A key addition to the coaching staff in January, Bill Johnson joined the Saints with a long history of developing the skills of top-notch defensive linemen throughout coaching career. Entering his 29th year in the profession and ninth season in the NFL, Johnson arrived in New Orleans after a two-year stint (2007-08) in Denver.

Johnson joined the Broncos after working as a defensive line coach for six seasons (2001-06) with the Atlanta Falcons. The Louisiana native spent over two decades coaching in major college programs previously, primarily working with defensive linemen.

During his two seasons with the Broncos, he coached a unit that in 2007 tied for second in the NFL with nine takeaways, combining for seven fumble recoveries and two interceptions. That season, DE Elvis Dumervil tied for sixth in the league with 12.5 sacks.

With the Falcons, Johnson coached a defensive line that helped the club post 242 sacks during his six years with the club. Over that span, Atlanta twice ranked in the top 10 in fewest yards allowed and fewest yards per carry (2004, 2006). The Falcons also had a pair of Pro Bowlers up front under Johnson’s direction, including DE Patrick Kerney and DT Rod Coleman.

Coleman was selected to the Pro Bowl in 2005, and his 28 sacks from 2004-06 were the most by a defensive tackle in the NFL over that span. Kerney was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2004, and the defensive end had 53 sacks under Johnson’s tutelage from 2001-06, notching at least 10 sacks in three seasons.

Atlanta reached the NFC Championship Game in 2004, with Johnson’s defensive line leading the NFL in sacks (48) for the first time in franchise history. The Falcons also ranked eighth in the NFL in run defense, Kerney had a career-high 13 sacks and Coleman led all defensive tackles with 11.5.

Johnson joined the Falcons in 2001 after a one-year stint at Arkansas working with the defensive line, his second time coaching at the school. That season closed a 21-season stretch as a college assistant.

The longest coaching tenure of his career was at Texas A&M, where Johnson served as defensive line coach for eight seasons (1992-99) under Coach R.C. Slocum. The Aggies earned three conference championships during those years, went to six bowl games and finished in the top 10 three times. Nine defensive linemen under his instruction were selected in the NFL Draft, including Sam Adams, a consensus All-American in 1993 and the eighth overall pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 1994.

Johnson came to Texas A&M after coaching the defensive lines at Arkansas (1990-91) and Louisiana Tech (1988-89). In 1987, he served as a graduate assistant at the University of Miami under Coach Jimmy Johnson, working primarily with the linebackers on a team that went 12-0 and was voted National Champions. Prior to joining the Hurricanes, Johnson spent two years as an assistant at McNeese State University (Lake Charles, La.) coaching the school’s outside linebackers in 1986 and its defensive line the year before.

He entered the coaching profession as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Northwestern State University (Natchitoches, La.), in 1980 and served in that capacity for two seasons before coaching defensive ends/linebackers at the school from 1982-84.

Johnson was a four-year letter-winner and two-year starter in football at Northwestern State, after a standout prep career at Neville High School in Monroe, La.

Born June 23, 1955, he and his wife, Dawn, have two children: Billy, 18, and Abby, 17.