Christian “CJ”Johnson is in his first season as an assistant coach at CSU Bakersfield.
Johnson joined the Roadrunner coaching staff after spending the previous four seasons as the head men’s and women’s soccer coach at Humboldt State. His 2012 women’s team defeated the eventual Division II runner-up, Chico State, 2-1. Johnson earned his 100th career victory as a women’s head coach in the 2009 season-opening 3-1 win over Western Oregon. He has compiled a 115-89-16 as a head women’s coach.
Prior to taking over the Humboldt State programs, Johnson was the head men’s and women’s coach at Cal State San Bernardino from 2000-04. At San Bernardino, his athletes earned 14 All-CCAA awards and four NSCAA All-West Region honors. In the 2003 season, Johnson’s last at the helm of the Coyotes, his women’s team was 11-8-2 and qualified for the NCAA West regional for the first time in the 15-year history of the program.
Johnson moved to San Bernardino from Azusa Pacific where he helped lead the program to a 24-0-1 record and a NAIA National Championship in 1998. He was selected as 1998 National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) NAIA Coach of the Year. From 1997-99, his Azuza Pacific teams compiled a 57-9-3 overall record and gained a Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) title, along with the National Championship, under their belts.
His athletes earned two national Player of Year awards, 13 All-American selections, 18 All-GSAC honors, three GSAC Player of the Year namings and eight All-America scholar recognitions. In addition, three of his players played in the Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA), the first all-women’s soccer league where every athlete was a paid professional.
While pursuing other opportunities from 2004-08, he led the Pahrump (Nev.) High School boy’s team to the state semifinal game in 2004 and was named the Nevada 3A Boys Coach of the Year. The following year his team competed in the state championship game.
Johnson attended and played soccer at Azusa Pacific from 1989 through 1991 before finishing his collegiate career at Point Loma Nazarene in 1993. A keeper at Azusa Pacific, he still holds the school record for saves in a game, 21 vs. CSU Bakersfield (1989).
At Point Loma Nazarene, Johnson earned the team’s 1993 Most Valuable Player award after posting five shutouts among his 11 wins. His 540 consecutive shutout minutes rank No. 1 on the programs all-time list and his 152 saves that year are second on the single-season list and rank sixth on the schools career list. The team finished second in the Golden State Athletic Conference and played in the District Three (Far West) semi-finals.
Johnson graduated from Point Loma Nazarene in 1994 with a bachelor’s degree in physical education. In 1996, he earned his mater’s degree from Azusa Pacific in education. Johnson and his wife, Sandy, are the parents of three daughters, Sydney, Kendall and Lyla.
