After three years as a starting linebacker for Tennessee, A. J. Johnson came close to forgoing his final college season to enter the NFL draft.
“It was a tough decision, one of the toughest decisions I ever had to make,” Johnson, who is from Gainesville, said Tuesday at SEC Media Days. “As a little kid, I will never forget telling my momma, ‘I want to be in the NFL.’ And she was sitting there, like, ‘Yes, baby, you’re going to make it.’
“And I was this close to going into the draft. But I came to Tennessee to win, and I have one more season to do that.”
Despite Johnson’s stellar play the past three seasons — he has 324 career tackles in 36 career games — the Vols haven’t won much, going 4-20 in SEC games and 15-21 overall during his career. He made first-team All-SEC last season, but the Vols went 2-6 in conference games and 5-7 overall, failing to qualify for a bowl for the third consecutive year.
“I hate losing, but it’s a learning process,” Johnson said. “You’re going to have downs in life. I come from a winning high school (Gainesville High). We haven’t won as much (at Tennessee), but I would never take any of these seasons back because I learned from them and can build from it. Through storms and bad, you’ve always got ups.”
In addition to winning some games this fall and earning his degree in December, Johnson hopes to improve his NFL draft stock. He was projected as a third- or fourth-round pick if he had entered the draft after his junior season.
“We’re excited to have A.J. back,” Tennessee coach Butch Jones said. “He means so much to our football team, being our middle linebacker and the quarterback of our defense.
“The NFL will be there for him. … (Returning for his senior season) is an opportunity to improve his coverage skills and his overall knowledge of the game and to get bigger and stronger to be able to play at the next level.”
