Taver Johnson | Position Assistant, Defense

Taver Johnson

Title:
Position Assistant, Defense
Email:
johnson.3366@osu.edu

Taver Johnson is a veteran defensive backs coach with extensive collegiate and NFL experience, including two previous stints at Ohio State from 2007-11 and again in 2018. He returned to the Buckeyes in March 2025, when head coach Ryan Day hired him as a position assistant for the defense.

Johnson has coached at nine different universities as well as with two NFL organizations: the Oakland/Las Vegas Raiders and the Philadelphia Eagles. He joined Ohio State after spending the 2024 season on the staff at the University of Tennessee.

He spent two seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles as assistant defensive backs coach after serving three seasons with the Las Vegas Raiders organization. During his time with the Raiders, he coached cornerbacks from 2019-20 before moving into an assistant defensive backs role in 2021.

Prior to joining the Eagles, Johnson served as defensive pass game coordinator and safeties coach at Eastern Michigan University in 2022.

A native of Cincinnati, Johnson graduated from and played football at Wittenberg University from 1990-93. He was a two-time All-American and earned North Coast Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in both 1992 and 1993.