Leah Johnson - Volleyball Coach

Leah Johnson

Title:
Associate Head Coach
Email:
VolleyballMail@gators.ufl.edu
Phone:
5510

Leah Johnson is entering her first season with the Gators in 2026.

Johnson brings head coaching experience to Gainesville, previously leading programs at Michigan State (2022-24), Illinois State (2017-21) and SIU-Edwardsville (2011-16).

In her first season in East Lansing, Johnson led the Spartans to the most wins (13) by a first-year head coach since 1974 before leading the Spartans to 17 victories in 2023, which marks the most by the MSU volleyball program since 2019. Johnson coached a pair All-B1G honorees and an B1G All-Freshman and All-B1G second team distinction, marking the first season with multiple postseason award winners since 2017.

Prior to becoming a Spartan, Johnson directed the Illinois State program from 2017-2021, guiding the Redbirds to a 104-53 record and five postseason appearances, including four straight NCAA Tournaments, marking the longest streak at ISU in nearly four decades (1982-85). Under Johnson's guidance, Illinois State finished in the top three in the Missouri Valley Conference all five seasons, including winning the regular-season conference championship in 2018 and 2020 (played in spring 2021). The Redbirds also won three straight MVC Tournament titles from 2019-2021. Johnson was named the 2021 AVCA North Region Coach of the Year.

Individually, Redbird student-athletes excelled under Johnson's direction. Three players garnered All-American honors, while five different Redbirds collected a total of eight AVCA All-Region honors and 13 different players combined for 20 All-MVC honors, including 14 first-team honors in her five seasons. In the classroom, seven student-athletes combined for 11 appearances on the MVC Scholar Athlete First Team.

Prior to her stint at Illinois State, Johnson spent six seasons as head coach at SIU-Edwardsville where she was named the Ohio Valley Conference Coach of the Year in 2016 after leading the Cougars to the OVC tournament championship game. Johnson guided SIUE through its transition from Division II to Division I, directing the Cougars to a top 100 RPI finish in 2016.

Johnson was a standout student-athlete at Missouri State, serving as team captain and helping guide the Bears to four straight seasons with 20 or more wins. She excelled on the court, ranking among Missouri State's all-time and single-season digs leaders, and in the classroom, as she was named to the MVC Scholar-Athlete Team and served as a Student-Athlete Advisory Committee representative. In 2019 the Missouri State University volleyball program was inducted into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame.