Louisville’s Coach Johnson – Building a Winner
Gary Stibolt
Friday August 26, 2005
You've probably read about the journey that Louisville took to make it to the ArenaCup game but what I want to share with you here is the journey it took for coach Tommy Johnson to build a winning team in Louisville. It is a road that is less traveled by many coaches at all levels. Most coaches take opportunity when it presents itself and not pass it up. Coach Johnson was different. He passed up an opportunity to coach elsewhere after his playing days were done. He was also passed up not once but twice for the head coaching job in Louisville where he served as the Fire's defensive coordinator. As an assistant with the Fire, he was interviewed and was passed over for the head job but yet was asked to stay on as an assistant. One of those times was by a successor who had never coached before.
Sure that was hard to swallow for coach Johnson but it was his conviction and respect for his new owner at the time, Will Wolford, that would allow the start of something great to start taking shape in Louisville. It was the start of back-to-back playoff appearances that ultimately landed the franchise in ArenaCup VI.
"Coach Zaleski taught me a lot my first year in Louisville," explained coach Johnson. "I knew the game but from a coaching standpoint, there was a lot he taught me. Zaleski took the head coaching job in Albany. He wanted me to come with him. At the time, Louisville was in a transition. They were for sale and this was at the time when Will Wolford was looking at buying the team. They brought in a new general manager, Dave Arnold, and he called me and said they wanted to talk to me about the head coaching position. I met with Will Wolford then as well. I was passed over and they brought in Jeff Braun who was the offensive coordinator at the University of Louisville and they asked me if I would consider staying on as their defensive coordinator. It was a tough decision to make. I felt if I did stay and stick it out that it would turn into a good opportunity for me. Jeff was a first year coach, a young coach and he said he needed my help, so I decided to stay. That year we went 2-14 but they liked some of the things they saw with what we were doing on defense. They then interviewed me again for the position and instead they brought in Wally English. There was a situation I didn't mind because of his experience. He has great credentials. I couldn't come close to having what he has. That decision was not so tough to take. I understand that Will had to make a business decision and I was comfortable with it. So again, I was asked to stay on as defensive coordinator. Through all of that, I got to know Will Wolford...what he stood for, what he wanted with the team. Will is the most non-selfish guy I know."
"Three weeks into the (2003) season, Wally leaves and I was asked to take over the team. I was so excited, I can't tell you how happy it made me feel...finally but it was very tough. I inherited Wally's team, not mine. He did the recruiting. That was his team. It was a difficult transition. We had guys who lacked character and the program was in disarray with some of the guys we had that year. I had to work with that team and we went 5-11 on the season. In 2004, Will gave me my job back and I built a team. My first priority was to build a coaching staff. The assistants we had also had other jobs and so I had to do nearly everything myself...breaking down film, run both offense, defense, and special teams. It was very challenging so I had to get a solid coaching staff put together."
In 2003, the Cincinnati Swarm came and went and with them was their head coach, Chris McKeown.
"When I head that Chris McKeown was available I said 'Yes' I would be interested in having him join us," stated coach Johnson. "The talk was can two head coaches work together...you know, too many chiefs and not enough Indians. Chris was such a professional person and he told me this was my deal. He was very thoughtful and he is a phenomenal head coach. He is also a great recruiter. He has a knack of finding good talent. I learned so much from him."
"Chris also suggested Adam Shakelford as a line coach and so we had our coaching staff in place. Then we had to get players. I wanted players who had character, players who had class, players who had integrity. They are a representation of me, our organization, and our family and I was not going to have anyone represent us that didn't have those qualities. Even if a great athlete came in, if he had a character flaw, he was gone. Matt Sauk was our first transaction. When I heard he wanted to play for us I couldn't believe it! He is a quarterback that I knew could get us where we wanted to go. He was a proven quarterback. Coach Petrino (University of Louisville) called and recommended him."
"So from the 2003 season to the 2004 season we cleaned house. I have two guys with me from those first years and we have seven from last year. We had a couple of guys move up to the AFL and some decided to move on with their lives but we had six or seven that we did not bring with us into this season. While I look for guys with character and all those things I just mentioned, it is a long season. Most guys are use to a 10-week season in college and we play sixteen. Some guys taper down towards the end of the season. That was something we couldn't see in guys when we recruited. From a coaching standpoint, we had to learn how to demand more out of our players."
"We made it mandatory that all players attend team meals. We made it mandatory that they all attend their weekly workouts together. It builds team chemistry and the team grew from that. I'm a firm believer that it contributed to our winning the last eight games we played. We put more emphasis on film study and we stayed the course with everything else we felt we were doing right from a practice perspective." The Fire have won their last eight games after hitting a bump in the road earlier in the season but the work coach Johnson put into building the team, he knew things would come together if they worked hard...together."
So while the Louisville Fire may be in the ArenaCup for the first time, their journey did not start in the Spring of 2005, for Tommy Johnson, it started for him personally in 2001. It started with a vision and a set of goals and a faith that he rested them on as he built his plan and put into action. The transition from 2003 to today has been long and arguous but coach Johnson finally has the winning team that he has worked for, for so long and hard to build. Now they and the city of Louisville has a reason to be proud. Win or lose come Saturday afternoon, it took winning to get them here and it is a testament to the accomplishments along the way that brought the Fire to ArenaCup VI.
Gary Stibolt has covered the Quad City Steamwheelers since their 2000 inaugural season. He also owns, operates and is the Chief Editor/Publisher of SteamwheelerFans.com, a website dedicated to the Steamwheelers and their fans. He coresponds for other media outlets covering arenafootball2. In addition to leading the Steamwheelers Fan Club, Gary serves as Coordinator of the National af2 Fan Club. He is married with two sons and works as an Infrastructure Analyst for Deere & Company in their Corporate Computer Center in Moline, Illinois.