Kaeden Johnson goes from Gopher to Reiver

Waseca High School graduate Kaeden Johnson, a recent Minnesota Gopher football player, has decided to change schools. 

 

Johnson decided to leave the Minnesota Gophers on April 22 this year to seek an opportunity to get some significant playing time. The Gophers have a stacked running back room, and a new running backs coach, and it was apparent that he would be 5th or 6th at best on the depth chart. His decision to enter the portal did not come lightly, he loves the Gophers and what Gophers Head Coach PJ Fleck is trying to build, but being competitive and wanting to improve his game, he made the decision to opt for the Portal. After receiving some inquiries from some D1 and D2 programs (Drake, UM Duluth & Pitt State to name a few)  KJ decided to go back and talk with The Iowa Western Reivers who had shown some interest in him before he committed to the Gophers. After a follow up visit to the campus and a meeting with Head Coach Scott Strohmeier and Offensive Coordinator Tristan Speer, he decided to commit and play with the Reivers for the 2025-2026 season. They are currently the #1 ranked JUCO in the nation and have multiple players bouncing up to D1 and the pros every year.

 

 Most recently Iowa State transfer Quarterback Hunter Dekkers, who played for the Reivers last year and was recently drafted by the New Orleans Saints along with current Minnesota Viking Andrew Van Ginkel who also spent time with the Reivers program. Kaeden will be wearing #26 for the Reivers this season and is looking forward to helping in any way he can to bring home a National Championship. The link for his player page with photo is below and he has social media on X @KaedenJohnson15 The upcoming schedule includes #2 ranked Hutchinson Community College on Sept 13th, Dodge City Community College on Sept 20th and Iowa Central Community College on Sept 27.