When Kentucky's football program has gone through the worst of its down periods there has always been a lot made about problems with the "culture" in the program.
Not as much was made of that in 2016, as the Cats took big steps forward, upping their win total from five, in each of the previous two years, to seven.
But JUCO defensive back Lonnie Johnson isn't going to be happy if Kentucky only wins seven games in his first year in Lexington. He's hoping to bring an attitude and an edge that helps others in the program press forward.
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Hard work?
Johnson knows a lot about that. He's a junior college product turned, as of last month, SEC defensive back. Twice before he's signed with other schools, first Western Michigan and then Iowa State, only to watch his dreams evaporate because he didn't take care of business away from the field.
Lessons learned, Johnson says, and his newfound eligibility seems to speak to the truth of that.
Those JUCO ranks and that long, winding path have given Johnson time, experiences and perspective which he hopes to turn to good purpose at Kentucky. He won't arrive with the same circumstances or youthfulness as most of the Cats' other Class of 2017 signees. He doesn't have as much time, but he's been through a lot more. Some of it self-inflicted, but all of it valuable.
"I'm going to try to lead Kentucky from the start to the finish," the 6-foot-3 defensive back originally from Gary, Ind., told Cats Illustrated this week. "That's my focus. That 7-6 record they had this year? I'm not trying to do that. I'm trying to go undefeated. Every game. We'll be taking it one game at a time but whatever it takes, if it involves me talking to (his teammates) before the game, staying with guys after practice, they're going to see what I'm doing. They're going to see the level I'm on and hopefully involve themselves in what I'm doing. That's the way we're going to change this program all the way around."
The season that just passed was a good and a significant step in the right direction, and an important one for Mark Stoops. But Johnson obviously isn't satisfied with incremental progress. He's got two years to make his mark at Kentucky and to set himself up for a future beyond the SEC.
Johnson told Cats Illustrated that he has, indeed, signed his paperwork with Kentucky, meaning he will be an early enrollee. He travels to Lexington and begins to move in at UK on January 8th. Johnson isn't sure who his roommate will be, but said one of the reasons he's going up earlier than some others is because he needs to iron out details like that.
He does know that he wants to major in journalism with the ultimate goal of becoming a sports analyst in some capacity.
Along those lines, he offered his take on Kentucky's 33-18 bowl loss to Georgia Tech.
"It was good as far as how hard they played. I felt like they were really trying," Johnson said. "The bad? I felt like they should have made (Georgia Tech) pass more. I know the option is tough. I know it's tough but you know they're running at the end of the day. You've got to get busy on the run."
Johnson had a chance to speak with senior UK defensive back J.D. Harmon before the TaxSlayer Bowl. It was Harmon's last game and Johnson wished him luck. Harmon was Johnson's host when he took his official visit to Kentucky just weeks ago. He has also gotten to know Stephen Johnson and some others.
Harmon's role in the Kentucky secondary could be very similar to the one Johnson will occupy next year. Kentucky's coaches recruited Johnson with the stated purpose of putting him at cornerback and letting him use his superb length and 6-foot-3, 210-pound frame to body up some of the bigger receivers on their SEC schedule. But he doesn't only have to play cornerback. Harmon moved around a bit in 2016 and Johnson could do the same. He's okay with the idea of trying to fill multiple spots on the defense.
"They want me to play corner but I pretty much knew I was going to move around up there because of my size," Johnson told Cats Illustrated. "So I'm not really mad about that at all. I'll play corner and if they want me to move back to safety to help the team then that's what I'll do. Basically they told me they were going to utilize my abilities like Michigan did with Jabrill Peppers this year, because of the fact that they had recruited me for offense (in high school) before I switched to defense. They knew I could play both and they like that about me."
When Johnson was a high school recruit in Gary, Ind., as one of the top prospects in the Midwest and an Ohio State verbal commitment at one point, he was intent on playing wide receiver. A lot has changed since those days.
"Yeah, I did want to play receiver but once I got to playing corner I pretty much understood the business part of that," Johnson said. "The NFL is looking for big corners so it was more of a business decision."
The transition to full-time defense wasn't always easy, even if Johnson has always had the size, athleticism and ball skills to make big plays and match up.
"My first couple of games I was pretty nervous because I had never played corner the whole game," he admitted, thinking back to his first year of JUCO football. "I didn't touch the offensive side of the field at all so I was honestly pretty nervous. But when I got my first pick that gave me my confidence back. I really started locking people up after that. I fell into a rhythm."
Johnson picked off five passes altogether in his last season of JUCO football, even though there were times when opponents shied away from testing him through the air.
"I mean, I had a couple of games when I didn't even see the ball run my way," he said. "That definitely took away from some of my stats and some schools were actually scared to throw the ball my way."
So while the move to defense included some growing pains it worked out fine in the end.
As Johnson told Cats Illustrated both before and after his commitment, Kentucky's coaches were a big factor in his choice. He primarily got to know Vince Marrow and Steven Clinkscale over the course of his recruitment. Being around Marrow on his official visit was like being "reunited with family," as Johnson said at the time, because he had recruited Johnson when he was a high school recruit from the Class of 2013. Clinkscale made an impression, too.
"Those were pretty much the main people that I talked to. I had a couple of conversations with Coach (Mark) Stoops but that's pretty much it. I haven't really been talking to all the coaches like that. They've been busy focusing on the bowl game and they're recruiting the next guys behind me so I already understand what's going on," Johnson said. "They're not going to be talking to me all the time but I'm going up there soon.
"I'm real cool with Coach Marrow and Coach Clink is like a father figure. He's a real down to earth guy. He's one of those guys who'll break his back for you."
When Johnson committed to Kentucky he was asked about Georgia and the direction of their program under Kirby Smart. While he didn't pick Georgia, Johnson was fresh off an official visit to Athens, so the question seemed fair.
Johnson's response raised some eyebrows. There were no compliments. There were no pleasantries. He simply said he would see the Bulldogs again when they play Kentucky next year. And he had the date for that game memorized: "November 18th."
Is there any ill-will between Johnson and Georgia?
"I still feel the same way," Johnson said. "I don't got nothing bad to say about Georgia but I didn't commit to Georgia. I didn't sign to Georgia. I felt like, I'll just see them when I see them. We both play in the SEC. We play each other. We'll play that game and, yeah, there's probably going to be a lot of animosity in that game. It's gonna be both ways and I'm gonna make sure my team has my back."
