Football notes: A tale of two Bills, one in NFL playoffs, another facing prison
Taron Johnson is instinctive and fast. We saw a bit of that when he dazzled at Sheldon High School and as a lightly recruited player at Weber State, where he played against Sacramento State and UC Davis and earned 2017 Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors, inspired always by the loss of his mother, Trina, to cancer in 2005.
Now the defensive back for the Buffalo Bills is part of NFL history, his record-tying 101-yard interception return for a touchdown in a 17-3 victory over the Baltimore Ravens in the playoff, leading teammate Jerry Hughes to later call him, “Touchdown Taron. He does what he knows.”
Bannan pleads not guilty by reason of insanity
Justin Bannan went from a lineman powerhouse at Bella Vista High and Colorado to NFL mainstay, starting with the Bills from 2002-05, last playing in 2013 with the Lions. Now he sets aim at a summer trial for the 2019 shooting of a woman he barely knew in Colorado, pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple charges, including attempted first-degree murder.
The woman he shot suffered injuries that were not life-threatening. Police said they found Bannan at the scene, carrying a bag with two loaded handguns and a white powder: cocaine. Bannan told authorities he feared the Russian mafia was after him. Bannan’s lawyers have argued that brain deterioration from repeated concussions may have played a role in the bizarre behavior.
Ian Book in Senior Bowl
Ian Book, of Oak Ridge High School and Notre Dame’s winningest quarterback, is in the Jan. 30 Senior Bowl.
The three-year starter and two-time team captain will work out with NFL coaching staffs who head the Senior Bowl rosters, including film breakdown. The Senior Bowl is an NFL grooming ground and Book could be taken in the upcoming draft.
Hawk and Hawk at UCD
Cody Hawkins has been promoted within the UC Davis coaching staff from assistant director of football operations and recruiting and receivers coach to offensive coordinator, where he will call plays for head coach/father Dan Hawkins. He takes over for one-time UCD quarterback Tim Plough, the new offensive coordinator at Boise State.
Cody Hawkins has been at UCD since 2017, when his father took over as head coach. Father and son have football history together, well before their UCD time. After going 40-0 during his high school career in Idaho, he played a bit for his dad at Colorado.
Lineman coaching movement
James Campen is out with the Los Angele Chargers but sure to land somewhere, as career coaches tend to do, and Klayton Adams has landed at Arizona State.
Campen, of Ponderosa High and Sacramento City College, coached offensive line for the 2020 season with the Chargers. The former Green Bay center coached 15 years with the Packers and then spent the 2019 season with the Cleveland Browns.
Adams, of Sheldon and American River College, will be the offensive line coach with ASU and the program’s run-game coordinator after working as an assistant line coach with the Indianapolis Colts.
This story was originally published January 21, 2021 at 5:00 AM.