Allen Johnson Hometown: Desoto, Texas Position: Assistant Head Coach - Secondary Recruiting Areas: Dallas Metroplex, Houston

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Allen Johnson, who spent the 2011 season at Lamar as co-defensive coordinator, is entering his second year as assistant head coach in charge of the Cardinals' secondary.

Prior to coming to Lamar, Johnson coached the cornerbacks at the University of Texas-El Paso for three seasons.

Johnson, who earned his bachelor's degree in health and kinesiology at Texas A&M-Commerce in 1999 and his master's degree in the same field a year later, played collegiately at Kilgore College, Central Oklahoma and A&M-Commerce. When he was at Kilgore, he played under Woodard who was then Kilgore's defensive coordinator.

After taking a break in his college career to serve in the U.S. Air Force, Johnson earned All-Lone Star Conference South Division honors and a trip to the Snow Bowl as a senior in 1998. He also competed for the A&M-Commerce track and field team and served as president of the school's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

At UTEP, Johnson coached such star defensive backs as Cornelius Brown, Melvin Stephenson and Clarence Ward, all of whom played briefly in the National Football League.

Before going to UTEP, Johnson spent the 2007 season as the defensive backs coach and recruiting coordinator at Midwestern State University, which fielded the top defense in the Lone Star Conference that year. In going 8-3 that season, Midwestern State led the league in scoring defense (18.6 points-per-game average), total defense (294.2 yards-per-game average) and rushing defense (93.9 yards-per-game).

In 2006, Johnson served as the quality control coach at Oklahoma State University, helping lead the Cowboys to seven wins and an Independence Bowl victory.

Johnson started his coaching career at Texas A&M-Commerce in 1999, and after two years there, he spent the next four seasons in the high-school coaching ranks at Gaither HS in Tampa, Fla., at Plant HS in Tampa and at Newman Smith HS in Carrollton, Texas.

Johnson doubled as the secondary coach and recruiting coordinator at Blinn College in 2005, helping the team qualify for the National Junior College Athletic Association playoffs.

Johnson, who was an all-district defensive back at Desoto High School, and his wife, Jennifer, have three daughters - Jayla, Kyra and Olivia.