BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Tennessee football rising redshirt junior offensive lineman Ryan Johnson will represent the Vols as a member of the Southeastern Conference Football Leadership Council this weekend.
The Council consists of one football student-athlete from each of the SEC’s 14 universities and will convene for its annual meeting at the SEC offices in Birmingham on Friday and Saturday.
Agenda items for the group this weekend include a meeting with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, a review of NCAA and SEC legislative items, open discussion on topics submitted by members of the Council, and engagement with football officials on rules of the game, student-athlete/referee interaction and careers in officiating. LSU’s Blake Ferguson, who attended the NCAA Convention last week as one of three SEC student-athlete representatives, will provide an update as Chair of the SEC Football Leadership Council.
The Football Leadership Council is one of three components of the SEC Student-Athlete Leadership Council. The other two components are the Men’s and Women’s Basketball Leadership Councils. Student-Athlete Leadership Councils were introduced for the sports of football and men’s and women’s basketball, which, in addition to the conference’s longstanding Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC), provide student-athletes with additional opportunities to engage with campus leaders and conference office staff. The councils serve as a conduit of communication to the conference office on issues related to student-athlete experience and student-athlete wellness.
The student-athletes who comprise the SEC Football Leadership Council are: Johnson (Tennessee), Chris Owens (Alabama), T.J. Smith (Arkansas), Derrick Brown (Auburn), Jeremiah Moon (Florida), Rodrigo Blankenship (Georgia), Jordan Griffin (Kentucky), Blake Ferguson (LSU), Mohamed Sanogo (Ole Miss), Tyre Phillips (Mississippi State), Larry Rountree III (Missouri), Daniel Fennell (South Carolina), Keeath Magee (Texas A&M) and Colin Anderson (Vanderbilt).
Johnson started all 12 games for the Vols in 2018, including the final 11 at center. He has made 16 consecutive starts heading into the 2019 season. A Brentwood, Tenn., native, Johnson impressively graduated in three years with a degree in civil engineering.
Johnson collected Google Cloud Academic All-District honors in 2018, as selected by CoSIDA, with a 3.88 GPA.
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