Aurora (Ill.) West Aurora senior defensive end two star ranked recruit Matt Johnson (6-foot-4, 225 pounds) has been focused on his upcoming season now that the Blackhawks are back in practices this summer. Johnson, who has been verbally committed to NIU since March checks in and previews his upcoming senior season and more here.

"The first few practices have gone really good," Johnson said. "We are going to have a good season and everyone is excited and working really hard."

So does preparing for his upcoming senior season feel any different to Johnson?

"It feels a lot different to me this year for sure. I have a different role this season for my team and I'm trying to be mote of a leader. The younger guys look up to me a bit and I've been embracing the leadership role now more than ever before. I really like being more of a leader and I'm trying to really be more involved with my teammates and being a bit more vocal. It's been exciting but it also is my last season playing high school football and that part of it is starting to sink in a little bit."

Johnson is still very much committed to NIU.

"I committed to NIU back in March and that hasn't changed at all. After I committed to NIU I started to hear from a lot of different schools. I also was hearing from college coaches on and off a bit before the dead period. I basically just tell those coaches that I'm fully committed to NIU and I have no intentions of backing out of that commitment. I'm always happy to talk to the coaches but they also know where I stand right away and I basically tell them thanks for the interest but I'm committed."

So does Johnson have any personal goals in mind for this upcoming season?

"I really don't have any personal stats in mind. I just want to play better this year than I did last season. I feel that I've really grown and developed into a much better player from a season ago. Last year I used a lot of my athletic abilities to make plays. This off season I worked really hard on technique and I wasn't as physical last season as I wanted. I worked really hard on using my hands and just adding more and more technique into my game. I'm going to be a much different player this season."

Johnson is excited for the Blackhawks this fall but knows that to make a state title run more work is needed.

"We've been in the playoffs before and we know what it takes to get to the higher level. We need to be more disciplined in our entire game and focus less on individual stats and put all that focus into being a team. That's what it takes to get back into the playoffs."

Matt Johnson is verbally committed to NIU.