TRACY, Calif. (AP) – Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson died Friday. He was 81.

The San Francisco 49ers said in a release Saturday that Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 after a 14-season NFL career, died in Tracy.

A member of the “Million Dollar Backfield,” Johnson played three seasons for the 49ers (1954-56). A four-time Pro Bowler (1954, 1962-64), Johnson’s 6,803 career yards rushing trailed only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and former 49er Joe Perry upon his retirement in 1966. Johnson was also a productive receiver, catching 186 passes for 1,478 yards. He scored 55 touchdowns during his career.

Johnson also played one season in the CFL before joining San Francisco.

“I was deeply saddened to hear of John Henry Johnson’s passing,” said 49ers owner John York. “He was a good friend, not only to my family and me, but the entire 49ers organization. As a member of the “Million Dollar Backfield” he holds a cherished place in both 49ers and NFL history. His contributions to the game of football will be forever celebrated.

“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the entire Johnson family.”

That acclaimed backfield included three other future Hall of Famers: Perry, Hugh McElhenny and Y.A. Tittle. The group remains the only full-house backfield to have all four of its members enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Drafted in the second round (18th overall) by the Steelers in 1953, Johnson went to play in the Canadian Football League for one season instead. He then joined San Francisco.

In his rookie year with the 49ers, Johnson ranked second in the league with 681 yards rushing and a 5.3-yard average, scoring nine touchdowns. He finished his three-year stint in San Francisco with 1,051 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, 279 yards receiving on 38 receptions.

Johnson went on to play for the Detroit Lions (1957-59), Steelers (1960-65) and Houston Oilers (1966) of the American Football League. The Lions won their last NFL title with Johnson on the team in 1957.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TRACY, Calif. (AP) — Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson died Friday. He was 81.

The San Francisco 49ers said in a release Saturday that Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 after a 14-season NFL career, died in Tracy.

A member of the “Million Dollar Backfield,” Johnson played three seasons for the 49ers (1954-56). A four-time Pro Bowler (1954, 1962-64), Johnson’s 6,803 career yards rushing trailed only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and former 49er Joe Perry upon his retirement in 1966. Johnson was also a productive receiver, catching 186 passes for 1,478 yards. He scored 55 touchdowns during his career.

Johnson also played one season in the CFL before joining San Francisco.

“I was deeply saddened to hear of John Henry Johnson’s passing,” said 49ers owner John York. “He was a good friend, not only to my family and me, but the entire 49ers organization. As a member of the “Million Dollar Backfield” he holds a cherished place in both 49ers and NFL history. His contributions to the game of football will be forever celebrated.

“Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to the entire Johnson family.”

That acclaimed backfield included three other future Hall of Famers: Perry, Hugh McElhenny and Y.A. Tittle. The group remains the only full-house backfield to have all four of its members enshrined in the Hall of Fame.

Drafted in the second round (18th overall) by the Steelers in 1953, Johnson went to play in the Canadian Football League for one season instead. He then joined San Francisco.

In his rookie year with the 49ers, Johnson ranked second in the league with 681 yards rushing and a 5.3-yard average, scoring nine touchdowns. He finished his three-year stint in San Francisco with 1,051 yards rushing and 12 touchdowns, 279 yards receiving on 38 receptions.

Johnson went on to play for the Detroit Lions (1957-59), Steelers (1960-65) and Houston Oilers (1966) of the American Football League. The Lions won their last NFL title with Johnson on the team in 1957.

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

John Henry Johnson was a four-time Pro Bowler. (George Rose/Getty Images)

Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson has died. He was 81.

The San Francisco 49ers say Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987 after a 14-season NFL career, died Friday in Tracy.

A member of the “Million Dollar Backfield,” Johnson played three seasons for the 49ers (1954-56). A four-time Pro Bowler (1954, 1962-64), Johnson’s 6,803 career yards rushing trailed only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and former 49er Joe Perry upon his retirement in 1966. Johnson was also a productive receiver, catching 186 passes for 1,478 yards. He scored 55 touchdowns during his career.

Johnson also played one season in the CFL before joining San Francisco.

TRACY, Calif. (AP)—Hall of Fame running back John Henry Johnson has died.
He was 81.

The San Francisco 49ers say Johnson, who was inducted into the Pro Football
Hall of Fame in 1987 after a 14-season NFL career, died Friday in Tracy.

A member of the “Million Dollar Backfield,” Johnson played three seasons
for the 49ers (1954-56). A four-time Pro Bowler (1954, 1962-64), Johnson’s 6,803
career yards rushing trailed only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor and former 49er Joe
Perry upon his retirement in 1966. Johnson was also a productive receiver,
catching 186 passes for 1,478 yards. He scored 55 touchdowns during his career.

Johnson also played one season in the CFL before joining San Francisco.

Rick Neuheisel sat at the head of the table in the conference room of the J.D. Morgan Center on Saturday morning and fielded question after question fired by surrounding reporters.

It was a familiar scene for the UCLA football coach, who has been badgered by questions regarding everything from the uncertainty of his coaching staff to his offensive philosophy since UCLA’s season-ending 28-14 loss to USC in December.

Neuheisel used to meet these questions with diplomatic answers that included words like “confidentiality” and “waiting.”

But the waiting game is over, and on Saturday, Neuheisel wasn’t left to answer questions alone. This time, he had answers.

Sitting immediately to his left was Neuheisel’s old friend and former co-worker, Mike Johnson. Johnson was throwing words around, such as “fundamentals” and “discipline.”
Neuheisel announced Saturday the hiring of Johnson as the Bruins’ offensive coordinator and wide receiver coach. Though the announcement was made Saturday morning, the hire was made Thursday, and Johnson was recruiting for UCLA on Friday.

Johnson has coached in the NFL since 2000, most recently with the San Francisco 49ers as their offensive coordinator. Johnson also coached at Oregon State in 1999 while Neuheisel was the head man at Washington. Neuheisel spoke of losing multiple recruiting battles to Johnson back then and cited Johnson’s recruiting ability as a reason for the hire.

“Now that I’m here, I’m excited,” Johnson said. “In the next week and a half I’m going to go out and beat the streets of L.A. and see if we can get a couple guys in our boat and recruit, and once that process is over, we’re going to sit down and get started on the offense and develop an offense that can be effective, diverse and multiple, both running and passing, making sure that we marry the two.”

The hiring was shortly followed by an announcement from the University of Utah that former UCLA offensive coordinator Norm Chow had taken the same position with the Utes. The move is a homecoming for Chow, who attended school at Utah and coached for 27 seasons at nearby Brigham Young.

UCLA and Chow reached a mutual agreement on the terms of the separation, according to UCLA team spokesman Marc Dellins. Dellins said the agreement allowed for a smooth transition and was satisfactory and amicable for both parties.

In the news conference in which Neuheisel introduced Johnson, he spoke of chemistry issues and said that he wants to put together a coaching staff that will “check their egos at the door,” though Neuheisel said those statements were not directed entirely at Chow.

Neuheisel will double as the quarterback coach, making for the same combination of positions that Johnson and Neuheisel held when they both coached with the Baltimore Ravens in 2006 and 2007. The quarterback coach position was previously held by Chow.

“When you’re not doing things as well as you’d like, one thing we all do is go back to our comfort zone, and my comfort zone is coaching those guys,” Neuheisel said of becoming the quarterback coach.

Neuheisel was noncommittal about who will actually call the offensive plays, but he did note that he had no concerns with “turning the keys over” to Johnson. Neuheisel and Johnson will hit the recruiting trail together as signing day comes on Feb. 2, but after that, they will begin designing an offensive scheme that they hope will be more effective in passing the ball. UCLA was ranked No. 116 out of 120 teams in the NCAA last season in total passing yards.

The pistol offense that the Bruins ran last season doesn’t appear to be making a return, at least not entirely.

“We certainly want the ability to throw the ball and throw it effectively. … I don’t know that we’ll have the flashy name for our offense, but hopefully we’ll develop one as people see that it’s producing and becoming one of the top offenses in the Pac-12,” Neuheisel said.

“I’m a believer that you look at the personnel you have and then you develop an offense around the people,” Johnson said. “There’s plenty of knowledge in the room to develop that, and as the personnel changes, maybe the offense changes, but the main focus is to be able to execute football plays.”

Meanwhile, one unknown still remains for the UCLA coaching staff as the Bruins still don’t have a defensive coordinator. It’s been more than a month since Neuheisel fired former defensive coordinator Chuck Bullough.

Neuheisel has interviewed several candidates and has more interviews scheduled in the coming days.

“I’m looking forward to having that decision as quickly as is possible, but I can’t go so fast as to not be exactly right,” Neuheisel said.