FAYETTEVILLE — It’s hard to find a place to work out when the city of Boston is essentially on lockdown because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Arkansas 2020 defensive back signee Khari Johnson has succeeded in doing so.
Johnson (6-1, 184, 4.49 40-yard dash), a Suffield (Conn.) Academy standout who had 36 tackles, four interceptions (one he returned for a score) and 12 pass breakups last season, has a couple of go-to places in the city.
“It’s been a difficult time with the whole coronavirus virus going on, but I have been staying busy,” Johnson said. “The coaches have sent out some workouts for us to be working on. It has been a productive time even if it has not been the ideal time.
“Around my area, you have to jump from spot to spot because the police are really cracking down up here in Boston, so is not that easy. But there are a couple of spots you can hit up, and I just rotate from there.”
Johnson, who chose Arkansas over Georgia and other programs, is eager to get to Fayetteville as soon as possible after his online classes finish up in late May.
“I am very excited about getting back to Fayetteville as soon as I can,” Johnson said. “It’s a great place and I really think we are about to build something special. I can’t wait to be a part of it."
Arkansas cornerbacks coach Sam Carter has been effusive in his praise for Johnson, who new Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman visited soon after his hiring on Dec. 8.
“From a football aspect, the guys that he’s going against in Connecticut are good guys, it’s just that guys don’t go up there and look at them,” Carter said. “Coach Pittman went up there with me and we fell in love with this guy. This guy can cover, he can run and he’s not scared to put his nose in there. We’re going to give this kid everything we have, and we know he’s going to give us everything.
"When you come from Connecticut to come to Arkansas, you’re in. We’re going to give him every opportunity. He’s really good."
Johnson was being recruited by the former Arkansas staff and took an unofficial visit to the campus with his father, Bernard, on Nov. 1-3, the weekend before former coach Chad Morris was fired.
The Razorbacks would eventually hire Pittman, offered Johnson on the opening day of the Dec. 18-20 early signing period and brought him in for an official visit on Jan. 17-19.
Johnson, who finished with 29 receptions for 578 yards and 5 touchdowns, and 10 carries for 55 yards and a score on offense, would commit at the end of that official visit. Carter was a key factor.
“Our relationship grew from there and I was truly blessed and humbled to receive an offer from Arkansas," he said. “I am an East Coast kid, so I don’t take that lightly. We don’t get a lot of looks from the SEC, so it meant the world to me.
"He was really high on me. He wanted me, I felt his energy and he has been such a genuine (man) and totally honest with me throughout this process. It made my decision a whole lot easier when it came down to it.”
Just a few days after his pledge to Arkansas, Johnson received an offer from SEC power Georgia, Pittman’s former school.
“Honestly, that was also a humbling experience to have them reach out and have them come up and meet me,” Johnson said. “But it really came down to my relationship with Coach Carter, and I felt like I would be a lot more comfortable with him.
“I also liked the vision he had for the team and me as a young man,” he continued. “The Georgia offer was an appealing one, but once I had my home visits, I was certain on Arkansas and didn’t want to change.”
It also helped Johnson got a great vibe from Pittman, who sold his vision of turning around a program that had won just 4 of 24 games the last two seasons and 8 of its last 36.
“Coach Pittman is a phenomenal man,” Johnson said. “Aside from football, he is a God-fearing man as am I, so me and my family were able to connect on that level with him. His vision for the school and the football program is really something you have to hear to fully embrace.
“He is very prideful in the school and his words just made me want to get behind him and something that is new and building. He takes so much pride in it and I can feel that.
“They are doing a great job of recruiting great young men and players and I want to be a part of that.”
He also got to experience an Arkansas basketball game on the weekend the Razorbacks hosted Kentucky.
“It was crazy how the crowd was jumping and so live during that game,” Johnson said. “It was just amazing and something I will never forget.
“Then we went to the Catfish Hole and the fam I am were sold. It was a great experience and I can’t wait to get back.”
The move to Fayetteville will be a change for a self-proclaimed city guy.
“When I first got down there I thought, 'This is going to take me a minute to get used to,'” Johnson admitted. “But honestly, the atmosphere was great and just to see all the joy on the faces of the kids walking around on campus when we took a visit was overwhelming.”
Johnson’s four interceptions and 12 pass breakups this past season showed his ability as a ballhawk.
“I pride myself on that,” Johnson said. “I don’t like to gloat, but it is one thing I will gloat about. I have great hands for a defensive back. I went out and approached everything as if I wanted to be dominant every play, made sure I put my best foot forward throughout each game. It was a real productive season for me to say the least.”
Johnson’s desire to snatch the football does have him working on one aspect of his game.
“I do need to work on just being patient and waiting for routes to develop,” Johnson said. “Sometimes I have a tendency to jump the route too soon. I know that being a patient defensive back is a big part of success.”
Johnson was on a Suffield Academy squad that went 9-0 and won the New England Preparatory School Athletic Council Class A championship with a 29-21 win over fellow unbeaten Avon Old Farms in the Kevin Driscoll Bowl championship game.
It was a team that featured five Division I offensive signees in quarterback Tyler Van Dyke (Miami), linebacker Mozi Bici (Penn), receivers Jaden Dottin (Penn State) and Justin Barron (Syracuse), and Johnson.
“It was a great year playing on the team with those kids," he said. "It was just one of those things where iron sharpens iron. We had several receivers go Division I and our quarterback went Division I.
“It was such a competitive atmosphere in practice that it really brought the best out of all of us competing every day in practice. I took a lot of accountability and challenged everybody throughout our practice and it became second hand that that is just how we went after it every day. I think that is where we won a lot of our games, just setting that tone.”
Johnson believes taking the prep school route helped prepare him for life as a college student.
“Prep school is a lot of times a big step in a young man or young woman’s life,” Johnson said. “I had to go live on my own. I didn’t even know how to do my own laundry when I got there. But throughout the course of the year I learned to do that and much more, and I feel like the experience that Suffield Academy gave me was an amazing one, allowed me to be independent, just focus on myself and become my best person in and outside of the classroom.”