There will be a new face on the sideline at South Bend Washington this fall, though it won't really be a new face at all.
Jay Johnson has been an assistant football coach at Washington for as long as Antwon Jones was the head coach.
But now with Jones moving north to Niles, it's Johnson's job to keep the wins rolling in.
"I wouldn't want to be anywhere other than here at Washington with our kids," he says.
Johnson is a head coach for the first time. And it's quite a first one, to be taking over a program that was in the state title game last year.
"We have a lot of talent. We have a lot of weapons," Johnson said. "With the returning players that we have and the new additions that we have, we're gonna be very strong and we're gonna be very competitive. And we plan to just pick it up and keep it moving."
Johnson's building plan is pretty simple. It involves, first and foremost, not changing the blueprint.
"There will be a few new wrinkles here and there, on offense," he said. "We'll be similar to what we did last year. There will be a few new wrinkles on defense here and there but we'll be similar to what we did last year. I mean, it's worked for us."
Just like his predecessor, Johnson brings a resume shining bright with Notre Dame gold. He played for Bob Davie in the late 1990s. His position coach was Urban Meyer.
"It's still the same drive," he said. "The same desire."
Combining his own experiences with those of his players, Johnson sees no reason why Washington can't play for state again.
"The experience of having most of our kids play in that game before, it kind of makes it an easier transition to make it to where we just kind of build on that and keep that moving," Johnson said. "Because they weren't satisfied with second place. And we've been trying to stress to them that you don't have to settle for second. And second is never good enough if first is an option. So we're just gonna build on that. And hopefully we'll get down to Indy this year and finish the deal."
