On The Plains with Jake Johnson: Football and Family

From the beginning, football and family have always gone together for Auburn tight end Jake Johnson.

“I was in first grade,” Johnson said. “My dad was my coach and I was on the team with my brother and cousin. It was the third grade team, but my dad let me play. It was really fun. I got to play football with my family.”

Jake’s father, Brad, played collegiately at Florida State and was a quarterback in the National Football League for 17 seasons, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a win in Super Bowl 37.

Johnson’s older brother, Max, is a college quarterback with Southeastern Conference experience. His uncle, Mark Richt, was a head coach at Georgia and Miami.

“Growing up in a football family, it’s just something your brain is automatically wired to love,” Johnson said. “My parents have never forced me to do anything, but they’ve helped encourage me to do what I love and that just happens to be football.”

Jake’s mother, Nikki, has an athletic pedigree herself as she owns multiple volleyball school records at USF.

“Our dad gets to brag a lot about playing football and all of his success, but my mom likes to brag about her records as well,” Johnson said. “She is very athletic, so we had it on both sides of the family.”

With a family engrained in the collegiate athletics world, the Athens, Georgia, native seemed destined to be a college athlete.

After a successful prep career for Oconee County High, Johnson kick started his collegiate career at Texas A&M (2022-23) and spent the last two seasons at North Carolina (2024-25), catching passes from his brother for the past four years between the two schools.

Johnson has played in 41 career games with eight starts and owns 43 receptions and five touchdowns.

“I knew I wanted to go to a place with a lot of production for me as a tight end and so I committed to North Carolina out of the transfer portal,” Johnson said of his transition from Texas A&M.

After two years in North Carolina, the call to come back to the SEC was strong and Johnson entered the transfer portal one last time.

“I wanted to come back to the SEC because it truly does mean more,” Johnson said. “It’s a lot of fun and it’s just different. Auburn always had that reputation of being a great school with a great football program and now with a staff that I knew I could trust.”

That trust started with a relationship with current defensive analyst Braden Sheldon. The pair formed a friendship at Texas A&M and he ultimately introduced Johnson to Auburn head coach Alex Golesh.

“Braden played a big role in me coming to Auburn,” Johnson said. “I had a great relationship with him and helped me create the relationships I needed to make with the staff here. I knew it would be a great opportunity to come here.”

Now that opportunity has turned into a chance to lead a tight end group that has become a room full of brothers on and off the field.

“I think we’re really close and have a great bond together,” Johnson said of the position group. “Everybody just loves one another and pushes one another.”

That bond has led to a close friendship with fellow senior tight end transfer Hunter Herring.

“Hunter and I have built that mutual friendship and actually room together,” Johnson said. “He played quarterback before moving to tight end and so he kind of relates to my brother in a relationship way. We just hang out, play golf and video games and have become really good friends that will be friends after ball.”

Growing up in a family of quarterbacks, Johnson had the chance to find his own place among the 11 on the field. Learning how to catch a pass from his dad and brother along with his larger presence on the field (standing at 6-foot-6) and desire to really know the game led to an opportunity to make the tight end position his own.

“My dad was the quarterback and then my brother, so I never really desired to play that position,” Johnson said. “I always enjoyed catching and so I was always in that skill position role growing up. What makes tight end unique is just having the knowledge of all aspects of the game, having a gritty mindset knowing you have to take on the big guys in the box, but also get open versus the small guys in the secondary. That’s what makes our position so special.”

With the 2026 season being his last in college, Johnson has a lot to look forward to after his time on the Plains is done. He earned his bachelor’s in sports administration from North Carolina and first has his sights set on more football next year.

“Ultimately, I would love to do the NFL, but I know football is not my everything,” Johnson said. “I love people, I love Jesus and I think doing something that will have an impact on other people’s lives would be a big thing for me. I don’t know exactly what that would be, but I would want to play football and then do something that will impact others.”

Impacting Auburn’s outcomes on the field is another thing he’s excited to be a part of and he’s ready to see what this team can build for the future of Auburn football and for the town of Auburn and the university.

“Knowing that the stadium is always full and every game is going to be tough in this league is what excites me most,” Johnson said. “I’m think the environment here is special and it makes playing this game fun. I’m excited to see what we can do, what we can build here.

“Auburn is an awesome town. People are nice and they really care and love Auburn. I’ve had friends come here and they’ve all loved it and most still live here after they graduated. It’s been great so far.”

As Johnson enters his final chapter of college football, he still looks back to the influence his family has had on him throughout this journey.

“Just seeing the way that my mom, my dad and my brother all work, it’s inspiring,” Johnson said. “That’s the standard of our family - doing things for the glory of God and giving maximum effort. That’s just the way it is for me and my family and that’s what helped lead me to where I am now.”

Despite coming from a family of athletes, Johnson has been able to find success on his own and is enjoying the gift of being on the field every day.

“I’ve been blessed to have my own success in this sport,” Johnson said. “God has blessed me with opportunities to grow and play and I’m very thankful for that.”