FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (October 8, 2020) – Hendrix Johnson came to the Northern Arizona University football team with just one year under his belt at the receiver position and ran with it.
With 828 receiving yards, setting the school record for a freshman, Johnson made a name for himself in Flagstaff, and quickly at that. Now moving forward and looking toward new success has the sophomore wide receiver excited.
"I have a lot of individual goals going forward for this season, but something that is the most important to me is winning the Big Sky championship and making a run in the playoffs towards the national championship," Johnson said. "That's the goal for everybody as a team and something we focus on every single day and strive for."
Johnson had the opportunity to work extensively with the veteran quarterback
Case Cookus in his first year at NAU, where the two found undeniable chemistry on the football field.
"I was really grateful for the opportunity to come in and play right away. Not only play, but play with a quarterback of his caliber with his strengths and knowledge of the game, he taught me so much," Johnson said. "He made me a better player all around, and now I can move forward with everything he taught me."
Under the circumstances of this offseason, it would be easy to fall out of a routine or lose motivation. Johnson's not looking at it that way. With questions surrounding where the season stands, Johnson said he and his teammates are putting their focus on improving wherever they can and getting reps every day.
"The question going into the season now is who's gonna throw us the ball this time around, but we've gotten more reps that we could ever hope for," Johnson said. "Every quarterback and receiver is out there every day putting in the work, we're right on beat. The chemistry is there with each quarterback."
So where does his drive and focus stem from?
"It's amazing to have the coaching staff and the group of guys around me every day, especially with Coach (Junior) Taylor," Johnson said. "He's taught me many things I never realized about the wide receiver position and every single day our entire group is learning and getting better."
During his junior year of high school, Johnson saw most of his playing time at quarterback. With a few games left in his senior season, his coach asked him to transition elsewhere so the team could try to regroup and finish strong. At this time, Johnson moved to receiver and safety so he could see time on both sides of the ball. That is where things began to fall into place for him, giving him more opportunities at the receiver position than he was getting at quarterback.
"I was blessed to come into this position and have such a great coach teaching me things, especially after only playing receiver the last few games of my senior year," Johnson said. "I was coming in and trying to soak up all the knowledge I can from him. Coach Taylor preaches toughness all the time and I think that's just a testament to our group with how tough we are, and that's something I want to pride myself with for the next three years."
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