New Montgomery Academy coach Johnson limited in transition from Lee-Scott Academy
Robert Johnson has been limited to contact with his new team at Montgomery Academy due to the COVID-19 issues. (Contributed)
By TIM GAYLE
He was hired just over three weeks ago, but Robert Johnson hasn’t had a chance to meet his new team yet.
Johnson was hired in mid-March as the new athletic director and head football coach at Montgomery Academy, but the coronavirus pandemic has prevented him from meeting any of his new players in person.
Johnson, who will finish out the year at Lee-Scott Academy, delayed meeting with the Eagles until he had a chance to talk to his players at Lee-Scott first.
“We were actually on spring break and I wanted to have the opportunity to tell my kids,” Johnson said during a recent interview on RRS Radio (WTLS 1300 AM/106.5 FM). “Then all this hit and schools started closing down and Montgomery Academy went on spring break, so I didn’t even get a chance to meet the kids.
“I talked to our starting quarterback, Britton Kohn, over the phone but if he walked up to my house and knocked on the door, I’m not sure I’d know who he was.”
Johnson praised former coach and athletic director Gary Nelson for his help in the transition.
“Coach Nelson has been absolutely amazing,” Johnson said. “He actually started texting me one Sunday afternoon and I was wondering, ‘where is this text heading?’ Then he told me he was leaving and taking another job – this was all before it was announced – and thought that I would be a great fit and wanted me to apply.
“He showed me around the day that I was there (for an interview). We’ve talked about personnel and what they did offensively and defensively. He’s an outstanding human being and a great coach.”
Johnson has had a chance to speak with the coaching staff and said he believes all of the coaches would return, including offensive coordinator Jeremy Arant and assistant coach Jacob King, along with middle school coaches David Bethea and Stephen Vosel and volunteer coaches James Henderson, Steve Holloway, Corey Jackson and Joe Proctor.
In addition, he plans to add his oldest son, Noah, to the coaching staff.
“There’s really no teaching openings available right now to add a teacher-coach,” Johnson said. “That being said, we’ve already got guys on staff as well as community coaches. Obviously, I’d love to bring in someone else … but there’s not much I can do about that. Noah’s going to help. I feel really good about our staff. We’ve got a great staff. I walked into a really good situation as far as that goes.”
Still, there’s little he can do in the face of a pandemic that has shut down the state. He was hoping to familiarize himself with the Eagles through spring training. Now, he’s not sure when he’ll get the chance.
“From the other jobs I’ve had, you usually come in March and start your weight program, which to me is the most important thing you do anyway,” Johnson said. “All of that’s thrown out the window. Then with spring training, just getting some kind of eye on them and letting them learn your routine and how you practice, how you talk about things, getting to know you personally.
“Then, rearranging the kids. Even if these were kids I had been coaching for three years, you always have rearrangement in spring training, which gives you some idea of what you’re going to do in the summer. It’s never where a kid is a left guard and he’s a left guard for his whole life. So if we end up not starting until July, that’s going to be difficult.”
In the meantime, he’s trying to get to know the players through texting but that has its own set of issues.
“You can’t ever communicate through texts the way you communicate face to face,” Johnson said. “I’m sending these kids texts but I’m trying not to barrage them with information. But there are a lot of things I’ve got to get them to know. If they knew me, they’d understand my personality and where I’m coming from.
“I don’t think anybody wants their first impressions to be over a text.”