FORT WORTH, Texas _ Tejay Johnson was always a coach, even if it took him a while to realize it.
The former TCU safety who capped his four-year Horned Frogs career with a Rose Bowl win on Jan. 1, 2011, went undrafted and decided to focus on his long-term future instead of chasing a playing career.
For a consensus All-American and All-Mountain West Conference player it seemed hard to comprehend at the time.
Johnson, however, was unfazed. He finished his degree in Habilitation of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and graduated in May 2012.
He started his teaching career two months later at Dunbar Middle School through Teach For America, a non-profit committed to teaching in low-income schools. In 2014, Johnson joined Arlington ISD, teaching U.S. History and coaching football, basketball and track.
"I wasn't thinking about coaching when I was in school but it definitely helped with my love for teaching," he said. "I never really thought about being a teacher but joining the Teach For America program really opened my eyes to the profession. The longer I did it I fell in love with it. The whole coaching aspect ... I didn't know I was good at it until I started doing it."
To those around him at TCU, coaching seemed like a natural extension of his role on the defense, which was often the "coach on the field" for his final two seasons when he helped the Frogs go 25-1. TCU led the nation in total defense in Johnson's last three seasons.
In fact, Johnson, 29, has been helping, teaching and coaching his whole life growing up as the eldest of 11 children in Garland.
"I still needed correcting and when I needed it I definitely got correcting," Johnson said with a chuckle about his days playing for Gary Patterson and then-safeties coach Chad Glasgow. "I never really saw myself as a coach on the field until just recently looking back on things and what people saw and said to me. Now I can see that happening."
He's looking to eventually start coaching high school football, and who knows, perhaps college down the road. He earned his master's degree in education and leadership from UT Arlington in December. It was a big step for his future and opens up his teaching opportunities.
"I knew as soon as I started coaching high school it was going to be a grind and I want to be focused on coaching as opposed to focused on school," he said.
He remains close to many of his Frogs' teammates and coaches and has taken former students to TCU games. He counsels current TCU safeties Niko Small and Markell Simmons whenever available. Now that he's coaching, he catches himself thinking back on those days he was running around TCU's practice fields.
"I derive a lot of my coaching style from that," said Johnson, who likes to wear cleats to practice. "I'm a really high-energy, up-tempo coach. I think I get a lot of that from coach Glasgow and coach Patterson. If not both of them, at least one of them was high energy every day, really in your face motivating and encouraging and getting you hyped up."
Recently, Johnson hasn't been moving around as fast. He popped his Achilles tendon while coaching track and had surgery in March. When Patterson saw him on crutches at the alumni social event after the spring game he reminded Johnson that he wasn't 19 anymore.
"I'm starting to realize that," Johnson said.
He has no regrets about not pursuing professional football. His education and long-term future, he figured, was more important than a longshot football career.
"People told me you would have made a practice squad and all the different things that come with not being drafted," he said. "I remember thinking my best bet for my future and where I see myself in the future was getting my education while it's available and free."
The NCAA has altered their rules to now allow for former athletes to return to finish their degrees under the terms of their original scholarships.
"It wasn't an option. Had that been an option when I had my opportunity I probably would have played it the other way. But it worked out for me," he said. "If I'm being perfectly honest and I've talked to (TCU teammate and NFL veteran) Jeremy Kerley about this. He said I might have made the right decision.
"I was passionate about it at the time because it was my job and I take my job very seriously and wanted to do the best job possible, but it's a lot more of a job when it's professional."
Besides, he's found his calling in the classroom and on the sidelines coaching.
"I feel like I'm in a good place right now and passionate about mentoring and developing youth, getting them up and going to college," he said.
