In his second year directing the offense of Football Championship Subdivision program Gardner-Webb, Tyler Johns helped the unit score nearly 28 points per game in a seven-win season for the Runnin' Bulldogs.
There won't be a Year 3 for Johns atop the Gardner-Webb offense. He's going to be running his own program.
Sources tell FootballScoop that Johns is returning home to his alma mater, the University of Findlay, to take over the NCAA Division II program as head coach.
An official announcement is expected within the next 24 hours.
Johns played at Findlay from 2009-12 before he embarked on his coaching journey. He's coached at junior college power Iowa Western Community College, as well in-state programs Tiffin and Ohio Dominican.
Those relationships he developed at the elite junior college level, and at top Ohio small colleges should pay big dividends as he's set to take over his own program, as Ohio is both a fertile recruiting ground, and home to one of the most densely populated football states in the country. The state features seven fellow Division II programs alone, along with 20 Division III programs with a few of those considered the among the best programs in the country (Mount Union and John Carroll, just to name a few).
As he climbed the coaching ladder, Johns posted some of the best offenses in school history for the Tiffin Dragons.
Longtime Findlay skipper Kory Allen resigned earlier this month after 20 years at the school to take a position on Mike Jacobs' new staff at Toledo. There, he is set to coach the offensive line for the Rockets.
Findlay is coming off an outstanding 10-2 season in 2025 that culminated with an appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. They rattled off 10-straight wins before losing a tight game in the season finale to Tiffin 23-21, and then lost to Minnesota State in the first round of the Division II playoffs.