Michigan State's offensive coordinator Jay Johnson, left, talks with Jayden Reed during practice on Tuesday, March 29, 2022, at the indoor football facility in East Lansing. Nick King/Lansing State Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Former MSU OC Jay Johnson Loses Play-Calling Duties at Different School

Originally posted on Michigan State Spartans on SI
By Jacob Cotsonika | Last updated Oct 21, 2025 7:00 AM ET

Former Michigan State offensive coordinator Jay Johnson is struggling at his latest stop after leaving MSU.

Now at Wyoming in the Mountain West Conference, Johnson has reportedly lost his title as offensive coordinator of the Cowboys, lost play-calling duties, and was demoted to an offensive analyst role on Monday. He was first named as Wyoming's OC back in January 2024.

Wyoming wide receivers coach Jovon Bouknight will take over play-calling duties for Johnson at the direction of Cowboys head coach Jay Sawvel. Bouknight was an analyst as recently as last year and was promoted to wide receivers coach before this season.

Wyoming's Offensive Numbers

Through seven games and a 3-4 record, Wyoming is only averaging 20.0 points per game. That's tied for 114th in the FBS and is the second-worst number in the Mountain West, only ahead of Nevada (15.6).

The Cowboys are 85th nationally in terms of total offense, which is ninth in their conference out of 12 teams. Wyoming is also averaging 5.5 yards per play, which also is ninth in the Mountain West.

Johnson's offense only scored greater than 21 points twice; a 35-point day against FCS Northern Iowa and a 31-point performance against 2-5 conference foe San Jose State.

Wyoming played two Big 12 teams during its non-conference schedule, as well. The Cowboys scored just six points at home against Utah and had 20 points versus Colorado in Boulder.

During Wyoming's most recent game, a 24-21 loss to Air Force, the Cowboys' offense turned it over twice during the fourth quarter, both times on interceptions.

The Falcons got 10 points off those turnovers, which was one of the main differences in the game.

Johnson's Offenses at Michigan State

When Johnson didn't have the option to hand the ball off to Kenneth Walker III, MSU's offense consistently had struggles while Johnson was calling plays.

The 2021 team with Walker averaged 31.8 points per game, which was tied for 38th nationally. Besides that year, Michigan State averaged 18.0 points per game in 2020 (116th in FBS), 24.4 points in '22 (t-90th), and only 15.9 points in '23 (128th).