Gregory Johnson made college football history. Here's why he's back coaching high schools.

When Gregory Johnson’s schedule no longer revolved around coaching football, he immersed himself in the quintessential, sun-drenched lifestyle of a Florida retiree.

The Langston University legend spent his days cruising on a jet ski or boat and evenings retreating to the back porch, where he observed the water and wildlife that inhabit Tampa Bay.

But in a postcard paradise, Johnson became depressed. He worried about the declining health of his mother, who lived in an Oklahoma nursing home.

“It was a tough time for me,” Johnson said.

While grappling with his emotions, Johnson received a phone call from one of his former players.

Langston alumnus Willis Alexander had landed the head football coaching job at Putnam City West High School, and he wanted Johnson to be the defensive coordinator.

Eight years removed from the Oklahoma football scene, Johnson could have stuck with retired life on the beach. Instead, with the chance to return home and care for his mother, the former college coach took the step that would result in a high school head coaching job.

“Right now, I’m having a ball,” Johnson said Tuesday evening. “I just feel good about being back in (the game).”

A year after that pivotal phone call, Johnson and Alexander find themselves on opposite sidelines. Alexander stayed in the school district but left to coach Putnam City High School, so Johnson stepped into the head coaching role at West.

The closely connected coaches face each other for the first time Friday night at Putnam West. After enduring a 34-game losing streak, the Patriots have grown into legitimate contenders against school-district rivals, a turnaround that started when Alexander and Johnson were coaching together last year.

For the first time since 1994-95, Putnam West has defeated Putnam North in back-to-back years. This week, the Patriots have a chance at Putnam City.

Johnson, who grew up about 70 miles northwest of Oklahoma City in Watonga, is using his tried-and-true methods to inspire a high school team. Sure, he has to make college-level plays less complicated for 14-to-18 year-olds. But his approach is consistent.

“He knows what he’s talking about, and he knows what he wants to do,” said Jordan Warrior, a senior receiver/defensive back. “What he wants to do, it’s gonna get done.”

The reasons Johnson left retirement – his love for coaching, his late mother and a lasting Oklahoma connection – guide him and the Patriots every day.

Instilling confidence into a hibernating program is nothing new for Johnson, and Alexander knows it well.

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The trend

In 1991, when Langston University’s football team had experienced nearly two decades of losing seasons, the school approached a 29-year-old assistant coach about leading the program.

Gregory Johnson, a Northwestern Oklahoma State alumnus, said yes.

Langston hadn’t finished with a winning football record since Johnson was an elementary-aged child. But the mountain of overcoming a losing streak didn’t seem so tall to the future Langston Athletic Hall of Fame coach.

“Being the leader, being out front, I had the chance to put my stamp on it,” Johnson said. “I just tried to instill a lot of discipline and policies and procedures and change the culture, change the attitude.”

As a third-year head coach, Johnson guided Langston, Oklahoma’s only historically Black university, to its first winning season in 20 years.

Alexander, who grew from a transfer walk-on into an All-American, was a captain on that team. Johnson taught the young slot receiver about perseverance.

“When you’re enduring, you have to understand that it ain’t going to happen when you want it to happen,” said Alexander, the person who nominated Johnson for the Hall of Fame. “It’s gonna happen when it’s supposed to happen. And when it does happen, you gotta embrace it and grasp it and keep running with it.”

Johnson said Langston had a couple of “mediocre” seasons before turning the corner, but in 1993-94, he didn’t just revitalize the Lions. He led them to back-to-back Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference titles, winning outright in 1993 and tying two programs in 1994.  

This is the way Johnson built his career. He arrived at a program down on success, waiting for a change, and made it happen with unflappable determination.

Although he said he didn’t set out to specifically coach HBCU programs, he ended up finding his calling there. Years before Deion Sanders drew widespread attention to Jackson State, many thriving HBCU programs received little national coverage, and recruitment from predominantly white universities led HBCU football rosters to diminish over time.

But wherever Johnson went, he maximized a program’s potential.

At Prairie View A&M in Texas, his stop after Langston, the football team had only 15 scholarship players. With Alexander as offensive coordinator, Johnson led the Panthers to end their 80-game losing drought – ironically with a win against Langston – creating a triumphant story that made its way into the Los Angeles Times. 

He gained further experience at Jackson State and Texas Southern, and he returned to Langston for a second stint, coaching Pierre, Alexander’s older son. Johnson even briefly stepped into the high school game at Capitol Hill.

But in 2014, he discarded the coach’s whistle and headed to Florida. Johnson, a divorced father, moved to spend time with his high-school-aged children who lived there.

“My hobby was my kids,” Johnson said. “... It meant the world to me – I know I missed out on a lot (while coaching) – but just to be a dad, and to be a parent, and to be a fan.”

Family also played a key role in bringing him home.

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The influence

Theola Swanegan inspired Johnson as a coach and a person.

Swanegan, his mother, worked the same job at a grocery store for 30 years, providing for him as a young single parent along with his grandparents. Johnson said she instilled the value of work ethic in him.

“She was my everything,” Johnson said.

In 2022, when Johnson was living in Florida, his children were grown and he had already spent many years working. Then he started filling his time with beach activities, finally having a chance to relax, but his mind drifted toward his mom, who was experiencing kidney failure.

With the opportunity to coach at Putnam West, Johnson could spend much of his time by his mother’s side in her final six months. Last season, he missed the game against Putnam City – a matchup the Pirates won 37-8 – because he was taking care of Swanegan.

Alexander understood.

As a senior at Langston before a game, he received the news that Pierre, his then-5-year-old son, had been hit by a car and suffered broken bones. Johnson gave Alexander the time and space to step away as his child healed, so Alexander returned the favor when Johnson needed to support his mother.

“At the end of the day,” Alexander said, “family is most important. Football, for (Johnson), is just an avenue to get away from the reality of having to deal with that (pain), but we were supportive of him giving him what he needed.”

Partway through football season, on Sept. 13 of last year, Swanegan died at 78. Several of Johnson’s longtime colleagues, including Alexander, attended the funeral.

At Putnam West, Swanegan’s guidance continues to shape Johnson’s approach. He said for students who come from single-parent households, he assures them it’s OK to be raised by one parent, striving to break stigmas.

And regardless of a player’s background, Johnson shares his gritty approach of commitment to work, whether the Patriots are doing the same drills in the weight room every day or practicing on the field.

Starting when Johnson and Alexander teamed up at West, the school’s interest in football grew. Warrior said he went out for football as a junior, and the Patriots went 3-7 after three straight winless seasons. When they won, Johnson said, the enthusiasm of their celebration reflected that of a national championship team with players bounding into the end zone.

“You could see all the joy on everyone’s faces,” Warrior said.

Gradual progress is still progress, and it’s ongoing. From last season to this year, the Patriots’ roster has nearly doubled, allowing Johnson to use a platoon system and rotate in three defensive lines.

It’s something that would have been unimaginable a few years ago.

But the Patriots are starting to believe. About six miles away at Putnam City High School, Alexander also sees a talented team that needs some time. Both coaches said they want to draw attention to the teams instead of themselves, and though Putnam City is dealing with injuries, Alexander noted some rising stars.

Linebacker Brayden Knox, who has an Indiana offer. Safety Elijah Asberry. Quarterback Judson Keefer.

At Putnam West, players like Warrior, quarterback Shyheim Johnson and running back Dujuan Knight are fueling the revival.

Alexander, who calls Johnson twice a week to check in and offer advice with more experience in high school coaching, hasn’t been dialing his former coach’s number this week. It’s an unusual time as they prepare for the rivalry. But when they no longer have to game plan for each other, the routine can resume as usual.

It might not be the lifestyle Johnson expected when he moved to Florida in 2014, but he couldn’t leave coaching in Oklahoma forever. The connections in his home state were strong – like his knack for energizing a program.

“My philosophy is, (Putnam West) may be young now and have no experience,” Johnson said. “But by the time district (play) gets here, they will have three games of experience, and they’ll have a few more weeks of practice. We’ll be ready to go into district play and see if we can get us a district win and maybe a playoff bid.”

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This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma high school football draws Gregory Johnson back to coaching