GREENE COUNTY
Before heading into spring camp, Greene County’s football program hired former Mary Persons wide receiver coach Michael Johnson to be its new offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.
Johnson told the Lake Oconee News that he already had a good relationship with Tigers’ head coach Terrance Banks before coming in, and he’s excited to take over the position.
“Between coach Banks and Mrs. Wright over at the middle school, we had a lot of different conversations about the position, and I spoke with principal [Eddie] Hood as well, and it just seemed like it would be a great fit for me,” Johnson said. “I know some great things have been done at Greene County in the past, and I think with what we have now, we can do even greater things in the future.”
Johnson, a graduate of Mary Persons High School back in 2008, has a laundry list of coaching experience at schools all over the state of Georgia.
It started when Johnson was in school at Valdosta State University as an assistant video coordinator for the Blazers’ football team. He ended up getting his first coaching position at Lowndes Middle School while still in college helping out with their offense.
Johnson’s first high school opportunity came at Jefferson County a few years after, helping with their middle school and junior varsity programs. Since Johnson has risen up the coaching ladder as he transitioned into the wide receivers coach at Baldwin High School.
He then spent a handful of years at Salem High School as the Seminoles’ offensive coordinator and assistant head coach before landing his first head coaching job at Towers High School.
After a year with the Titans, Johnson decided to move back closer to home and took his most recent job as the Mary Persons’ wide receivers coach. Now, he wants to bring his knowledge to the Boro.
Johnson acknowledged that he and Banks share a lot of the same philosophies when it comes to running an offense, so he hopes to be able to have it running almost flawlessly come season time.
“Coach Banks and I kind of come from the same tree and like to teach the same philosophies,” Johnson said. “We both want to try to implement getting our guys out in space and tailoring the offense to those offensive skill guys that will make the plays out in space. We want those guys to work well with the guys up front, and the summer has just been about trying to figure out how those philosophies will match up with this team.”
Even though the Tigers lost some playmakers due to graduation, Johnson comes into a situation where he still has plenty of talent to work with.
Junior quarterback Steve Miller enters his third year as the Tigers’ starter and threw for over 2,400 yards last season. He also has seniors like JaQuavious Burdette and Javaris Harris out wide to make plays through the air.
Travez Gibson and Doremus Alexander will also be able to help carry the workload in the backfield as the Tigers running back duo. Pair that with an experienced offensive line, and Greene County might cause opposing defenses some trouble next season.
The Tigers also had more students join this year’s team, along with getting a few guys that transferred in from other schools. Regardless of who ends up on the field on Friday nights, Johnson is already impressed with what he’s seen from the players so far.
“We have a big group of kids that want to be a part of the work. There are some places I’ve been where that’s already established, and Greene’s one of those places where it’s been done in the past,” Johnson said. “We’ve had some leaner times, you could say, but right now we have a group that’s hungry. The way that they ask questions in meetings and prepare for practice, you can just tell this is a community that wants to win.”