David Johnson

David Johnson (born June 28, 1986) is an American former college football quarterback. He played for the Golden Hurricane at the University of Tulsa, where he was the starting quarterback for the 2008 season, after several years as a backup. Johnson finished his senior season as the second-most efficient passer in the nation, behind only Heisman Trophy-winner Sam Bradford of Oklahoma. Johnson himself was mentioned as a Heisman contender by several sources throughout that season.

Early life David Johnson was born on January 15, 1986, in Portland, Oregon. He attended Southridge High School in Beaverton, Oregon, where he played football as a quarterback. During his senior year in 2003, he completed 110 of 181 pass attempts for 1,640 yards and 15 touchdowns. He also rushed for 375 yards and four touchdowns. As a college prospect, he was overshadowed by Erik Ainge of nearby Glencoe High School, who eventually played as a starting quarterback at Tennessee. As such, Johnson was not recruited by any Division I schools, and so he began a campaign to promote himself as a prospect. The only school that showed an interest was the University of Tulsa. He was contacted by their recruiting coordinator, Matt Wells, who eventually offered Johnson a scholarship.

College career Johnson redshirted his freshman year in 2004. He then spent his first three years of eligibility as Tulsa's back-up behind Paul Smith, with whom he roomed for two years. Tulsa's three losses in 2008 came in a close contest against Arkansas, a blowout against Houston, and a close but error-filled Conference USA Championship Game against East Carolina. In the 2009 GMAC Bowl, Johnson engineered a rout, 45–13, against Ball State, which had finished the regular season with an undefeated 12–0 record. Johnson was also named a semifinalist for the Draddy Award and the Davey O'Brien Award. During the season, The New York Times, The News & Observer, and CBS Sports had named Johnson as a Heisman Trophy contender.

Former Tulsa starter Paul Smith was one of seven quarterbacks in NCAA history to surpass the 5,000 passing yards benchmark. Johnson said of his predecessor, "I was always learning from him. I didn't feel any pressure. He's the one who's been on my side this whole season, just telling me to go out and break all his [records]." In contrast with Smith's mobile style of play, Johnson is a traditional pocket passer. Tulsa head coach Todd Graham said of Johnson, "We'd like to have a guy who can run, but we've adapted to Dave's style with more drop-back passes instead of naked bootlegs ." Johnson himself said that "Our expectation is score every time we have the ball."

In 2009, Johnson participated in the Texas vs The Nation game for the Texas team, and threw a 28-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Knox in the third quarter and to Dudley Guice for 22 yards in the fourth, but Texas still lost 27-24.

College statistics Season GP Passing Cmp Att Pct Yds Lng TD Int Rtg 2005 5 28 41 68.3 236 40 1 1 119.8 2006 5 9 14 64.3 180 59 1 0 195.9 2007 8 4 8 50.0 56 36 0 0 108.8 2008 14 258 400 64.5 4,059 97 46 18 178.7 Totals 32 321 441 72.8 4,531 97 48 19 186.4

Professional career CBS Sports affiliate, The NFL Draft Scout, ranked Johnson 16th among 123 rated quarterbacks available for the 2009 NFL draft and projected him as an undrafted free agent. As expected, Johnson was not selected by an NFL team, but he was invited to participate in the Green Bay Packers mini-camp on April 30, 2009, alongside former Utah quarterback Brian Johnson. David Johnson said, "All I've ever wanted was an opportunity, and they gave me an opportunity to try out." Both quarterbacks, however, reportedly threw erratically under duress during the mini-camp. Johnson was also invited to participate in the Kansas City Chiefs camp the following week.

Johnson spent three years as the offensive coordinator at Sherman High School in Sherman, Texas. In 2013, he became a graduate assistant, working with quarterbacks, at Tulsa.