Johnnie Mack has been promoted to Colorado’s running backs coach this offseason, turning a long pursuit into a real job on Deion Sanders’ staff. Colorado Football’s YouTube channel showed Mack coaching his unit during Buffs spring ball, giving a public look at the next step in his climb.
Mack, who was an offensive analyst for Colorado in 2025, said he is eager to prove he belongs. “I’m excited. I’m going to work my butt off and just to show that I do belong and I am the guy for the job,” he said. “I’m going to have fun with it and I’m just going to continue to grow, continue to learn, and just put my best foot forward.”
That promotion lands after years of chasing the chance to work for Sanders. Mack said, “My goal was one day, I told myself ‘One day, I want to work for Coach Prime’ and I just kept manifesting until the opportunity came.” He added that working for Sanders and Marshall Faulk is “every kid’s dream,” and said Sanders taught him “the game of football and the game of life.”
Mack’s path to Boulder is built on a long coaching resume and an even longer playing background. He played running back for Texas Tech in the early 2000s, rushing for 636 yards and scoring 13 total touchdowns in 2003 and 2004. He was also the Red Raiders’ primary kick returner in 2004 before moving into coaching after his playing days ended.
Before Colorado, Mack spent time at Southeastern University starting in 2020, where he coached in offensive, special teams and strength and conditioning roles. He also worked with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors as a quality control coach and wide receivers coach, and had stops at Houston Baptist, North Texas, SMU and East Central. The promotion gives Sanders another coach who knows both the field and the grind it takes to get there, and Mack now has the job he says he spent years envisioning.
What happens next is the part Colorado will care about most: whether the former analyst can turn that background into production on the field as the Buffs move deeper into spring work and into the season ahead.