# Denver Johnson

Denver Johnson (born October 17, 1958) is an American football coach and former player. Johnson was the head football coach at Murray State University from 1997 to 1999 and at Illinois State University from 2000 to 2008, and Missouri Southern State University from 2015 to 2018 compiling a career college football record of 72–99. Formerly, he was the offensive line coach for the Tulsa Golden Hurricane from 2011 to the end of the 2014 season. Johnson was let go when head coach Bill Blankenship was fired on December 1, 2014.

## Coaching career

Johnson was the 20th head football coach for the Illinois State Redbirds in Normal, Illinois and he held that position for nine seasons, from 2000 until November 22, 2008. Johnson resigned from the program after the Redbirds final game of the 2008 season, a game they lost against Southern Illinois University in overtime, 17–10. His overall coaching record at ISU was 48–54. This ranks him third at ISU in terms of total wins and eighth at ISU in terms of winning percentage.
Prior to coaching at Illinois State, Johnson was the head coach at Murray State University. He was offensive line coach for Colorado in 2009 and 2010, then moved to Tulsa for the 2011 season to join the coaching staff of Bill Blankenship, who had been his college teammate at Tulsa.
On April 1, 2015, Johnson was named the head coach of the Missouri Southern Lions. Johnson resigned from Missouri Southern after three games into the 2018 season to be the full time caretaker for his wife who was suffering with and later passed away from Early Onset Alzheimer's.
In 2020, Johnson was hired as the offensive line coach for Lindenwood.
In July of 2024 Johnson became the Director of Player Personnel and Development at The University of Tulsa.

## Head coaching record

| Year | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Bowl/playoffs | TSN$^#$ |
| Murray State Racers (Ohio Valley Conference) (1997–1999) |||||||
| 1997 | Murray State | 7–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | | |
| 1998 | Murray State | 7–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | | 24 |
| 1999 | Murray State | 7–4 | 5–2 | 2nd | | |
| Murray State: | Murray State: | 21–12 | 15–6 | | | |
| Illinois State Redbirds (Missouri Valley Football Conference / Gateway Football Conference) (2000–2008) |||||||
| 2000 | Illinois State | 7–4 | 4–2 | T–2nd | | |
| 2001 | Illinois State | 2–9 | 2–5 | T–6th | | |
| 2002 | Illinois State | 6–5 | 4–3 | T–3rd | | |
| 2003 | Illinois State | 6–6 | 3–4 | 5th | | |
| 2004 | Illinois State | 4–7 | 2–5 | T–5th | | |
| 2005 | Illinois State | 7–4 | 4–3 | T–4th | | |
| 2006 | Illinois State | 9–4 | 5–2 | T–2nd | L NCAA Division I Quarterfinal | 8 |
| 2007 | Illinois State | 4–7 | 2–4 | T–5th | | |
| 2008 | Illinois State | 3–8 | 2–6 | 8th | | |
| Illinois State: | Illinois State: | 48–54 | 28–34 | | | |
| Missouri Southern Lions (Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association) (2015–2018) |||||||
| 2015 | Missouri Southern | 1–10 | 1–10 | 11th | | |
| 2016 | Missouri Southern | 2–9 | 2–9 | T–10th | | |
| 2017 | Missouri Southern | 0–11 | 0–11 | 12th | | |
| 2018 | Missouri Southern | 0–3 | 0–3 | resigned | | |
| Missouri Southern: | Missouri Southern: | 3–33 | 3–33 | | | |
| Total: | Total: | 72–99 | | | | |