Thank you Coach Johnson
5/21/2011 8:21:00 AM | Baseball
Judging by the reception he received from the hometown fans Friday, coach Mark Johnson will surely be missed around Don Sanders Stadium.
Johnson, who guided the Bearkats to three consecutive Southland Conference tournament championships from 2007 to '09, was honored before Sam Houston's big Southland Conference game against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
After receiving a standing ovation, Johnson, who announced before the season began that 2011 would be his last, was given a framed Louisville Slugger engraved with Sam Houston's accomplishments during his tenure and a banner highlighting the Kats' success that will hang in the team's clubhouse.
Through the past few years under Johnson's watchful eye, the Bearkats' baseball program has turned into one of the Southland's top teams.
"Every time that the next spring would roll around after I got done playing, I was always keeping up to date with how the Bearkats were doing because I knew they were going to be working on that same excellence that was instilled in us that first year," said former Bearkat outfielder Jeremy Holzbach, who was part of Johnson's first Sam Houston squad that won the SLC tournament title and advanced to the finals of the Oxford (Miss.) regional.
"It's just been exciting to see the caliber of ballplayers that they've been able to bring in. To be able to see coach Johnson continue to work with these young guys and be able to instill in them not only the passion and love for the game, but helping to keep guys on the diamond by helping to keep their priorities in line, has been fun."
Since Johnson took over the Sam Houston program in 2007, the Bearkats have consistently held their own in the Southland Conference, something that was easier said than done in the decade before the coach's arrival.
Sam Houston has made reaching the conference tourney an expectation and has gotten back to having a winning tradition. Over the past five years, the Bearkats have maintained a winning percentage of .560.
"Going back to when I played (from 2000 to '03), we always felt that we were always on the verge of breaking through with a lot of good players," said former Bearkat Lou Ferrell, whose older brother Russell and father Mike also played baseball for Sam Houston State.
"Coach Johnson was a guy I always looked up to. He was always so gracious and you could tell how much his players always respected him.
"It's great to see (the Bearkats) finally turn that corner, getting over that hump. It's become now a frontline program. It's great to see the success and it's great that it comes from coach Johnson."
One of Johnson's personality traits that players attributed to their success was his even-keel demeanor and positive attitude.
"It's not one of those things where he's another person behind closed doors. What you see is exactly who he is. That's exactly why I love him and why I was able to be as successful as I was," former Bearkat Keith Stein said. "He never told me something that wasn't true. I never knew if he had a bad day because you couldn't tell on his face.
"The best part about it was that you'd show up to work every day and he'd show up to work every day. There weren't any surprises and you weren't dreading going to the park. You loved playing your heart out for him."
Tim Gray, who pitched on the 2007 squad, got to see Johnson work not only as a player, but also as a fellow coach.
"He always had a positive outlook. Last year, he always told (the coaching staff) to keep a positive attitude because you never know when things can turn around," Gray said of the Sam Houston team that missed out on the SLC tournament. "It never did, but that was something I learned from him."
Before Johnson's arrival at Sam Houston, he coached at Texas A&M for 21 seasons, twice taking the Aggies to Omaha for the College World Series. In order to get Johnson into Bearkat orange, it took a little maneuvering.
"When I finally made the decision, we had to jump through some hoops to help him get here from adding positions and money factors and things like that," Sam Houston athletic director Bobby Williams said. "Everything just kind of fell into place and eventually, it just felt like the right thing.
"It's worked out for all of us. It's paid off for us. We're very pleased."
With the Bearkats already locked into the upcoming Southland Conference tournament, the Sam Houston baseball program stands on solid ground again.
"What's exciting is that even when we hired coach, there was a lot of interest in our program because of our facilities, tradition and university. He's just enhanced it," Williams added.
With one more game to go in the regular season, Sam Houston has plenty of work left to do as the Kats will try to return to the NCAA regionals for the fourth time in five years.
"He still hasn't lost a game in the conference tournament," Stein added. "Hopefully, that will continue."
