PANAMA CITY, Fla. (WJHG/WECP) – The Franklin County Seahawks, a football team that hasn’t seen much success in it’s short history. But now, the players, coaches, fans, and community are living through history. The team’s defensive coordinator Brock Johnson is one of the many reasons for Franklin’s success. But his other title other than ‘coach’, is Officer Johnson, the school’s student resource officer.
“They see a different side of me once I take off my normal uniform but I think the respect and everything is still there. They know that I care about them and it’s not just sports. I’ve helped them outside of school and everything and I see them away from school and it’s always Coach. You know I don’t want them calling me officer or mister. It’s a great relationship I have with these kids and I’m really appreciative of it.” Coach Johnson said.
After Coach John Cooper was made the head coach last year, he brought Coach Johnson along with him. Not only did Coach Cooper know that Coach Johnson had the football knowledge to do the job, he knew he’d be able to make relationships with the kids as an SRO.
“Sometimes an SRO has a little bit more break time than what a teacher does just different schedules and stuff you know if a student not just an athlete but maybe a student needs somebody to talk, he’s there right there so not only do they get that during the school day but they also get on the football field the baseball diamond so you know it’s just great mentorship 24/7 almost.”
Being an offensive player in high school, the defense was something Coach Johnson was a little unfamiliar with. Except the fact that his dad was a longtime defensive coordinator at Appalachia High School, so Coach Johnson was always in the film room with him.
“It kind of just wore on me you know I kind of grew to love it cause you know like I used to all my friends when they would be out riding the streets so to speak, you know, I would be having to watch game field with my dad and I didn’t like it at the time growing up, cause I wanna be with my guys but it kind of gave me a better understanding of the game.”
All Coach Johnson wants during his time as coach at Franklin, is to see his players and the community succeed.
“You know he wanted me out here and trust me, I told him I’m on my way man cause it’s like there’s nothing more that I want than to see this school and this community get what they deserve out here on this football field.”
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