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Karris Johnson, Costa Mesa, CA Football Coach

Karris Johnson

SILVER

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Providing excellent service, coaching & mentorship for all clients. Experience with Olympic, Professional, K-12, etc. Former D1 athlete. View all coaching experience

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Fast Response Rate:
The percentage of time Karris Johnson responded to client inquiries within 48 hours in the last 3 months.
100%
Training Locations
Training Locations
  1. EBS Performance, 1111 Baker St, Costa Mesa, CA

Coach is willing to travel up to 25 miles

Packages

On Field Skills Session 1 on 1 2x Weekly
In-Person Training for a single athlete

2x/ a week with Coach KJ on field skills sessions or sports specific work. -On Field Sessions -Nutrition Recommendations

Session Length: 1 hour

$1280 8 sessions ($160/ea) + applicable fees

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On Field Skills Sessions 1 on 1 3x Weekly
In-Person Training for a single athlete

3x/ a week with Coach KJ on field skills sessions or sports specific work. -On Field Sessions -Nutrition Recommendations

Session Length: 1 hour

$1860 12 sessions ($155/ea) + applicable fees

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On Field Skills Session Semi Private 2x Weekly
In-Person Training for up to 4 athletes

2x/ a week with Coach KJ on field skills sessions or sports specific work. -On Field Sessions -Nutrition Recommendations (Limited to 5 athletes)

Session Length: 1 hour

$720 8 sessions ($90/ea) + applicable fees

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On Field Skills Session Semi Private 3x Weekly
In-Person Training for up to 4 athletes

3x/ a week with Coach KJ on field skills sessions or sports specific work. -On Field Sessions -Nutrition Recommendations (Limited to 5 athletes)

Session Length: 1 hour

$1020 12 sessions ($85/ea) + applicable fees

Book Now
  • Utah State University (UT)

  • 6 years

  • Qualified Private Coach
    Passed Coach Course

  • Adults, Kids, Teenagers

  • Wide Receiver, Tight End, Linebacker, Defensive Back, Running Back

  • Throwing, Tackling, Punting, Special Teams, Route Running, Pass Defense, Hand Placement, Footwork, Cutting, Catching, Blocking

Credentials

  • Utah State University (UT)

  • 6 years

  • Qualified Private Coach
    Passed Coach Course

Services

  • Adults, Kids, Teenagers

  • Wide Receiver, Tight End, Linebacker, Defensive Back, Running Back

  • Throwing, Tackling, Punting, Special Teams, Route Running, Pass Defense, Hand Placement, Footwork, Cutting, Catching, Blocking

More About Coach Karris

Dark Horse Elite Athletics is an all-inclusive sports performance business founded by Coach Johnson. The purpose of DHEA is to provide high-quality service to athletes who are determined to make it to the next level regardless of their financial situations.
We use 7 pillars to help enhance the lives of our athletes.

Physical Preparation
Psychological
Nutrition
Holistic Health
Recovery
Mentorship
Education

These 7 pillars help athletes gain a competitive edge and guarantee results. Listed below is an in-depth description of how each pillar is important and how it can help you as an athlete.

Physical Preparation- Each athlete has different needs based on their sport, past training experience, age, injuries, medical conditions, etc. DHEA provides customized programs to make sure every aspect of your physical training is tailored to surpassing your specific goals.

Psychological- Having the right mindset and psychological approach to sport is one of the most important pieces of training. DHEA helps build confidence in our athletes so once a challenge arises they are mentally prepared to conquer all obstacles on or off the field.

Nutrition- Athletes need proper nutrition to help them gain lean muscle mass, provide fuel for practice and competitions, and proper hormone balance. Food is fuel and DHEA makes it easy to implement proper eating habits.

Holistic Health- Food and the skincare products you use on a daily basis matter! Your body has to process everything it comes into contact with using the liver. If these items you ingest and put on your skin have toxins in them, it can cause a lot of issues. The main issues are cancer-causing agents, hormonal changes, and allergies. With guidance from DHEA, we can help alleviate these problems and enhance overall health.

Recovery- Recovery is more than just taking a day off. Recharging using sleep, supplementation, water consumption, and nutrition will make sure athletes stay healthy. Most importantly it will help you be ready for the next session or competition without feeling sore or lethargic. DHEA uses several methods to make sure recovery is done properly for optimal results.

Mentorship- Coach Johnson the founder of DHEA was a former athlete. He uses his experiences through sports to effectively mentor and guide athletes in the right direction. By joining DHEA you become a part of a family. Our founder and coaches lead by example and are upstanding role models for our athletes.

Education- DHEA knows how important education is in the classroom and on the field. We help make sure our athletes are taking care of their grades so it doesn’t get in the way of their success. We also take pride in our own education, every coach is hand-picked based on their experience, as well as their educational background in sports performance.

Coaching Highlights-
-2021 NFL Combine Prep Class- Trevor Lawrence Rd 1 Pick 1,
Zach Wilson Rd 1 Pick 2
Elijah Molden Rd 3 Pick 100
Shane Buechele Signed Undrafted Free Agent
Brady White Signed Undrafted Free Agent
- Coach @ ProCode Sports Performance Facility & Olympic Training Center
- Strength & Conditioning Coach @ Colorado School of Mines
- USA Football Camp
-FBU Running Back Coach (Bay Area)
-Varsity RB Coach (Dublin High School)

Athletes I've worked with-
Milan Tyson (Tennis)
Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars)
Zach Wilson ( New York Jets)
Elijah Molden (Tennessee Titans)
Shane Buechele (Kansas City Chiefs)
Myles Bryant (New England Patriots)
Keelan Doss (Las Vegas Raiders)
Mason Rudolph (Pittsburgh Steelers)
Austin Hedges (Cleveland Guardians)
& more

California High School
-Polynesian All-American
-Cal State 5 Star All-Star Game Player
-Peter Villa Award Winner (Best Football Player in Tri-Valley)
-1st Team All-League (Football)
-1st Team All-East Bay (Football)
-2nd Team All Metro (Football)
- #21 Best Sparq Score in The Country (114.60/2012)
-Top 20 Players In Bay Area Cream of The Crop List
-North Coast Section D1 Championship Runner Up
-USA VS World Camp Invite
-Semper Fidelis All American Camp Invite
-8x All-League (Track,4x100,100m,Long Jump)
-NCS D1 Runner Up (100m,Long Jump, 4x100m)
-Arcadia International Night Meet (5th in 100m)
-West Coast Relays 1st Place (100m)
-7 Year Varsity Player (3 Football, 4 Track)

Utah State University (13-15)
-Mountain West Mountain Division Champions
-MW Championship Game appearance
-Poinsettia Bowl Champions
-Gildan New Mexico Bowl Champions

Brevard College (16-17)
-Don Hansen Super Region II First Team
-Don Hansen Honorable Mention All American

Football-specific sessions will include sharpening our tactical skills specific to the position. Speed, Footwork, Change of Direction, Route Running, and other important factors will go into the sessions.

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Client Reviews

Good coach

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Coach Karris is great to work with. Very flexible with his time and Knowledgeable about his craft. My son really enjoyed his session.

Elijah really enjoyed his first coaching session. Thank you

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Coach Karris is amazing! My son looks forward to his 1on1 practices every week. Thank you!

My son absolutely loved the work out and can’t wait for next session!

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Coach Karris is super informative, responsive and thorough. We were impressed with him from the start. He created a nutrition plan for our boys and looked at their products holistically and created a plan that was easy to follow. We are looking forward to working with him on techniques and strategies to take our kids to the next level. We highly recommend him!

very patient with my son 🙏

Coach Karris was prompt, skilled at teaching mechanics, and friendly. He made me feel comfortable when I made mistakes, and knew how to target things that I wanted to work on in a way that was accessible and not overwhelming. I never played football as a youth, and have been looking for a coach who can teach me the basics because I'd like to play recreationally. Coach K is also reliable with messaging back and forth when planning things out. I highly recommend him!

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The best Strenthing Bootcamp we have done so for. My son Ali improved a lot, and we will get me lessons whenever his school in holiday break

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Coach Johnson does a great job working on all aspects of athletics especially ones that get overlooked like nutrition and recovery.
Coach Johnson is very professional and great with my son. We have confidence that he will help our son to be a great athlete
I'm so happy we came across Karris when looking for a trainer for my son. I was looking for more than a trainer. I was looking for a trainer with patients and understanding. Thank you for training my son both physically and mentally.
I wanted to express my gratitude for your training! I would not be close to where I am If you hadn’t pushed me to get mentally and physically better. Thank you for pushing me towards my dietary goals as well! You are a great example of a true leader, I look forward to the next chapter in training with you!
Excellent coach and mentor for my daughter. Karris developed a program for speed and strength which was key to her success last year at the highest levels of her sport. Very reliable and professional as well. Highly recommend.
I had a great time working with Karris. After taking a 4 year break from soccer, Karris did a great job of making sure that I was ready for my tryout. I found his program to be very effective and I felt prepared to return to my sport. I appreciated his dedication to my progress and the time he took to modify my program until I felt 100% after my injury.
Training with coach really paid off for my development as an athlete. Within weeks I was making tremendous strides and I was very happy with the results I was getting. Personally, I dealt with injury but coach Karris helped me work around them as much as possible and find different alternatives to get better each week. I’m extremely grateful for my time and would highly recommend training with him.
Coach Karris Johnson is mentor for me. we worked in person during the summer. the result were great! I had a shoulder injured before we start training. back then I couldn't even bench because of the shoulder injury. he planed our work out carefully and provide me the best diet. with his help I could bench 225 for 17 now.(I went back to china, and we trained online now). Coach Karris Johnson is a great strength trainer with a great personality . Highly recommend!
I trained with Karris for just under a year and a half. He took me, as someone who had never properly worked out a day in their life, and created a game plan to help me achieve my goals. In my time of training with Karris I exceeded every goal, both physically and mentally. This can all be attributed to Karris' dedication to his clients, knowledge of physical fitness, and unmatched motivational attitude. Cannot recommend enough!
I would always look forward to training with coach Karris. He would always go above and beyond and do whatever he could to help me reach my goals. He was and is still a great mentor and I would recommend anyone to him!
I love working with Karris . It’s literally the best part of my day. I’ve grown stronger and gained more flexibility and endurance. The Costa Mesa location is so convenient. If you are an athlete or just looking for general fitness I highly recommend Karris for all levels of training.
Great teacher and coach, You can tell he genuinely cares about the athletes!
Met with KJ at his facility and wasn’t exactly sure if I wanted a coach yet. We went over my goals and how I really wanted to make physical changes. After hearing how KJ could help me I was confident in his ability to help me make changes. He’s been helping me for over 3 years now and I can’t be happier with my decision to work with KJ.
Karris & I started working together in 2016. My previous coach moved onto another job & so I was referred to Karris. From the moment we met he was diligent & persistent in fixing my lie back pain. Within a few months the back pain was gone & I was inching towards the best shape of my life. Highly recommend Karris as your next coach!
Karris is hands down the best coach I have worked with, from day one I was able to express my goals and Karris showed me the path on how to get there. He knew exactly what it needed to take and together we achieved those goals. I highly recommend working with Karris on your path to success.
Coach KJ is awesome! I reached out in need of help with my son who just started pee wee football. He helped my son with his speed and wide receiver routes. The progress we’ve made has been great and recommend Coach KJ for any of your football needs!
Going into my first NFL offseason I was able to work with Karris & right away I could tell he was very passionate & knowledgeable about training. Over the course of two months while working with him, I learned various techniques while lifting & during my rehab that would have my body performing at it’s highest level. Not only a great trainer, Karris is an even better person and training with him is always a great experience.
KJ provided excellent service. He was a joy to work with always bringing energy and excitement to workouts. Constantly challenging me to be my best self and set the bar higher higher each day.
Working with Karris Johnson was great. He provided me with the proper insight and direction, that would allow me to maximize the most out of each workout session. Because of Karris’ knowledge and prior athletic experience of his own, he was able to align his expertise with my goals and they were able to be achieved. Karris is one of the best trainers you’ll find around.
Over the past few months being able to train under Karris I’ve noticed significant growth in not only my strength and athleticism, but away from the gym he has helped me shape a better diet and and overall better athlete!
Coach Karris has helped me develop exponentially in the weight room over the past year, always pushing me to go heavier. He also guides me and my teammates on the proper form to lift as well as the muscle groups we are working. This progress in weights over the past year has transferred over to hockey where I can now skate and shoot harder.
I've played for a lot of different teams that have had different strength training methods and performance coaches but by far the best experience I’ve had was Coach KJ. During the 2020 - 21 season, while I was training with Coach KJ, I saw a very steady and predictable increase in the weights I was able to lift and with this, an increase in the velocity of my shot, passes and overall physicality improved as well. The workouts were great, I never felt too exhausted before games or practices but I would always feel that soreness in my muscles indicating that the workouts were, in fact, working and improving my strength. Overall I could tell that you more than knew what you were doing, I always appreciated that you would push me when I wasn’t going hard enough while managing to never come off as overbearing and you’ve taught me workout routines, habits, and valuable knowledge that I’ve been using since then and going to keep using in the future. I also increased in weight during that season going from 148 lbs to a peak of 157 lbs
Training has helped me push my limits this summer. My teammates and my coaches in the weight room have helped me realize that I can always give 20% more. Also training with my teammates adds a competitive aspect in the weight room, with everyone training to be the best. Overall, I have learned to train to achieve a goal, and this year as a senior I hope to help everyone train with another national championship in mind.
Working out has not only made me much stronger, but has also translated directly to the ice. My workouts with coach Karris were thoughtfully planned to help me achieve my specific goals.
Coach Kj was able to help me a lot throughout my season with them. I came in with some experience in the weight room but they truly helped me with my form and skills. By the end of the season, I had better mobility, more strength, and better cardio to help me in my hockey career. As a team under Coach Kj’s training, we were able to push to the playoffs and show our skills as a team and as individual players. The environment was great and allowed our whole team to learn more about the right way to get stronger and healthier.
Karris is a really good trainer and an even better person! He helped me get stronger and more explosive by pushing me but at the same time not overdoing it! This allowed me to stay healthy and be able to progress quicker. He also helped me get the right supplements I needed to be able to train at a high level consistently. Karris gets the job done and exceeds expectations!
I have always been impressed with Karris’ work ethic, intellect, and benevolence. As my personal trainer, Karris very quickly learned my strengths and weaknesses and kept me on task on my fitness journey. The time he spent curating a fitness regime that integrated my lifestyle with my personal goals was effective immediately – this is attributable to his vast knowledge of physical health paired with his consistent and impressive work ethic.
Coach KJ has helped me a ton not just physically, but mentally as well. The coaches take so much care in helping everyone, and make sure you do the workout right with good form. Also, they don’t just focus on one thing and do a full-body workout to work on everything. I have gotten so much faster and stronger because of their drills with weights and explosiveness. They also helped with my focus and that has transferred to my workouts at home and practices on ice.
As a fellow coach, he was simply superb. He had the innate ability to connect with the players that he coached and created a bond with the staff in which he was a part. His knowledge of the sport and the position that he coached involved study and personal experience that he was able to easily relate to the team.
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