Air Force Promotes Johnston to Head Coach

The Air Force Academy didn’t have to look very far to find its new head coach. On Thursday, the school announced that they’ve hired Joe Johnston as the program’s new leader. Johnston has spent the last seven seasons on the Air Force staff as the team’s Associate Head Coach.

Before coming to Colorado Springs, Johnston was a mainstay on the Missouri coaching staff - spending 11 years assisting under head coach Brian Smith. Johnston got his coaching career started at the DIII level assisting at Iowa’s Cornell College.

Johnston wrestled in college at the University of Iowa and qualified for the NCAA Championships in all four years at 157 lbs. He earned All-American honors in each of his final two seasons with the Hawkeyes. As a junior, Johnston made the NCAA finals as the #8 seed. On his way to the finals, Johnston upset top-seeded Alex Tirapelle and #5 Jake Percival. Both were past national finalists. Also in 2005, Johnston was third in the Big Ten, which represented his best conference finish.

Since Johnson joined the Air Force staff, the Falcons have sent 15 wrestlers to the NCAA Tournament. Two wrestlers have combined to earn All-American honors on three occasions. When Wyatt Hendrickson got on the podium in 2023, it snapped a two-decade-long streak without an All-American.

The head coaching position was available after the previous head coach, Sam Barber, stepped down to pursue a position within Air Force’s athletic department.

Air Force heads into the 2026-27 campaign with a pair of returning national qualifiers (Carter Nogle and Karson Tompkins). Nogle got onto the NCAA podium in 2026 with a fifth-place finish at 133 lbs.