Coaching career
Johnson began his coaching career as an assistant linebackers coach with the Patriots during the 2000 season. [2] Johnson then served as the Patriots' inside linebackers coach from 2001 through 2003, before moving to defensive line coach in 2004. In 2012, he returned to linebackers coach. [3]
With Bill Gutman, Johnson wrote Won For All, an account of the Patriots 2001 championship season, which was published by Contemporary Books, a McGraw-Hill company, ISBN 0-07-140877-0.
On January 21, 2014, Johnson announced he would be leaving the Patriots. On January 31, 2014, the Buffalo Bills announced Johnson as their new defensive line coach, replacing Anthony Weaver, who left for a similar position in Cleveland. After Doug Marrone quit as the Bills head Coach, Johnson was hired as the Jets Defensive Line coach. He was fired after the 2016 season. [4]
On December 18, 2018, Johnson was hired as the defensive line coach for the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football. In that role, he worked under head coach Mike Singletary. [5] After the league's midseason shutdown in 2019, he joined the Los Angeles Wildcats for the 2020 season as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach. [6] However, he was fired days after the Wildcats lost the season opener to the Houston Roughnecks 37–17, a game that saw Los Angeles' defense allow four passing touchdowns. [7] In 2021, Johnson was hired as head coach of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
Duane Charles "Bill" Parcells is an American former football coach who served as a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants from 1983 to 1990, where he won two Super Bowl titles. Parcells was later the head coach of the New England Patriots from 1993 to 1996, the New York Jets from 1997 to 1999, and the Dallas Cowboys from 2003 to 2006. Nicknamed "the Big Tuna", he is the only NFL coach to lead four different franchises to the playoffs and three to a conference championship game.
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Tajuan Edward "Ty" Law is a former American football cornerback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 15 seasons, primarily with the New England Patriots. He played college football for the Michigan Wolverines and was selected by the Patriots in the first round of the 1995 NFL Draft. During his 10 seasons in New England, he received four Pro Bowl selections and two first-team All-Pro honors. A three-time Super Bowl winner with the Patriots, Law also holds the franchise record for interceptions. Law spent his final five seasons as a member of the New York Jets, Kansas City Chiefs, and Denver Broncos, earning a fifth Pro Bowl selection with the Jets. Ranking 24th in NFL career interceptions, he twice led the league in interceptions during the 1998 and 2005 seasons. He was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2019.
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Chase Wyatt Blackburn is a former American football linebacker who is the special teams coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams of the National Football League (NFL). He was signed by the New York Giants as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He won two Super Bowl titles with the Giants, both against the New England Patriots. He played college football at Akron.
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Mark Snyder is an American football coach. He previously was the defensive line and linebackers coach for the Orlando Guardians of the XFL linebackers coach for the Houston Gamblers of the United States Football League (USFL). Snyder served as the head football coach at Marshall University from 2005 to 2009 after a four-year tenure as defensive coordinator at Ohio State University.
The 1999 New York Jets season was the 40th season for the team, the 30th in the National Football League (NFL) and the third year and final year under Bill Parcells and was also the last season that the Jets were under the ownership of the Hess family. Owner Leon Hess died before the season began and, per his directive, the team was to be sold after his death. The process for vetting potential buyers proceeded during the entire season and shortly after it concluded, the winning buyer was revealed as Johnson & Johnson heir Woody Johnson.
The 2008 Miami Dolphins season was the franchise's 39th season in the National Football League (NFL), the 43rd overall and the first under new head coach Tony Sparano. During the regular season the Dolphins completed the greatest single-season turnaround in NFL history, going from a 1–15 regular season record in 2007 to an 11–5 record in 2008. The previous record for most improved team one year after a 1–15 season belonged to the 1997 New York Jets, who went 9–7. The 1999 Indianapolis Colts were the only other team to accomplish a 10-game turnaround, winning 13 games after winning 3 in 1998, which was also the first year of the Peyton Manning era. Additionally, Miami won the AFC East, becoming the first team in NFL history to win their division after only having one win the previous season. The division title also snapped the Patriots' 5-year streak of winning the AFC East. Their season would come to an end in the Wild Card round when they were defeated by the Baltimore Ravens, which coincidentally, was also the only team they beat last season in overtime to save the Dolphins from suffering a winless season. With their 11–5 record and division title, the Dolphins had hopes of achieving their first playoff victory since 2000, or to possibly become the first team ever to make the Super Bowl after winning only one game the previous season, similar to how the Carolina Panthers went 1–15 in 2001 and made Super Bowl XXXVIII just two seasons later.
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The Giants–Patriots rivalry is a National Football League (NFL) rivalry between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. The all-time series is currently tied, 7–7. The two teams met in the Super Bowl twice, both won by the Giants. They play in different conferences, and thus they only meet once every four regular seasons and occasionally in the preseason. This rivalry sparked debates among sports fans in Boston and New York City, evoking comparisons to the fierce Yankees–Red Sox rivalry in Major League Baseball.
