Chief Development Officer (CDO)
Allan Johnson joins Northwestern as the assistant director of sports performance for football, bringing more than 25 years of experience at the high school, collegiate and professional level as a strength and conditioning professional. Johnson spent 13 years with West Virginia and five years at Ohio State, coaching in 17 football and basketball postseason games, including helping the Mountaineers to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament and helping the Buckeyes reach three BCS National Championship games.
Johnson was the first strength and conditioning coach in the history of the Baltimore Orioles and one of the first five in all of Major League Baseball. A 2003 inductee into the Strength and Conditioning Coaches Hall of Fame, Johnson was named the 2002 National Strength Coach of the Year and is a six-time recipient of the Big East Conference Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year award. In 2010, Johnson was elected into the Mid-Ohio Valley Sports Hall of Fame.
Throughout his career, Johnson has trained thousands of athletes, including 118 football players who have been drafted in the NFL, 25 men's and women's basketball players drafted in the NBA or WNBA and 51 baseball players drafted to play professional baseball.
Johnson is a regular speaker at local, regional and national conferences and clinics regarding strength, speed and conditioning topics, as well as motivation, leadership and team-building. Johnson also serves as a consultant for Hammer Strength Clinics, High Performance Nutrition, Training & Conditioning Magazine (Editorial Board).
Johnson is certified through the National Strength & Conditioning Association, CSCS, and certified with the National Association of Speed and Explosion, NASE. He also is certified as a Master Strength Coach by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association, Johnson was recognized as one of the first 10 Master Strength & Conditioning Coaches in the World, by the Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Association in 2002.
