Tarleton State University Athletics

Brandon Johnson and Lonnie Buchanan are from different backgrounds and took separate routes to their final college football destination.

But all that matters now is they will be together again for a second season in the Tarleton State defensive backfield this fall, where they will look to repeat as both conference champions and as all-conference players.

"Brandon and Lonnie are special players," Tarleton State head coach Cary Fowler says. "You can find a lot of guys who have the talent, and you can find a lot of guys succeed because of the work they put in. These two guys combine both those qualities, a lot of talent and a commitment to doing all the extra work it takes to be great."

Fowler is more hands-on with Johnson and Buchanan than with most other players at Tarleton because he continues to coach defensive backs after his promotion from defensive coordinator to head coach in March.

"I still look at him as my position coach," Johnson says. "That's what he's always been to me. It's still kind of sinking in that he's the head coach now."

"Those are my boys," Fowler says of the returning all-conference defensive backs. "They are my type of football players. They are both perfectionists when it comes to their technique, and they do everything they can to get better. I've seen them come to the field house at night to watch film and stay until 2 a.m."

Johnson, a 5-9, 186-pound cornerback, knows nothing but winning. He came to Tarleton right out of high school, having been a two-way (defensive back and running back) All-CenTex player as a junior and senior at Texas 3A power Giddings, one of the state's most successful programs. In his three years with the Texans, their record has been 27-8.

"Everywhere I've been we've always won. I feel like I know how to win and how to prepare to win," Johnson said. "That's what I try to show the younger players here, is the things you have to do to win."

Johnson has improved steadily each season, culminating his four interceptions, four pass breakups and eight passes defensed to go with 45 tackles including six for loss last season. He had 37 tackles, five pass breakups and five passes defensed as a sophomore and made nine tackles as a freshman in 2007.

Buchanan, a 6-2, 215-pound safety, took the circuitous route to Tarleton, starting as a standout at Greenville Weston High School in Mississippi before playing two years of junior college ball at Mississippi Delta.

Buchanan had never previously been part of much team success on the gridiron.

"I had never been on a team that was better than 5-5," Buchanan said. "I really didn't know how good it felt to be a part of a winning team."

Despite the lack of team success, Buchanan had no trouble making individual headlines. He made the Fearsome 15 list of the top 15 high school players in the Mississippi Delta region, and was then named second-team all-state in junior college.

When he made 42 tackles and picked off a pair of passes while breaking up six others last season, it resulted in more than just individual recognition - it helped the Texans claim a share of the Lone Star Conference championship and reach the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs for just the second time in school history.

"It was the experience of a lifetime," Buchanan said of the team success. "All my life I had wanted to be a part of a championship team. Now I want to experience that again this year."

And to be sure that success is repeated, possibly even - as Johnson and Buchanan both hope - exceeded, they are doing everything they can to teach other defensive backs the finer points of being successful in everything they do.

When asked what other players in the secondary have impressed the two returning standouts, they raced to see who could spit out DaShaun Phillips' name the fastest.

"DaShaun is always asking if he can work out with me and watch film with me," he said. "We have to take young guys like that under our wing and show them how to succeed."

Fowler says spending time with Johnson and Buchanan is exactly what young players such as Phillips, a redshirt freshman, need.

"Young players like DaShaun are just living on God-given ability. They are still learning to do all the extra work that Lonnie and B.J. do," Fowler said. "That's what makes those guys such great leaders."

Johnson's off-field resume is as good as his production on the field. The kinesiology major was named to the academic all-state team as a senior at Giddings and was honored on the 2008 and 2009 LSC Commissioner's Academic Honor Rolls.

"On the field, or off the field, those guys succeed because they do what's right," Fowler said. "That's very important to both those guys."

Both players and their coach feel the secondary can be even better than last year, when the Texans were No. 2 in the LSC in pass defense.

In addition to Phillips, both Buchanan and Johnson say they have been impresssed with newcomers Terrence Henry, a star at Katy High School and Blinn College, and Devin McDowell, a Garland product who transferred to Tarleton from Iowa State.

"We just have to keep working and getting everybody together on the same page," Johnson said. "We have the talent to be better than last year."

Fowler says he knows exactly what will make the secondary, and the entire team, better.

"Everybody in the secondary, everybody on our team, just needs to watch what B.J. and Lonnie do, and follow them, because they are always going above and beyond," Fowler said.

"On top of that they are good teammates and even better friends, " the head coach continued. "It makes them a fun pair to watch play the game."