In his second full offseason at Fort Lewis College, John L. Smith continues to shake up his coaching staff.
Smith announced the hiring of Clayton Johnson as the new Skyhawks’ offensive line coach Thursday. Johnson will replace Jeff Cheek, who resigned after last season.
“I am excited and privileged to join Coach Smith and the Fort Lewis College football program,” Johnson said in a news release. “Coach Smith is a legend in college football coaching, and I am excited to begin working with and learning from him.”
Johnson spent last season at New Mexico Highlands in the same capacity.
Before coaching the Cowboys, Johnson spent time as the offensive line coach at Fresno State as a graduate assistant offensive line coach for the Division I Bulldogs. He also has spent time as the offensive line and conditioning coach and recruiting coordinator at West Valley College in Saratoga, California, as well as a stop at Gavilan College in Gilroy, California, also as an offensive line coach.
He played at Nevada-Reno in 2007 and 2008 and after transferring from Gavilan College, where he was an All-Coast Conference player in 2005 and 2006.
“Clayton is a strong addition to our coaching staff and program,” Smith said in the news release. “He has a strong foundation both as a coach and a former student-athlete. We’re excited to have him on board and make our offensive line on the strongest in the conference.”
N.M. Highlands had the No. 1 passing offense in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference last season and saw drastic improvement across all offensive numbers.
Fort Lewis was last in scoring offense and in passing offense in the RMAC last season but ranked in the middle of the pack in rushing offense at 176 yards per game.
Johnson will look to improve those numbers under offensive coordinator Dave Brown.
“The Skyhawk football program has emerged as a physical force in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference under (Smith’s) leadership, and I look forward to assisting Coach Smith and Coach Brown in our quest to return the Skyhawks to the top of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
