Culver's Newest Franchisee, Iowa Hawkeyes Assistant Football Coach Eric Johnson Quits To Open Restaurant In Tennessee

After 15 seasons with the Iowa Hawkeyes, assistant coach Eric Johnson is leaving the program to open a fast-food restaurant.

Eric Johnson is going from coaching beefy lineman to flipping beef patties.

The longtime Iowa Hawkeyes assistant coach announced Saturday that he's stepping away from the program to open a Culver's fast-food restaurant in Tennessee.

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz said in a statement that Johnson - who's been with the Hawkeyes since 1999 and has led the program's recruiting efforts for the last 10 seasons - was leaving Iowa City to pursue a career outside of football. On Saturday night, Johnson shared his career plans with his Twitter followers.

"Thank u to all the #Hawkeye fans for ur support for the last 15 years. U guys ARE THE BEST. We will always be #Hawkeyes!" Johnson tweeted.

"We will be moving to #Nashville TN & opening up a @Culvers in #Hendersonville TN. Restaurant opens Nov 1st. #Hawkeye games will be on TVs!"

Culver's operates nearly 500 restaurants in 19 states throughout the U.S., primarily in the Midwest. A representative from Culver's couldn't confirm or deny on Sunday if Johnson is one of the company's newest franchisee.

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