Oklahoma hiring former Duke offensive coordinator Kevin Johns as analyst

Oklahoma is expected to hire former Duke offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns, per SoonerScoop. Johns, 48, spent the past two seasons at Duke as the Blue Devils’ offensive play-caller.

Under Johns’ leadership, Duke averaged 348.1 yards and 26.9 points per game in the 2023 campaign. Johns mentored standout quarterback Riley Leonard, who transferred to Notre Dame after the regular season.

Johns was not retained by new Duke coach Manny Diaz, as former head coach Mike Elko left for Texas A&M. Instead, Diaz named Jonathan Brewer the program’s offensive coordinator. Brewer served under Diaz at the University of Miami.

Kevin Johns has an expansive history with new OU offensive coordinator Seth Littrell. Littrell was the offensive coordinator and tight ends coach for two seasons (2012-13) at Indiana while Johns was the co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers and QBs coach.

Johns will take over Littrell’s former position at Oklahoma. Litrell has never coached quarterbacks specifically. Thus, Johns will be a valuable asset in the Sooners’ development behind center.

More on Kevin Johns’ résumé

Before becoming the offensive coordinator at Duke, Johns spent three seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of Memphis. During each of his three seasons, Memphis was among the top five in the American Athletic Conference in scoring offense, including averaging 30.1 points in his final season with the program.

In his three years with the Tigers, Johns coached nine players to 12 All-AAC honors. He also boosted Kenneth Gainwell and Tahj Washington to All-American accolades. Before heading to Memphis, Johns was the OC/inside wide receivers and tight ends coach at Texas Tech for one season.

In his lone season in Lubbock, Johns guided a Red Raiders offense that ranked fourth in the country with 352.6 passing yards per game and 12th with 485.2 total yards per game. Texas Tech also averaged 37.3 points per game that season.

Johns has also spent time as an offensive coordinator at Western Michigan (2017) and Indiana (2011-16). Johns has served in other capacities at multiple programs, including Northwestern and Richmond.

Before stepping behind the clipboard, Johns played quarterback at Dayton from 1994-97. Johns was a three-year letterwinner and two-year starter. In total, he boosted the Flyers to a 20-1 record. He earned Division I-AA All-America honors and was selected the Football Gazette Player of the Year in 1996.