For years now, coaches told Will Johnson how good he was. Even before he entered high school, he was peppered with superlatives and grand predictions and declarations that every college in the country would soon lose sleep hounding him.
Then, just like they said, it came. Johnson enrolled at Grosse Pointe South High in Michigan, and as hype turned to reality on Fridays, college football royalty kick-started his recruitment with a cherry bomb of interest. Eventually, like his national ranking, the offers flowed.
And that brings us to September. Johnson will begin his junior season on Friday ranked as the 13th-best player in the country, a top-five cornerback in the nation and already armed with nearly 30 offers.
“It’s pressure and excitement,” Johnson said. “Well, it’s not really pressure but motivation to be great.”
Some would say he’s already there -- including Arizona State, which offered the 6-foot-2, 182-pound corner in June. Always an underdog recruiting a player of Johnson’s caliber, the Sun Devils have stayed consistent in their pursuit led by defensive analyst Anthony Garnett and defensive backs coach Chris Hawkins.
“They recruit very hard. I talk to them, if not every day, every other day,” Johnson said. “I think it’s unique because a lot of schools are not recruiting me as hard as they are. They’ve been very hard with it from the start.
“It caught my attention for sure that they’ve been on me so hard from the jump. It has definitely been interesting.”
Perhaps the biggest obstacle for the Sun Devils and every other program after Johnson are out of their control. Johnson values the relationships he’s building with coaches over the phone and through Facetime. More than anything, though, he wants to see the campus, check out the facilities he’ll be in every day and have face-to-face conversations with the coaches he’s communicated with for months.
Pre-COVID, he planned three road trips. One to hit the nearby schools like Michigan and Ohio State. One in the South to check out Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, and others. And a third to the Southwest where he could at least step foot on the campuses of UCLA and USC.
“I think the biggest thing for me -- because I’ve seen so much over Zoom and talked about everything -- is getting down to schools at this point,” Johnson said. “(The virtual visits) are kind of getting old.”
For colleges, the only thing getting old is Johnson’s Grosse Pointe South cornerback highlight reel. Probably because you could condense it down to about 25 seconds.
“I probably got the ball thrown at me twice last season,” Johnson said. “Pretty much the whole year (schools stopped throwing my way).
“I’d say what makes me good is my technique and I think my size is rare at corner …
(Coaches like) my length, ball skills and technique.”
Johnson said his favorite corners to watch are Jalen Ramsey of the L.A. Rams and New England Patriots’ All-Pro Stephon Gilmore. Ascending to their level of success as many expect, Johnson noted, is motivation.
And that’s where Arizona State may be able to help.
Johnson will be predicted to succeed wherever he lands. His expectations will be lofty, and anything short of the NFL will be deemed a failure. That’s the harsh reality of being a top-15 prospect. Arizona State’s pitch can be predicated on a let-us-help-you philosophy backed by its NFL-experienced coaching staff who knows what it’s like to excel at the highest level.
“Definitely how (a school can) develop me, that’s the biggest thing for me. I’m trying to go to the NFL, so how they develop me and produce corners is a big thing,” Johnson said before speaking of the Sun Devils’ ‘Pro Model.’
“It’s very big knowing they have that experience. They know what they’re doing, and they’ll have connections to help get you to the league. They have a lot of experience, so it’s real big.”
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