Oregon football pumps out pro talent, but not limited to the NFL Draft. Dan Lanning lost Junior Adams to the Dallas Cowboys. Yet the new Dallas wide receivers coach himself believes one Ducks star made him a better coach — all before leading CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Tez Johnson is dazzling during the NFL Preseason. Including executing an insane backflip during the Buccaneers' Saturday contest against the Buffalo Bills.
Rate this Tez Johnson flip out of 10! 🤩
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) August 24, 2025
Johnson carved out his NFL journey with Adams overseeing the WR room in Eugene. Adams is giving the league a try as Dallas represents his first NFL work stop. His knowledge of creating wideout machines convinced Brian Schottenheimer to make a run at him.
Yet the 45-year-old believes he'd never make the league if it weren't for talent like Johnson molding the coach. Which he shared to Nick Hamilton of Nitecast Media.
“Guys like that make me better too,” Adams told Hamilton. “I learn from them. We learn from each other. It's iron sharpens iron.”
Ex-Oregon assistant reveals how Tez Johnson's mind worked
Adams described the mindset Johnson created during their run together.
“What I saw from Tez was a guy that's about growth mindset. He's willing to get better everyday, he's about the details and he pushed me to get better each day,” Adams said to Hamilton.
Johnson separated himself among a stacked group of WRs Adams coached collegiately. He delivered consecutive 80-catch seasons in his final two seasons at Oregon. Johnson scored 10 touchdowns in both 2023 and 2024. And he produced the production as a college football transfer portal addition leaping from Troy to the Ducks.
“Obviously he's got God given ability — he's quick and fast. And for his stature he's really tough as well,” Adams added.
Johnson slipped in the draft, however, despite his decorated Ducks resume. The Bucs ended his fall during the seventh round at selection No. 235.
The Ducks star is attempting to land on the final 53-man roster. Tampa joins the rest of the league in topping off its two-deep and backups by Wednesday. Regardless, there's an NFL assistant who believes the seventh rounder made him better as a coach.
