Think about teams you root for or support on a regular basis. What is it about them that you most respect? For many of us it is the fact that they overcome obstacles and limitations and simply win. We love a winner as a Nation. We like it even better when they are an under dog.
I can still remember the feeling of overwhelming joy I felt as Aloha completed their miraculous Championship season in 2010. Against 30 years of loosing football seasons, a down trodden community, and the image of a perennial cellar-dweller, the Warriors rose up to take the trophy. In doing so they transformed a community of almost 80,000 people. The self image at Aloha had to change to make it all possible and it started the day Coach Chris Casey came onto the school grounds. Where most people saw challenges he saw opportunities. Where many saw no hope he saw a Championship.
Casey's steely vision of a winner waiting to emerge was right on the target. He and his staff executed a plan the foundation of which
was to use the blue-collar aspects of the Aloha community to rally the kids around a common cause. He shared his vision to a tee and the kids bought in. From the weight room to the classroom he got the kids on board and the success and results were stunning. His "Humble and Hungry" mindset will be stamped into the collective soul of Warrior Nation who may get a shot at another Championship this season.
With that as a backdrop we jump about 15 miles East to another blue-collar and proud community. There is not a lot of difference between Milwaukie, Oregon and the Aloha area. And as it turns out there is not a lot of difference in the history and success of the football teams of the past 30 years. A lot more loosing seasons then winning ones.
But if new Head Coach Don Johnson has anything to say about it he will tear the winning chapter out of Chris Casey's book and make it household mandatory reading in Milwaukie this year.
The Mustang's have a new man in town and he is already hard about the task of reinventing the program and the way things are done.
"This is going to be a challenge but I assure you we will succeed. And we are all going to have some fun along the way," said Johnson who admits he is a big Chris Casey and Aloha Football fan.
After all he used to Coach there.
"I had the pleasure of being a coach there years ago and while Chris was not there yet most of his current staff was. Seeing what they all did there knowing what it was like just puts the fire in my belly," he said with conviction.
Coach Johnson, a mountain of a man, has an impressive resume. He was a recruited athlete out of Corona High School in California where he was a part of a CIF Championship program. College took him through Riverside City College and then on to Azuza Pacific. He was a successful Defensive Linemen. After college he had stints in 3 or 4 locations with the Arena Football League where he extended his playing days for a few years.
Later he would become a coach at Hug High School in Nevada and Aloha before working in the fitness industry.
In 2010 he returned to the Coaching ranks in California where he helped turn around Riverside.
"The team was 0-10 and 1-9 in the two years before I went back. When I left to come up here again the team had gone 22-1 and we had helped 22 players move on the the D-1 Ranks."
His Dad Don Johnson Senior is currently the Defensive Line Coach for the San Diego Chargers and is well liked and respected in the NFL. The Johnson's as you can see are a big time football family.
Back in Portland now Don decided to apply for some of the many Coaching jobs that opened up this year. And while he had some options for high profile positions he liked the look and the feel of the Milwaukie job so he went for it and got it.
"The passion here is amazing. The one thing that got me fired up is the energy and the passion of Mark Pinder who is the Principal here. There is no way I could find a better man or group of kids to put my energy into. The kids here are terrific. They are a talented and hard working bunch. What we will have to change is the perceptions and the confidence," said Johnson. "We do that and we start to win again."
Coach Don is bubbling over with excitement. While many people believe that the Mustangs program is on tough times because the kids just are not that talented he does not see that. He has found talent and a hard working blue collar attitude very similar as that out in Aloha. And he is planning to take the team to the next level.
"We will not be handed anything. This is real work but in less then a month the kids are coming in and working out daily. The weight room is filling up and they are being trained to be the best. We use notebooks and work out sheets just like major college programs. My staff and I are making changes in the way things are done and the level of expectations. We have the will to win and the chip on the shoulder," continued the Coach. "People will see a new team this year with a new energy."
To complete this task Don has built his staff out of some of the most talented guys he could find. Jeff Thomas, former PSU Viking, is leading the QB's. Former Viking Tolo Tuitele is on staff to lead the linebackers. Kory Murphy of the Oregon Ducks (1992-1995) is Coaching the Wide Receivers. John Simpson who played at ASU and played locally is on staff to Coach the DB's. And the list goes on.
"That group of guys is amazing. We are bringing so much football experience to these kids it is crazy. And we will make this happen together with the kids and the community."
What about the kids? Are the cupboards bare or lean there in Milwaukie?
"Gracious no! The hoops team has had big time success in the last couple of years and some of those guys are coming out. I walk down the halls and see talent everywhere I look. The kids are here. You know as I look at this situation it is hard for me to understand the poor record they have had. That is not reflected by the kids, the community, or the staff," said Johnson who believes that the biggest test will be how he and the Coaches instill their teachings and beliefs in the kids.
Helping the Mustangs in this new era are guys like 6'2" and 290 pound Jake Leary. The kid is a grinder in the trenches and his 400 pound bench is no joke. Just the sort of guy you need to set the tone for the rebuilding process.
"Jake is a beast. He is being recruited and will help our team a ton as a player and a Senior leader. That is a tough kid with a blue-collar work ethic and there are others like him. He is a perfect example of what we need to be about. If we work hard and have our thinking change we will win," said Johnson.
Part of the plan is for the Mustangs to head out to a team camp for the first time in years. Gold Beach hosts a legendary team Summer camp and Coach Johnson says they are going for sure. Other events will follow and there is no doubt he is in this for the right reasons.
In fact Don left a job at $90K a year salary range to take this job and to work at the school where he will make less then half of what he was. But that is of no matter.
"The challenge is the thing I went after. We all want this to happen and believe it will. So we are all in. All of us," concluded Johnson who is literally bursting with enthusiasm.
We will track the Milwaukie Mustangs and Coach Johnson and the program as they battle back hoping to rewrite their history.
