Veteran coach Michael Johnson is joining Syracuse as the program's wide receivers coach, bringing an NFL and collegiate coaching tenure that spans over 20 years at the sport's highest levels.

"I'm excited to welcome Michael and his family to Syracuse," said head coach Dino Babers. "Michael has years of coaching experience at both the NFL and college levels and I look forward to him getting to work."

Johnson most recently coached at Florida Atlantic as the team's Co-Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks coach in 2021. His career also includes stops with Mississippi State, Oregon, The King's Academy, UCLA, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens, Atlanta Falcons, San Diego Chargers and Oregon State.

"I'm excited to be here," Johnson said. "I can't wait to get to work with the staff and help our team compete for championships."

At FAU, Johnson helped N'Kosi Perry rank in the top-55 nationally of seven major passing categories, including: Passing Efficiency (55), Passing TDs (41), Passing Yards (51), Passing Yards Per Game (49), Passing Yards Per Completion (34), Points Responsible For (51) and Points Responsible For Per game (48).

He last coached wideouts with Mississippi State in 2019 in an offense that averaged over 400 yards of total offense per game.

Prior to that, he spent three seasons at Oregon. A strong recruiter, Johnson helped being in the No. 5 ranked recruiting class nationally in 2018. On the field, Johnson's wide receiver unit featured the best individual performance at the position in program history in 2018. Junior Dillon Mitchell finished with 75 catches for a single-season record 1,184 yards receiving, which also led the Pac-12, and 10 touchdowns. He was named second-team All-Pac-12 by both conference coaches and The Associated Press.

Before his time at Oregon, Johnson was the head coach at The King's Academy from 2014-16 in Sunnyvale, California, where he coached his highly recruited son, Michael Johnson Jr.

Johnson spent the 2011 season as the offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach at UCLA. In his one year with the Bruins, he helped them to the Pac-12 title game and served as the interim head coach in the Fight Hunger Bowl. That season, wide receiver Nelson Rosario finished fifth in the conference in receiving yards (1,161).

His time in Westwood came on the heels of a two-year stint with the San Francisco 49ers, serving as the offensive coordinator in 2010 after working with quarterbacks in 2009. He played a key role in the development of Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. In '09, the duo combined for 23 passing touchdowns, which was the most for the team since the 2003 season.

In a two-year stint with the Baltimore Ravens (2006-07), Johnson was the wide receivers coach, helping veteran wideout Derek Mason post his sixth-career 1,000-yard season in 2007. He also coached Mark Clayton to record 939 yards receiving and five touchdowns in 2006, emerging as the Ravens' top playmaker.

Johnson spent the four previous seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, coaching quarterbacks from 2003-05 and wide receivers in 2002. He mentored Michael Vick to three-straight Pro Bowls in his time in the QB room. Vick passed for 2,412 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2005, while ranking second on the team with 597 rushing yards. Vick became the first NFL quarterback to throw for more than 250 yards and run for more than 100 yards in a single game at Denver during the 2004 season.

Johnson's first NFL coaching job came with the San Diego Chargers in 2000. He was the quarterbacks coach for a unit that had Drew Brees, Jim Harbaugh, Ryan Leaf and Doug Flutie over his two years with the group. Flutie threw for 3,476 passing yards in 2001, while Johnson mentored the then rookie Brees at the start of his record-breaking career.

He began his coaching career at Oregon State, where he coached both wide receivers and quarterbacks in his tenure. In 1999, he helped guide the Beavers program to their first bowl game since 1960.

Johnson was a record-setting quarterback at Akron (1988-89) and also played at Arizona State and Mesa Community College. He went on to play four seasons in the World Football League and Canadian Football League.

Johnson and his wife Louan have one daughter, Taylor, and one son, Michael Jr. Michael Jr. plays quarterback at Florida Atlantic University and Taylor was a track and field student-athlete at Nebraska.