A Boise State assistant coach steps down; transfer WR lands at Mountain West program
Boise State cornerbacks coach Jeron Johnson is stepping down to spend more time with his family, the university announced on Thursday.
Johnson — a former safety at Boise State and a member of the Super Bowl XLVIII champion Seattle Seahawks — just finished his first season as a college coach. He was hired last January as part of new head coach Andy Avalos’ first staff.
“This was a tough decision,” Johnson said in a statement. “I will always have love for Boise State football and Bronco Nation, but at this time in my life, my professional goals weren’t matching up with my personal goals. I’m stepping away to be a dad. I will always be appreciative to coach Avalos for giving me this opportunity, and I wish this wasn’t such a brief stint, but at the end of the day I had to make a tough decision that was best for my family.”
Johnson is the third assistant coach Boise State has lost in the past month. Running backs coach Winston Venable stepped down and was replaced by former Boise State and Washington assistant Keith Bhonapha. Special teams coordinator and edge coach Stacey Collins left earlier this week to join James Franklin’s staff at Penn State.
Johnson was an All-Western Athletic Conference selection at Boise State from 2007 to 2010, and he left as the 13th player in program history to amass at least 300 tackles. After his NFL career ended in 2016, he spent three seasons on the coaching staff at Eastside Catholic High School in Washington.
“Jeron played with a mentality that he was able to help instill in our defense this past year, and the young men in this program looked up to him as someone that had been in their shoes before moving on to achieve a goal that they all are striving for,” Avalos said in a statement.
“I am appreciative of what he has given to this program as both a coach and a player, and I wish him the best of luck moving forward. Family is the most important thing we have in life, and he will always be part of ours.”
Greenwald goes to Colorado State
Former Boise State wide receiver Matt Greenwald wasn’t in the transfer portal for long. The 6-foot, 197-pound native of Boulder, Colorado, announced Thursday evening that he has landed at Colorado State.
Greenwald, who took a grayshirt year in 2019 and joined the Broncos as a walk-on in January 2020, announced that he was transferring last Wednesday. Fellow wide receiver MaClaine Griffin announced the same day that he also was transferring.
Greenwald did not appear in any games during two seasons at Boise State. As a senior at Fairview High in Colorado, he caught 60 passes for 1,181 yards and 12 touchdowns.
This story was originally published January 6, 2022 at 6:42 PM.
