decision.

The goal of getting back into the football industry stemmed from Johnson's desire to make life easier on athletes who are in the same position he found himself in a little less than a decade ago as a freshman at Auburn. Johnson starred for the Tigers, was drafted in the second round of the 2018 NFL Draft and enjoyed a four-year career in the NFL.

"College is such a pivotal moment for a lot of kids," Johnson told the Montgomery Advertiser this week. "You’ve got plenty of different roads to go down, plenty of choices to make. ... I just want to be there to have a positive influence on those guys and maybe make some of those decisions easier or more clear or (help) determine what route they want to go down and just help them out. ... (I'm) just trying to help as many as I can.”

Malzahn, who coached Johnson from 2015-17, hammered the idea of leaving a positive impact into his players.

"(Malzahn) always used to have this saying of, ‘Make a positive impression on somebody today. Do something positive today,'" Johnson said. "He was always asking us and telling us and encouraging us to do something positive for somebody else today, leave a positive (impression).

"That’s what my goal is for these kids, trying to leave something impressionable that’s positive that they can take with them for the next few years at least, if not for the rest of their lives.”

Johnson experienced both highs — he rushed for more than 100 yards in eight of Auburn's regular-season games as a junior — and lows — his time in the NFL was cut short due to injuries — throughout his career. He believes those experiences, including the back/shoulder injury he suffered in the 2017 Iron Bowl that later hampered him in the SEC Championship Game, give him the authority to be a resource for the athletes he'll be working with.

"Nothing beats experience," Johnson said. "A lot of people are going to talk about it, but I actually was fortunate enough to live it. I’m not saying take whatever I say at face value, that’s not what I’m saying, I don’t think you should do that for anybody, but I do know what it takes and I do know the work ethic and the things that go into it."

Johnson added: "I was in a hell of a lot of pain (after getting hurt in the Iron Bowl), but still was trying to get up. They started chanting my name in the crowd urging me to get up, and I cried like my two-year-old. Thankfully, they put a little towel over my face so everybody couldn’t see, but I was definitely crying pretty much the rest of the night. ... It was worth it, though. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

Richard Silva is the Auburn athletics beat writer for the Montgomery Advertiser. He can be reached via email at rsilva@gannett.com or on Twitter @rich_silva18.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Kerryon Johnson: Former Auburn football RB talks new job at UNA