Doormats No More
Kevin Sedelmeier
Thursday August 25, 2005
The Fire and the Xplorers, however, don’t have the heated animosity that the Cardinals and Tigers have for each other. Instead, there’s a mutual respect. Perhaps that’s due to the bond between the two head coaches. The Fire’s Tommy Johnson and Memphis’ Danton Barto played on the same high school football team, and in 1988, when Johnson was a sophomore and Barto was a senior, they led Niceville High to a Florida state championship.
The two friends have had taken similar coaching paths. Both were their respective team’s defensive coordinators before taking over the head coaching duties. Barto, who still holds the Memphis (State) University record for tackles, took over as head coach in 2002. The team has increased their win totals every year under Barto. Like the Fire, the Xplorers made it to the playoffs last year for the first time in team history. Johnson took over the Fire’s reigns after two games during the 2003 season. In 2004, he guided the team to a playoff victory and a 9-7 regular season mark. Johnson didn’t exactly inherit a windfall of potential, either. In fact, he had to slowly and steadily redefine the team that is now his team.
"I’ve been I n the af2 for five years now. And believe me I’ve been through some rough years," said Johnson. "We’ve been the doormat of the league the first part of my career in coaching, but to be where we are now and be considered one of the top echelon teams in this league is humbling."
Johnson is humble and appreciative. He talks of now going to restaurants in town and having people notice him. He speaks highly of Louisville. He even took the American Conference Champions trophy with him to the WLKY studio to share it with the fans during an interview. The Fire’s success hasn’t gone unnoticed in Louisville, either. The Metro Council plans to proclaim Saturday, August 27 as Louisville Fire Day.
"It’s been a lot of hard work and dedication from a lot of people – not just me but from a lot of people, and Mr. Wolford is the main one. He’s the one who finally gave me the opportunity to coach the football team. He’s the one who allowed me to bring in the coaches that I have," said Johnson, referring to majority owner Will Wolford.
Fire practices are now exercises in efficiency, aided by a growing staff. It wasn’t always that way for the Louisville franchise. "Sometimes I was the only coach at practice,’ Johnson said wit ha smile. "We almost have eight coaches out here now." Both on and off the field, the Fire is a franchise headed in the right direction.
Saturday’s game will be shown by Fox Sports Net to a national TV audience. Seemingly unstoppable quarterback Matt Sauk, who was just named the league’s offensive player of the year, says being on TV is a bonus for family and friends who normally can’t get to games to see the Fire play in person. However, he says the team really hasn’t given it much thought. "I don’t even think we’ve even said anything about ‘hey we’re going to be on TV.’ It’s more like, ‘hey we’re going to be in the championship game,’" he said.
That’s not surprising for a team as focused as this one. Last week they won an arena football conference championship game by 30 points. You might want to re-read that sentence a few times. Not many arena games are decided by a 30-point margin, especially when you are the underdog on the road who’s dishing out the beating. And the Florida Firecats were no marginal team. They were an elite team all season, for the past three seasons. They were defending champions.
Tommy Johnson’s father has a difficult time traveling; major back surgery has left long car rides a painful proposition. But he told his son that he’d find a way to Bossier City. "He said, ‘I’ll suffer through it if you make it to the championship game,’" the younger Johnson said talking about his father.
The senior Johnson isn’t the only one in the family who knows about long, difficult journeys. Tommy Johnson has been on one in Louisville. But now he’s about to reach his destination.
Kevin Sedelmeier is a native Louisvillian. A graduate of the University of Louisville with a B.A. in Communication and M.A. in English, he works as a technical writer and has written fifteen screenplays and numerous short
stories. He lives with his wife Elizabeth, son Lukas, and their dog Springsteen.