Taylor Shire
Regina Leader-Post
Old habits die hard for Micah Johnson.
Before the Saskatchewan Roughriders took the field in pre-season action last month during training camp, the former defensive tackle, who now serves as Saskatchewan’s defensive line coach, was still preparing as if he were playing.
“I will share this and he’ll probably be mad, but I don’t care,” Roughriders head coach Corey Mace prefaced his answer when asked about Johnson’s adjustment to coaching during training camp last week. “The pre-season game, he’s still got his headphones in like he’s getting hyped.
“But that’s just who he’s always been and how he is and that’s how his group is going to be wired, which is awesome.”
Johnson admits “getting hyped” by listening to music before games is a habit that’s been hard to break after a 13-year CFL career.
“It’s a lot of little things like that I’ve got to break myself of,” he chuckled. “Just that energy before games (and to remember) you can chill out, right? All you’re going to be doing is signalling (plays).
“I’ve always been that type of guy to get in a different mindset when it comes to the game. (Coaching) is like that but it’s just putting your energy in different places now, and that’s what I’m kind of learning and understanding.”
After receiving his fifth career CFL all-star nod at defensive tackle, Johnson, 37, believed he still had more in the tank when it came to playing another season.
However, he was presented with an opportunity from Mace this off-season to retire and become the team’s defensive line coach, which is ultimately a role he accepted.
“It’s been really cool to see,” said Mace, a former defensive lineman himself. “He’s passionate about his craft and about his players’ craft.
“Super selfless guy. He understands how to coach guys not just as a blanket, but individually reach guys to play off of their strengths.”
Johnson said the biggest adjustment, aside from not blasting music in his headphones before games, has just been “letting go” of that players’ mindset.
“For me, last year when we walked off the field with the Grey Cup, I wasn’t thinking it was going to be my last year, but obviously the opportunity presented yourself,” said Johnson. “It’s been real fun, especially since camp started, getting up with the guys and getting them rolling.
“It feels crazy not being sore at all. I’m not used to that … But it just kind of changes from physical to mental at this point.”
Johnson is now leading a group that has undergone some change this off-season as Mike Rose is the only returning starter from the Grey Cup still along the defensive line after Malik Carney and Habakkuk Baldonado left in free agency.
However, Saskatchewan still has a group of returning players hoping for a larger role including Caleb Sanders, Ali Saad and Kendy Charles, while the club also added CFL veterans James Vaughters and Devin Adams this off-season. The Green and White also have American rookies Desmond Evans, Justin Weaver and Jaylen Pate, who were the three to make the roster following Saturday’s cuts. Saskatchewan’s defensive line group is rounded out by Canadians Lake Korte-Moore and Benoit Marion, who are both beginning the season on the injured list, while Liam Hoskins will start the year on the practice roster.
“I was big on the details,” said Johnson, a three-time Grey Cup champion and seven-time divisional all-star who recorded 309 tackles and 71 sacks in his CFL career. “I was big on film study. I was super big on understanding your opponent, and I’m just kind of trying to relay that to the guys.
“I think a lot of people always look to me and look at the physical aspect of it, but it was so much mental that came to my game too. So just bringing the details to the guys and having to think the game the right way, I think it makes all the difference.”
And while he knows the position inside and out, he is still a rookie in the coaching ranks who is not afraid to ask questions.
“If he doesn’t have the answer, he’s not too hard-headed to feel like he’s got to just come up with something,” said Mace, whose Roughriders begin the season on June 13 against the B.C. Lions. “He’ll say, ‘Hey, what do I got to do here?’
“And that’s the right thing to do, so that he can get led in the right direction, and he can steer his guys in the right direction as well.”
tshire@postmedia.com
