After serving a four-year stint at UTSA, most recently as the running backs coach, Rishaw Johnson re-united with Frank Wilson on the McNeese football staff in 2020 and will enter his second season coaching the tight ends.
Johnson previously served as running backs coach in 2019 at UTSA, quality control for the offense in 2018 and a two-year stint as a graduate assistant for the offense. He worked with the offensive line and assisted the offensive staff in both positions.
During his time on Wilson’s staff at UTSA, he helped the program to back-to-back years of being bowl eligible, including the program’s first-ever bowl appearance in the 2016 Gildan New Mexico Bowl. The offense set numerous school records during his tenure, including single-game rushing (357) and total (569) yards against Texas State in 2017, single-game passing yards with 414 versus Charlotte in 2016 and single-season rushing yards per game with 184.5 in 2017, to go along with 13 individual 100-yard rushing games. He also helped mentor honorable mention all-conference offensive lineman Jevonte Domand in his first year in the Alamo City.
In 2019, he coached freshman running back Sincere McCormick who was named a Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) Freshman All-American and also the Conference USA Freshman of the Year after running for 983 yards while his 1,177 all-purpose yards total for a season set a new school record. He also eclipsed the single-game rushing yardage mark with 189 in a win over UTEP.Â
A former standout offensive guard who logged three seasons in the National Football League, Johnson began his pro career by signing with the Seattle Seahawks as an undrafted free agent in 2012. He also played with the Kansas City Chiefs (2013), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2014), New York Giants (2014) and Washington Redskins (2014).
Johnson earned All-America and all-conference accolades as a senior at California University of Pennsylvania in 2011. A member of the Dean’s List, he played in the 2012 Senior Bowl and East-West Shrine Game.
Johnson played his first three years at the University of Mississippi in 2008-10, where he was a member of back-to-back Cotton Bowl Classic champion teams.Â
A native of New Orleans, La., he played for St. Augustine High School as a freshman and sophomore before being forced to move to Baton Rouge Southern Lab as a junior due to Hurricane Katrina. He developed into one of the nation’s top offensive line prospects as a senior at Hammond High School.
Johnson earned a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts with a minor in criminal justice from California (Pa.) in December 2011.
