Talk about a Rocky Mountain High for Bill Johnson and Brian Lawrence.
With their pro sports futures unsettled, they each have found new homes in Denver.
Johnson will be the defensive line coach for the Denver Broncos. Lawrence will be pitching for the Colorado Rockies.
The Broncos hired Johnson, 51, last week. The Rockies signed Lawrence, 30, on Sunday.
Johnson had spent the last six years doing the same job for the Atlanta Falcons, hired by Dan Reeves and retained by Jim Mora. While with Atlanta, the Falcons had 242 sacks, seventh-best in the NFL during that span.
“Smilin’ Bill” was a center for the Demons while playing from 1975-78, and began his coaching career by spending five seasons working under both A.L. Williams and Sam Goodwin at NSU. He went on to coach collegiately at Miami, Texas A&M and Arkansas before getting into the NFL. He already has coached for 27 years.
Lawrence left Northwestern as the 1998 Southland Conference Pitcher of the Year and worked his way to the major leagues in 2001. He pitched four seasons for the San Diego Padres, twice being their Opening Day starter, and has a career 49-61 record with a 4.10 ERA in 162 games, including 146 starts.
Brian’s No. 27 NSU jersey was retired in 2005. Last year, he was a free agent signee with the Washington Nationals, but missed all of last season with an injury to his right (pitching) shoulder that required major surgery. In October, he said he was ready to return to the mound and felt better than he had in 2-3 years.
The Rockies beat out Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Diego to sign Lawrence, who had more money on the table from the Pirates but liked the idea of pitching for the Rockies. He was on the losing end of the first, and only, 1-0 game at Coors Field in his last season with the Padres, whose bats seemed to take the night off when Brian took the mound. A good number of his 61 losses could have been wins with better run support.
He is expected to compete for a spot in the starting rotation as a pitcher who has chewed up 200-innings plus in three of his four full seasons in MLB.
Doug Ireland, SID
