Aug. 14, 2005

Charleston, SC - In the midst of a raucous locker room celebration last season, Porter Johnson moved to the center of the room and asked for quiet. "All right, all you seniors," Johnson shouted after The Citadel ended its season with a 17-0 win over Western Carolina. "Y'all can get up out of here. This is my team now!"

Johnson's exuberant proclamation was made half in jest, and was greeted with laughter from the happy players.

"I was half-joking, half-serious," Johnson, a senior from Loris, said Saturday at The Citadel's football media day at Johnson Hagood Stadium. "But I did feel that now it was on my shoulders to be a team leader, and that's what I've tried to do.

"I feel like my teammates can talk to me about anything, whether it's football or not, and I'm trying to fill that role."

Less than three months later, the issue of team leadership became more than half-serious. When John Zernhelt left The Citadel after one season as head coach to work for the New York Jets, the Bulldogs went some 41 days without a head coach.

During that period of uncertainty, players such as Johnson and fellow team captains Dusty Benefield, Shawn Grant and Fred Townsend played an important role in keeping the team together.

"I'm really excited about the leadership we have on this team," new coach Kevin Higgins said Saturday. "Our four captains have done an excellent job. This is new for everybody. Our team and our team leaders are getting a feel for how we do things as a staff, and they are doing a nice job as a go-between for the coaches and the team. "Porter, in particular, is a stellar leader. One of the things you want is a guy who works hard on the field and a guy who is respected by his teammates, and he certainly is both."

Johnson, who like the other seniors is playing for his third head coach in three years, said it was important to let the Bulldogs' younger players know that the program would continue no matter who was in charge.

"They didn't really know what was going on," Johnson said. "They had a coach who had just left, and we had to let them know that this wasn't the end. For us, this was our third head coach, so we knew what to expect and what to do.

"We had to pass that down to the younger players to let them know how to handle the situation. I think everybody did what they were supposed to do. We ran, lifted, trained and came together as a unit. I think we did a good job under the circumstances."

But the hiring of Higgins, the former Lehigh head coach who spent four years as quarterbacks and receivers coach with the Detroit Lions, meant further changes for Johnson. He had been the starting fullback for three years, starting all 10 games as a freshman and 30 of 32 games in his career.

When Higgins installed the spread-option offense -- a scheme that usually calls for one running back and four receivers -- there was no place for a fullback. Asking a senior starter to change positions, and to change sides of the ball, can be a tricky proposition. But Johnson accepted a move to linebacker in stride.

"I laid it on the table for him so he would have a picture of what was involved," Higgins said. "On offense with what we are doing, he could play maybe 30 percent of the time. On defense, he could play 100 percent of the time and on special teams. He's smart enough to understand that, he's a competitor and he wants to help this team win."

Johnson had come to The Citadel as a linebacker before then-coach Ellis Johnson moved him to fullback. But there is definitely a learning curve at his new position.

"We miss Porter on offense," quarterback Duran Lawson said with a grin. "But we like making him look dumb on defense."

Said fellow linebacker Grant, "He's learning and he's picking it up real quick. It's just learning the fits, learning the drops he has to make. Those are the technique things you have to worry about, not the physical aspect or the athletic ability he has."

Linebacker coach Bob Fello said Johnson is much more at home at linebacker this fall than he was during spring practice.

"In the spring, he was a little rusty and it was kind of paint-by-numbers," Fello said. "This fall, he's been quite a bit more instinctive."

An electrical engineering major, Porter Johnson has spent the summer working an internship for South Carolina Electric & Gas on top of his football duties. That meant making 6 a.m. workouts, working eight hours a day at SCE&G, attending passing drills and taking classes two nights a week.

"The best thing about Porter Johnson," Fello said, "is that if you look under his jersey, there's a real big heart there."