FAYETTEVILLE — The bedrock of Ellis Johnson’s defensive approach is so simple it makes old school seem new wave.

“It starts with fundamentals, it doesn’t start with diagrams,” said Johnson, Arkansas’ new defensive coordinator.

Johnson, 56, will start his fourth stint with an SEC school, his third as a defensive coordinator, this spring with the Razorbacks. His coaching genealogy is a branch off the Paul “Bear” Bryant tree, as he coached outside linebackers on Alabama’s 1992 national championship team led by Bryant protege Gene Stallings. Johnson also has a background with Bobby Ross, having played under him at The Citadel in the early 1970 s before joining that staff in 1975.

“You win games with football players making plays,” Johnson said. “It’s an old saying from Coach Stallings that I remember him saying when we first got together.

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“ It sounds very simple... but the problem with coaches is they sometimes forget that.”

Stallings’ Alabama teams in the 1990 s were criticized for being bland offensively, but they could whip up a defensive hog-tie, such as in the Tide’s 1993 Sugar Bowl victory over Miami for the national title.

Ellis’ formative seasons as a coach, after a stint as head coach at Gardner-Webb, were spent on that Alabama staff, so it’s no wonder he still quotes Stallings.

Which makes Stallings, now retired and living in Paris, Texas, feel, well, kind of...

“It makes me feel old, if you want to know,” Stallings said with a laugh. “And it makes me feel good, too, that what we were trying to do was the right way to do it.”

Stallings has tracked Johnson’s career since the latter left Alabama for his first defensive coordinator’s post at Clemson in 1994. That career track includes a return as defensive coordinator at Alabama (1997-2000 ), during which his 1999 defense ranked No. 2 against the run and No. 9 in total defense, helping the Crimson Tide to the SEC championship, and a solid run as Mississippi State’s defensive coordinator the past four seasons.

“They felt like he did a good job for them at Mississippi State, and he’s a good person,” Stallings said. “I think he’ll do a good job at Arkansas.”

Johnson’s defenses made steady improvements in his four seasons at Mississippi State. His first unit in 2004 knocked 100 yards per game off Mississippi State’s total defense average from the previous season.

Mississippi State’s 2006 defense ranked fifth against the rush. Last season’s Bulldogs defense ranked seventh nationally against the pass and No. 21 in total defense, allowing 331. 8 yards per game. Mississippi State led the SEC with 7. 08 tackles for loss per game.

The Winnsboro, S. C., native made an impression on his defensive players in Starkville.

“He’s serious, but he’s kind of sarcastic, if you will,” defensive end Titus Brown told The Clarion-Ledger of Jackson, Miss. “But he’s a hell of a coach.”

Johnson also made an impression on new Arkansas Coach Bobby Petrino.

“I’ve been able to watch Ellis work and saw him when he was defensive coordinator at Alabama,” Petrino said. “I think what I admire most is they play defense the way I like it, with very sound fundamentals: playing the principles of good defense, running hard to the ball, tackling, stripping the football more, much more than trying to beat everyone with schemes.”

While Petrino will install his offensive plan and call plays for the Razorbacks, Johnson will largely handle the defensive strategy.

Johnson, who will assist in the defensive backfield with longtime buddy Lorenzo Ward, boils down the aggressive philosophy he shares with Ward like this:

“First we agree on one thing. You’ve got to stop the run. Second of all, you want to hit the quarterback as often as you can. There are a lot of ways to do that. You can blitz, you can cover and make him hold it, you can do it a lot of ways. Those two things are right there. The third thing is you’ve got to create turnovers. Of course hitting the quarterback should cause some of those, but you’ve got to have great secondary play.”

Johnson’s decision to join Petrino’s staff was motivated by a couple of factors.

First, his wife Caroline was eager to live in Northwest Arkansas after hearing about the area for years.

“My wife was excited,” Johnson said. “She’s heard a lot about Fayetteville. Coach [Rocky ] Felker’s wife said they’re going to retire here one day.... Coach Danny Ford’s an old friend of mine. They just loved it here.

“ We’ve heard a lot about the things for children: schools, the environment. So there were some things she was excited about and was optimistic about making that change.”

Then there’s the old “if you can’t beat ‘ em, join ‘ em” adage Johnson might have applied. Johnson’s 1998 team at Alabama was defeated 42-6 in Fayetteville, and none of his teams at Mississippi State were able to beat Arkansas the past four years.

“I’ve had some trips to Arkansas before and most of them weren’t pleasant,” Johnson said. “So I know a lot about the atmosphere here and the tradition. I guess we came in twice from Alabama and got whipped both times.

“ We beat them in Little Rock in ‘ 92, but we had the national championship football team. We played them twice in Little Rock and twice at home with Mississippi State and all of those ended up in defeat, so I have a great respect for the program here and certainly have some knowledge of the history and tradition.”