Josh Heupel has hired USC’s Director of Scouting and Recruiting Strategy Trey Johnson to the same role on Rocky Top according to multiple reports. Football Scoop’s John Brice was the first to report the move.
Johnson joined the USC football program in June of 2018 as assistant director of player personnel. He works with the director of recruiting and player personnel in various facets of the program’s recruiting operation.
He came to USC after serving as the director of player personnel and pro scout liaison at Liberty in 2017. Liberty landed its highest-rated recruiting class during his time there.
Johnson assisted Liberty’s football staff with their interaction with high school and junior college players and coaches from around the country and helped facilitate the prospective student-athlete (PSA) evaluation process and the PSA database. He also assisted with all aspects of travel related to official visits, including scheduling and transportation, plus ensured that all NCAA mandated paperwork is completed in a timely manner during the official visit process. Johnson also helped facilitate unofficial visit contact and on game day he assisted with pregame recruiting presentations and facility tours. Additionally, Johnson helped coordinate the social media efforts for the various Liberty Football social media accounts and coordinated NFL scout visits and executed Liberty’s Pro Day.
Prior to joining Liberty’s staff, Johnson spent four seasons (2013-16) working on the Tennessee football staff, including his last 2 years as a graduate assistant in recruiting (2015-16). Tennessee’s recruiting class ranked in the nation’s Top 15 each of his years with the program. During his first two years, he served as a recruiting analyst before transitioning into the graduate assistant role.
Johnson also spent a year working as a marketing associate at Tennessee, assisting with social media outreach to all incoming and prospective Tennessee students.
Johnson received both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Tennessee. He completed a bachelor’s degree in business/sports management in 2015 and a master’s degree in recreation and sports management in 2016.
He attended Boyd Buchanan High in Chattanooga, Tenn. He was named team captain for the football and basketball teams as a senior, while serving as the FCA president for two years.
