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TEMPE, Ariz. -- The more time Arizona Cardinals senior assistant and defensive line coach Don Johnson spent watching football on his couch the last couple of years, the smarter he thought he was getting. “I became a couch quarterback, you can say,” Johnson said. “I got all the answers sitting on the couch.” But after watching games on TV for two seasons, he started getting anxious sitting on the couch instead of standing on a sideline, where he spent the previous 38 years as a coach on the prep, college and NFL levels. His wife, Deborah, was “probably twice as anxious.” For the last two years, following his last year in the NFL in 2015 after seven seasons with the San Diego Chargers, Johnson has been a personal trainer at a sports academy in Thousand Oaks, California, where the Los Angeles Rams' facility is located. He trained draft-eligible prospects to prepare them for the NFL scouting combine. He also officiated high school basketball and ran football camps. However, when Steve Wilks, fresh off getting hired by the Arizona Cardinals as their head coach, called with an offer to coach the defensive line, Johnson didn’t hesitate. He was ready to get back into coaching. “My thought was to eventually come back but I just wanted to come back in the right situation,” Johnson said. “This definitely fit the bill. Knowing coach Wilks, knowing the way he operates, it puts you in a position where you know you can be comfortable and can teach and coach. “I’ve worked for different people throughout my lifetime -- Al Davis, Bill Walsh, Lovie Smith, Norv Turner -- so you kind of get a feel at a certain point in time that you want to go someplace where you’re comfortable.” That’s in the desert. Johnson and Wilks coached together with the Bears in 2006, when they helped Chicago make a run to the Super Bowl, and in Pro Bowls throughout their career. “Great coach, good teacher,” Wilks said. “A guy who has developed players throughout his career.” When Johnson was hired in Arizona, he made an important phone call. He reached out to Brentson Buckner, who coached the Cardinals’ defensive line for the past five seasons. Johnson coached Buckner in 1998 with the 49ers when Johnson was part of the NFL’s minority coaching internship. The two spent more time talking about Buckner than they did the players Johnson will inherit. But Johnson hung up with a some “inside information.” “Buck knows how I am and was like, 'Coach, you’ll be good with them. They’ll work hard for you,'" Johnson said. That conversation gave Johnson a foundation on which he was able to build throughout the offseason. “It kind of gives you a sense of where they are and kind of how they operate, so you don’t have to wait to two weeks down the road and all of a sudden something comes up and you’re shocked by it,” Johnson said. “You have a predetermined scenario that this could happen, so be prepared for it, and what is your response going to be if it does happen.” Johnson learned from his 19 years coaching in the college ranks to not enter a situation with a preconceived idea of a player. “It’s a big jump from high school to college,” he said. “I was a recruiting coordinator -- five stars didn’t mean anything. A lot of people could put five stars on somebody but if they’re not coaching them or interacting with them or teaching them, those stars don’t mean anything. From the first time we step on the field to the end of training camp, I’ll know who they are, where they are and what they can do.”
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