SAN ANTONIO – Stanford alumnus Mitch Johnson ’09 has been selected as the head coach of the San Antonio Spurs, replacing the legendary Gregg Popovich after 29 seasons.
Johnson was a 2009 graduate of Stanford, the point guard of a team that went to two NCAA Tournaments, including a sweet sixteen appearance in 2008. Johnson remains second in program history in assists (534), 13th in steals (121), ninth in games played (129) and seventh in games started (107). His 188 assists in 2008 led the Pac-10, while his 16 assists in the NCAA Tournament against Marquette are a program single-game record.
Johnson was an honorable mention All-Pac-10 honoree in 2008 and a Pac-10 All-Freshman honorable mention pick in 2006.
After a three-year professional career in the NBA G-League and across Europe, Johnson got his start in coaching at Seattle in 2011 and later at Portland as an assistant coach under Eric Reveno. His start in the Spurs organization came in 2016 as an assistant coach with the Austin Spurs in 2016, later helping the franchise to a G-League championship in 2018.
Popovich hired Johnson as an assistant coach with the Spurs in 2019, and he was named interim head coach of the Spurs in 2024.