ROCKINGHAM — During the football offseason this past winter, James Johnson was in the running for three high school head coaching jobs.
But he decided to stay with Richmond Senior High School, his alma mater, and was promoted to defensive coordinator.
A 1997 graduate from Richmond, who played linebacker and led the Raiders in tackles his senior season (1996), Johnson earned the promotion after co-coordinating with fourth-year head coach Bryan Till in 2019.
Till approached Johnson around the same time the newly announced defensive coordinator was considering head coaching gigs at Forest Hills, Jay M. Robinson and Central Cabarrus high schools.
“I was surprised because Coach Till is very active in running the program,” Johnson, 41, said of receiving the offer. “It shows he has a lot of trust and faith in me to allow me this opportunity. I’m ready to take on a lot more responsibility, and try to live up to the really high standard we’ve established the last few years.
“I’m getting used to the freedom Coach Till allows us to have,” he added. “A way to put my stamp on things. It’s been a learning experience, but this extra time is helping me process things and get the defense prepared.”
This is Johnson’s second time serving as Richmond’s defensive coordinator. Under former head coach Paul Hoggard, Johnson was the Raiders’ DC during the 2008 through 2012 seasons, and was a part of the 4AA state title team in 2008.
A graduate from North Carolina State University who studied engineering, Johnson boasts an impressive coaching resume. He started teaching math at Richmond in 2003, where he spent five combined years working with the junior varsity defense and linebackers, before moving up to help with the varsity defensive line and secondary.
Under Hoggard, Johnson also moved out of the math classroom and began teaching weight training. He currently works at Richmond County Ninth Grade Academy in that same role.
Between his final season with the Raiders in 2012 and now, Johnson made pit stops at West Stanly High School (head coach, two years) and West Montgomery High School (offensive coordinator/offensive line coach, two years), where he and the Warriors finished as the 1AA state runner up in 2013.
Johnson then served as the offensive coordinator at Southern Lee High School for the 2017 football season, before coming back to teach and coach in Richmond County at Christmas that same year.
Since Till became Richmond’s head coach in 2017, the Richmond defense has been just as explosive as its offense. The team has recorded seven shutouts in that span of three seasons, and is allowing just 18.2 points per game (the lowest was 12.8 PPG in 2018).
Getting to the quarterback hasn’t been an issue, as the Raiders have met in the backfield for 101 sacks and recovered 46 turnovers (interceptions and fumbles).
As the 2020-2021 high school football season approaches, which has been moved to a Feb. 8 start date for practice, Johnson is switching the defense to a 4-3 scheme. It’s a system he says will match Richmond’s players better, but he added that he’s also not opposed to running multiple fronts with three or four down linemen.
“The 4-3 fits our personnel better,” Johnson explained. “Our 3-4 scheme the last few years was unique, and it had a lot of 4-2-5 principles already in it. The alignments won’t change that much, so it should be an easy transition.
“Our third linebacker will be a hybrid guy out in the box,” he continued. “We see the spread (offense) a lot, so we may run more of a 4-2-5. I’m trying to build a system that’s complex looking to opposing coaches, but I want to keep it simple for our guys.”
Returning this season will be several starters from last fall, notably defensive tackles Kaleel Brown (senior) and J.D. Lampley (junior). Into the mix for the tackle position will be junior Randy Hailey.
On the ends, Johnson anticipates Derrick Everette (senior), Jayme Allen (junior) and Ahmad Morrison (junior) to compete for playing time. He also said a “very athletic” linebacking group will be led by seniors C.J. Tillman (Liberty University commit) and Jah’Meek Harden, along with juniors Gabe Altman and Keyshawn Ingram.
“We have a good group of kids coming up who are always going to compete and play hard,” Johnson said. “I’m really excited to see seniors like Harden and Everette have more playing time, and it’ll be fun rebuilding the secondary.
“There will be other guys who compete and we’ll see who emerges,” he added. “I hope the program will continue to grow as we add more flexibility to our defense.”
The Raiders have been participating in voluntary workouts for nearly a month, and while he’s glad to be back out with his defensive players, Johnson admitted the COVID-19 restrictions are making things tougher.
He’s been having regular Zoom meetings with the defense over the summer, which has allowed the Raiders a chance to familiarize themselves with the direction Johnson wants to take the defense.
“The hardest part is getting stuff installed,” Johnson explained. “Some things are similar and some are different with new terminology. Zoom is nice, but we can’t really rep it that way.
“It’s also hard to know how much new stuff we want to teach when we’re restricted, and how well the kids will retain what we’re teaching.”
Refusing to accept this year’s athletic calendar as the new normal, the entire Richmond program is still trying to perfect its craft and march to its eighth 4AA state title. In his new role as defensive coordinator, Johnson says the key is for the defense to finish the season stronger in the coming years.
“We’re known to have a lot of success, but I know we want to finish the season stronger,” Johnson said. “Our goal is to win the last game of the season no matter which college stadium it’s in.
“I want to go out there and know we left it all on the field, and defensively I want to go out every week and let the other team know we’re going to play for four quarters,” he closed. “ To do that effectively, we need to swarm the ball, play tight coverage, and be fast, physical and aggressive.”
