Johnson will be a grand slam home run as VCHS AD

When the Vandebilt Catholic softball team walks off the infield dirt for the final time in 2014, it will mark the end of an era in local sports history.

Lady Terriers’ softball coach Margaret Johnson announced this week that she will retire as the team’s coach – a decision that coincides with an announcement that Johnson has been named the school’s full-time Athletic Director – a position the coach has held on an interim basis since Dec. 2013.

Johnson has won multiple state titles as a coach and has established the Lady Terriers as one of the top two or three softball programs in the state – a team envied by most throughout Louisiana.

Johnson’s departure initially had me in shock, as it will be difficult to envision a Lady Terriers’ softball team not anchored by the esteemed, hall of fame coach.

But as I dug deeper into the timing of it all, I think my opinion shifted from a negative to a positive. This is an excellent move for Vandebilt Catholic – a school looking to get back on firm footing after a tough go of things in the past 12-18 months.

I have a lot of admiration for Coach Johnson. She is one of my favorite people to cover in any sport throughout the Tri-parish area.

The reason for that is her intensity. No one wants to win and succeed more than Johnson. The coach loves her softball team. She genuinely wants her young ladies to compete to their highest potential and become successful young ladies in the real world once complete at Vandebilt.

Johnson is also one of the most honest coaches that I’ve ever covered. If she’s pleased with her team’s effort, she will say it. If she’s not, she will be brutally truthful and spill that out, as well. Even if Vandebilt had won a game 8-0, the coach wouldn’t hesitate to demand better effort from players if she felt it was necessary. That type of honesty is a lost art in today’s coaching world, as most just recite ‘coachspeak’ answers in any interview in an effort to avoid hurting anyone’s feelings.

Those two characteristics are a large reason why Vandebilt softball has thrived and has had the success that it has had in the past several two-plus decades under Johnson’s tutelage. Now that Johnson is the Terriers’ AD, she can sprinkle some of her passion onto all of the Vandebilt sporting programs. Sure, she might not be making coaching decisions for any of the teams. But having a strong leader at the top of any organization chain is a great start in being a success.

The next reason why I believe Johnson will be a wonderful AD is because of her popularity within the Vandebilt community.

I’ve worked for the Tri-Parish Times for four years and four months now. I’ve never heard a single person say anything bad about Johnson. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to has nothing but the utmost respect for how the coach handles herself and her team.

Former players? They love Johnson. I spoke to former All-State pitcher Saidee LeMaire about her playing days a couple months ago. One of the first things she said was that she loved being a Lady Terrier because of the winning atmosphere the former coach created for both she and her teammates.

Former student athletes with the school? Again, it’s nothing but admiration. Former Vandebilt All-State girls’ basketball player Sumar Leslie said this week that the incoming AD is among her favorite people that she ever encountered at the school.

Leslie’s exact words were this: “I love Coach Johnson. She was always happy and always positive. She always kept it real with everybody. I respect that so much.”

In the past several months, I, and my colleagues, have been very critical of Vandebilt Catholic and some of the things that have gone on within the school’s athletic department.

I believe that the criticisms have been fair and justified. I think some of the personnel moves that have happened in recent weeks speaks loudly to the fact that change was needed within the school’s walls, because things somewhere along the line had gone awry.

It’s a sensitive topic to tangle, and one that is polarizing among the local population, many of whom either went to the school or played against Vandebilt in athletic competition as a student of another institution.

But when all the smoke clears and all of the dusts settles, I think this: I think that Johnson is a grand slam home run hire to be the school’s AD – a true class act and the right person to lead the school’s sporting programs into the future. She will undoubtedly make sure that the Terriers’ teams succeed, while also doing things the right way.

It will hurt Vandebilt to not have such a great coach on the field, but having Coach Johnson’s leadership in an administrative capacity will go a long way in allowing the school to restore itself as a powerhouse – both in win/loss record and character.

Great decision, Vandebilt.

Coach Johnson is a good one – easily one of the most passionate athletic minds that we have in our area.

Her appointment to AD is a genuine step in the right direction – a great move for the school to have made.

She’s succeeded in every other challenge that’s been thrown her way. Being the AD will be the same.

I have absolutely no doubts about that.