Johnson Looks Ahead to 2023 Season

By Adam Brown
Sports Editor
adam.brown@hottytoddy.com

Ole Miss senior defensive end Cedric Johnson was named the 2023 Chucky Mullins Courage Award winner last week.

“It has been crazy,” Johnson said. “Based off the week before guys had already been talking about it. Guys would call me Chucky.”

Johnson added that it was a memorable moment when the coaches announced it.

“When they finally gave it to me, it was crazy,” Johnson said. “I’m honored and blessed to win it. I’m honored to have the coaches think I’m the right person to represent it.”

Coming into the season, Johnson played in 11 games for the Rebels with eight starts last season. He recorded 32 total tackles with four sacks and 4.5 tackles for loss.

With the addition of the new defensive coordinator Pete Golding, Johnson has moved to a different position.

“I’m loving the new position and honestly it’s giving me a lot of new freedom,” he said. “It’s given me a lot of room to grow as a player overall. 

Johnson added that the defense now has four defensive linemen on the field. 

“I won’t have to take as many double teams now,” Johnson said. “It’s going to be fun and the d-line is going to have a lot of fun. I’m just loving it.”

As Johnson and his teammates prepare to take the gridiron against Mercer on Saturday, the question is how to get the guys to lock in and focus like they’re facing the No. 1 team in the country. 

“With it being the first game, I don’t think so,” Johnson said. “A lot of our freshman guys don’t know what to expect so we’re all going in head on. (Mercer) isn’t a slight of a team, it’s going to be a big game for us and we have everybody locked in.”

Johnson and the Rebels kick off the season on Saturday at 1 p.m. on SEC Network+.