A powerful presence in the Oregon football program has passed away.

Don Johnson, Jr. — the former football coach at Milwaukie and Evergreen, as well as McDaniel (then known as Madison) and Jefferson high schools in Portland who went on to become recruiting coordinator for the Ducks — died this week. He was 49.

Johnson’s son, Keenan Speer-Johnson, confirmed the news in a post on X/Twitter on Tuesday morning.

“I’m at a complete loss of words,” Speer-Johnson wrote. “You overcame so much, this still doesn’t even feel real to me right now I’m heartbroken. Rest in paradise dad I love you.”

Johnson was responsible for recruiting the likes of Jeffrey Bassa and Emar’rion Winston to Oregon, among others, boasting deep ties in the Portland area from his years coaching in the high school ranks. He worked at Oregon from 2020 to 2022.

Several former high school players coached by Johnson posted heartfelt messages on social media Tuesday.

Johnson’s cause of death has not been made public. He was recovering from a health scare in 2022 before eventually stepping away from his role with the Ducks.

-- Ryan Clarke covers the Oregon Ducks and Big Ten Conference for The Oregonian and co-hosts the Soccer Made in Portland and Ducks Confidential podcasts. He can be reached at rclarke@oregonian.com or @RyanTClarke.

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