Steve Johnson, entering his ninth season as head men’s golf coach at Arkansas State University, continues to implement his recruiting, instructional and fund-raising philosophies with tremendous energy and enthusiasm to take the Red Wolves to new heights.
Johnson has led A-State to nine top-three finishes since his arrival, including a 2014 Red Wolves Intercollegiate title that marked its first championship at its home tournament since 2002. His fourth year at the helm saw the Red Wolves take fourth place at the 2011 Sun Belt Conference Championships, their best finish at the league tournament in over a decade.
Johnson’s team have collected multiple Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Awards for holding the league’s best GPA, and he has coached seven Cleveland Golf/Srixon All-America Scholars.
Under his direction, three A-State players have garnered All-Sun Belt Conference recognition a combined five times, and he coached the Red Wolves’ first NCAA regional qualifier since 1999. Lloyd du Preez was named the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year in 2008 and reached the NCAA Regionals in San Diego, Calif., in 2010.
Most recently, A-State recorded eight top-10 finishes during a 2013-14 campaign that saw the team claim the Red Wolves Intercollegiate championship. The title was the program’s sixth all-time in its annual home event.
During the 2012-13 season, the Red Wolves finished third at the Bill Ross Intercollegiate, hosted by UMKC, for its highest finish of the year, while also recording five top-10 finishes on the year.
The 2011-12 season saw Johnson lead the Red Wolves to a second-place finish at the Bill Ross Intercollegiate and a tie for third place at the Texas-Arlington Waterchase Invitational. A-State senior Sawyer Radler claimed the Red Wolf Intercollegiate crown with a career-best 209 during the season, and Johnson's team continued its strong academic reputation by winning the Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award.
Johnson’s 2011 Red Wolves that finished fourth at the Sun Belt Conference Championships included All-Sun Belt Conference choices du Preez and Chris Pledger. It was the second time in three seasons under Johnson that A-State placed multiple athletes on the all-conference team. Overall, the Red Wolves completed the season with four top-five finishes.
The Red Wolves recorded four top-five finishes in 2009-10, including a second-place mark at the Jackrabbit Invitational and a sixth-place mark at the Sun Belt Conference Championship. Du Preez was named All-Sun Belt for his performance throughout the season.
The 2008-09 season saw an improvement of four spots in the Sun Belt Conference tournament from the year before as the Red Wolves finished in seventh place. The team was led by all-conference selections du Preez and Tyler Thompson as A-State registered its first multiple all-conference selections in men's golf since 2000.
Johnson, who built a strong men’s golf program both competitively and academically at the University of Southern Mississippi, joined the Arkansas State University staff in June of 2006.
In his first year at A-State, Johnson’s squad took home the Sun Belt Conference Team Academic Award and senior Matt Snowden was named a Cleveland Golf All-America Scholar. Johnson also added several top players to the Red Wolves’ roster including du Preez.
Prior to joining A-State, Johnson served as the head coach at Southern Miss from 2000 to 2006. During that time he recorded six tournament championships and coached five individual winners in tournament play. In 2002, one of his players earned a berth in the NCAA Regional. Overall, his program established a 70 percent winning percentage against Division I opponents.
Johnson has close ties with the Jonesboro community as his father played basketball at Jonesboro in the mid-1960s. In addition, Johnson’s USM teams frequently visited the local golf courses to play in ASU-hosted tournaments.
Also a seasoned fundraiser, Johnson directed the establishment of nine new scholarship endowments for men’s and women’s golf at Southern Miss. He has served as chairman for the Men’s Golf Coaches of Conference USA and was instrumental in securing sites for the 2005 and 2006 C-USA men’s golf championships.
Prior to taking over the men’s program, Johnson served as USM’s women’s head golf coach from 1997-2000. As head of that program, he was responsible for moving his teams 74 positions in the national rankings. He also produced academically sound teams for the men’s and women’s programs, including the C-USA GPA award for women’s golf. His women’s teams produced eight Academic All-America selections and four all-conference picks.
A top-notch recruiter, Johnson held that responsibility during his tenure as an assistant to the men’s and women’s programs from 1993-1997. He recruited the top male golfers in Mississippi in 1997 and the top female prospects from Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, Tennessee, Peru and Canada.
Johnson, a two-year letterman at Southern Mississippi, earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from the school in 1993 and completed his master’s degree in sports administration in 1995 from USM. Johnson and his wife Rhonda have two daughters, Ellen and Leigh.
