SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – Anthony Johnson has been hired as a full-time assistant coach for the Shippensburg University football team. Johnson will serve as the running backs coach and the recruiting coordinator for the Red Raiders.
 
"Coach Johnson is a quality coach with PSAC experience and we are excited to have him on board," head coach Mark 'Mac' Maciejewski said. "His philosophies line up perfectly with what we do here in the Red Raider family. He is passionate about football, and our players will respond well to his style of coaching."
 
Johnson joins the Red Raiders after serving as the offensive coordinator and director of football operations at his alma mater, Salisbury University. Over the course of three stints with the Seagulls, Johnson spent six seasons coaching at Salisbury – including the last two years in the aforementioned capacities.
 
In 2018, Johnson helped direct Salisbury to the top rushing offense in NCAA Division III, totaling 4,132 yards (348.5 rushing yards per game) and 175 first downs on the ground. During his tenure as the offensive coordinator, the Seagulls totaled 300 or more rushing yards in 10 games, including 654 rushing yards in a game at Albright.
 
In his first year back at Salisbury in 2017, Johnson's running backs aided the eighth-best rushing offense in the nation (283.7 rushing yards per game) and totaled 37 rushing touchdowns.
 
With the Seagulls, Johnson served as the primary recruiter for multiple counties in Maryland, including Baltimore, Charles and St. Mary's. He also recruited Monmouth and Ocean Counties in New Jersey.
 
Prior to returning to Salisbury, Johnson served as an assistant coach at Division I Central Connecticut State University in 2016, where he coached the running backs and kick returners.
 
The 2015 season saw Johnson at Salisbury for one season as the team's running backs coach in their first season in the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC), a conference-championship season in which they ranked second in the nation in rushing offense.
 
Johnson is familiar with the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC), having spent five years at Cheyney University. He was the head coach of the Wolves in 2014 after serving as an offensive coordinator the previous four seasons.
 
Under Coach Johnson's leadership as the head coach, Cheyney had four All-PSAC performers and 40 players record over a 3.0 grade-point average (GPA). For three consecutive years with Johnson on staff, a Cheyney player was named a recipient of the Scholar-Athlete Award by the National Football Foundation (NFF) and by the Philadelphia chapter of the College Hall of Fame.
 
As Cheyney's offensive coordinator, Johnson played a significant role in the Wolves snapping a long conference-losing streak with a road victory at Millersville. That same season, Cheyney scored 34 points against West Chester – the second-most points ever scored by the Wolves against the Golden Rams.
 
Johnson's first coaching stint at Salisbury was as a graduate assistant. He was responsible for the running backs and slot backs on a 2008 team that once again led the nation in rushing. Four Salisbury running backs earned All-Conference honors that season, and the Seagulls participated in the ECAC Southwest Championship Game.
 
As a college athlete, Johnson was an All-Atlantic Central Football Conference (ACFC) performer and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 2006. He won two ACFC championships and played in two NCAA Tournaments with the Seagulls.
 
Johnson earned a bachelor of science in Interdisciplinary Studies specializing in Physical Education with a minor in Athletic Coaching from Salisbury in 2006. He earned his master's degree in post-secondary education from Salisbury in 2010.
 
Johnson replaces KiJuan Ware, who resigned in July to accept a position as the offensive coordinator at Macalester College.