Northwestern football’s Theran Johnson steps up as leader

The Northwestern cornerback room has had a lot of talent in recent years — decorated veterans such as Cameron Mitchell, AJ Hampton Jr., Garnett Hollis Jr. and Rod Heard II, all of whom played at a high level for the Wildcats.

Redshirt junior cornerback Theran Johnson had the opportunity to learn from them all. Now, in a 2024 NU secondary filled with young players, he’s the foremost veteran.

“I’ve been thinking about those days when I was the younger guy in a group, and how they would kind of look out for me,” Johnson told The Daily on Tuesday. “I’m just kind of trying to do the same thing for the younger guy. I would say it’s a full circle moment.”

Johnson is the only multi-year starting corner remaining for the ’Cats, who lost 2023 starters Hollis Jr. and Heard II to the transfer portal along with safety Jaheem Joseph.

Six games into the 2024 season, he said he’s embraced the veteran role.

“I’ve just tried to step into it,” Johnson said. “Last year, I would probably say Garnett was the leader. I’m taking on a more vocal role, just trying to lead by example every day in practice, not taking reps off (and) just trying to set a good example for the younger folks.”

The redshirt junior leads a secondary filled with first-time defensive contributors at the collegiate level — redshirt freshman cornerback Josh Fussell and redshirt sophomores Evan Smith, Braden Turner and Robert Fitzgerald have all started for the first time in their career at some point this season.

Johnson said he’s seen these younger players experience significant development as the season has progressed.

“The place that they’ve developed the most is probably the meeting room,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s really taking notes, locked in, asking questions — real, meaningful questions — and it’s just been fun watching the guys develop and grow.”

Johnson’s leadership in the film room and position meetings directly translates to the field. The redshirt junior leads the ’Cats with nine passes defended and is tied for the team lead with one interception, which he recorded against Duke.

As a unit, the secondary has taken considerable strides as the 2024 season has progressed. NU held Maryland quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. — who threw for at least two touchdown passes in every game — to no touchdowns, one interception and his lowest completion percentage (54.9%) of the season on Friday.

The ’Cats also held wide receiver Tai Felton, who was one of the highest rated receivers in the country going into Friday night, to just 77 yards.

That came just six days after the team’s worst defensive performance of the season against No. 23 Indiana, when it surrendered a season-high 41 points on Oct. 5.

“We stacked a bunch of good practices in a row last week, and they just continue to come to work every day,” cornerbacks coach LaMarcus Hicks said. “They’ve done a good job with that all season long. After going through a game like Indiana, I think those guys, when our backs are against the wall, they usually do a great job of coming back and responding.”

For Hicks, Johnson’s leadership in the cornerback room lifts up the entire defense.

He said the corner has upped his vocal presence on the field this season and continues to improve.

“He sees that he has the most experience in the room, so it’s kind of forcing him more into a leadership role,” Hicks said. “He’s taking it on, and he’s done a good job with it. He’s leading the guys, and he’s making sure that everybody’s where they’re supposed to be with some of our team stuff.”

With leaders like Johnson, graduate student safety and captain Coco Azema and junior safety Devin Turner, Hicks said NU’s defensive backs possess plenty of different characteristics.

Next up for the ’Cats is a Saturday showdown with Wisconsin, which has scored 94 points in its past two contests.

“We’re looking for a challenge — we don’t want to find the easy way out,” Hicks said. “(The Badgers) have a collection of receivers. Our guys understand that. We have to stack days in practice so we can be prepared to go out and play a good game on Saturday.”

For Johnson and the rest of the defensive backs, the recipe for success is easy: “Working, grinding, ready to get back on the field and show what we can do,” Johnson said.

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