The United Football League’s Houston Roughnecks are led by Head Coach Curtis “CJ” Johnson. Previously, he coached the United States Football League (USFL’s) Houston Gamblers. 

Johnson brings 40 years of coaching experience, including four as head coach at Tulane and 33 seasons in all as an assistant coach in the NFL, college and high school. 

The Louisiana native attended the University of Idaho, becoming a wide receivers coach at Lewiston High School in Lewiston, Idaho, in 1984, before taking his first college assistant job for Idaho in 1987. 

In the series of assistant jobs that followed, he earned his reputation as an outstanding recruiter, as well as position coach. At San Diego State, he recruited future Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk, as well as wide receiver Darnay Scott. After San Diego State, Johnson spent single seasons at Southern Methodist University, and at the University of California (where he coached future All-American Bobby Shaw, among others), before taking a position at the University of Miami in 1996. 

He spent the next decade as wide receivers coach for the Miami Hurricanes, where he went to nine bowl games and won the 2001 National Championship. There, he coached Houston Texans legendary wide receiver and 2024 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Andre Johnson, newly elected Pro Football Hall of Famer Devin Hester, Pro Football Hall of Famer Ed Reed, Santana Moss and Reggie Wayne. 

Johnson then transitioned to the NFL after being named wide receivers coach for the New Orleans Saints from 2006-2011, winning a Super Bowl with the team in 2009.  

In 2012, he was named head coach at Tulane University, where he led the program from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference. He spent four seasons with the team, winning 11 conference games.

Johnson returned to the NFL in 2016, coaching the receivers for the Chicago Bears. A year later, he rejoined Sean Payton’s Saints staff again, this time as a senior offensive assistant, and in 2021, added the additional title of wide receivers coach.   

In February 2023, Johnson was hired by the Houston Gamblers of the USFL, serving as head coach for the 2023 season. And in 2024, he was named Head Coach for the Houston Roughnecks of the UFL, the premier spring football platform, formed by the merging of the XFL and USFL.