Colin Johnson

Biography

Colin Johnson is in his first year at Michigan State in 2026 as an assistant offensive line coach. Johnson, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience, spent the 2025 season at Butler as the assistant head coach/offensive coordinator/running backs coach for the Bulldogs. Two players earned All-Pioneer Football League honors, including first-team offensive lineman Charles Mackley. Johnson had three stints overall at Butler, coaching the offensive line in 2018 and the defensive tackles in 2011. Prior to Butler, Johnson coached for five seasons at his alma mater, Ball State, from 2019-24 as the running game coordinator and offensive line coach. He spent the last two games of the 2024 season as the interim head coach for the Cardinals. Five players on the offensive line garnered All-MAC honors under Johnson at BSU: Danny Pinter (first team, 2019), Curtis Blackwell (second team, 2020-21; third team, 2019), Ethan Crowe (second team, 2022), Corey Stewart (first team, 2023) and Damon Kaylor (third team, 2023). Ball State finished the 2020 season ranked No. 23 in the final AP Poll with a 7-1 record after winning the MAC Championship over Buffalo and beating San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl. During Johnson’s first season in Muncie, he mentored Pinter, who earned first-team All-MAC accolades and was selected in the fifth round (No. 149 overall) of the 2020 NFL Draft by the Colts. Johnson coached five seasons (2013-17) at DePauw, primarily working with the offensive line, where