For the first time in his collegiate career, LJ Johnson will be playing football outside of Texas. The running back has been playing in Texas since high school, and it seemed that he would continue that way when he committed to Rice, but he’s now flipped the commitment.
L.J. Johnson put himself on the radar as a standout at Cy-Fair High School, where he rushed for 1,262 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior. As a four-star recruit, he chose to play at A&M over several other power conference teams.
Former 4-Star RB LJ Johnson Jr. Makes Stunning Switch From Rice to Cal
LJ Johnson, who spent the past two years at SMU, has flipped his transfer commitment from Rice to Cal, meaning he’ll play outside the state of Texas for the first time in his collegiate career. He has one season of eligibility remaining, and he’s taking his talents to Berkeley, California. He had committed to Rice about a week ago.
Ground game just got another gear ⚙️📈
Welcome to the #CalFamily, @LJ_Johnson_Jr 🐻#GoBears | #ALLIN pic.twitter.com/yNbWYfSZNy
— Cal Football (@CalFootball) May 4, 2025
Coming out of high school, Johnson had offers from Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi Texas, Notre Dame, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami, UCLA, Colorado, and Texas Tech, among others, before signing with Texas A&M and spending his first two college seasons with the Aggies.
Johnson redshirted his first season in 2021, but in 2022, he rushed for just 39 yards on 10 carries in six games on the season. He was actually more productive in his redshirt year as he rushed for 76 yards on 21 carries and added 14 yards on one reception.
His playing time increased when he transferred to SMU. In 2023, he rushed for 576 yards and four touchdowns on 108 carries with the Mustangs. However, he had just 303 yards and five touchdowns on 74 carries in 2024.
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Cal lost its top two running backs from last season. Jaydn Ott went to Oklahoma, while Jaivian Thomas went to UCLA. Ott will look to rediscover the dominance he showed in the 2023 season when he rushed for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns as he heads to Oklahoma. With two exits in the running back department, there’s a good chance that Johnson gets to play a lot of snaps next season.
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