In 1997, while not even being one year removed from the AFL, Johnson was a defensive line coach for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League.
He then became a defensive line coach at the NFL Europe level, starting in 2001 with the Berlin Thunder.
After coaching Berlin to 2 consecutive World Bowl championships in 2001 & 2002, he moved to the Colorado Crush, and served as defensive coordinator during the 2003 season, before being demoted to offensive and defensive line coach and led the Crush to an ArenaBowl XIX championship.
Johnson then took the defensive coordinator job with the Orlando Predators in 2010 and 2011, helping them extend their longest playoff berth streak in AFL history to 18 and 19 seasons.
After the Predators two postseason runs, Johnson was offered the head coaching job for the San Antonio Talons.