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Coaches Corner: Jerad Johnson

Jerad Johnson cropped action

Jerad Johnson is Athletic Performance Director at Pope High School, overseeing the school’s weight room and speed/conditioning program while remaining on the Football staff as an assistant and the Program Director for Track and Field. A 2001 graduate of Pope, he attended Georgia State University and earned a Bachelor’s degree in Physical Education and later a Master’s in Strength and Conditioning from Lagrange College. 

In 2008, Johnson was hired at Pope to begin his career as a health and physical education teacher and to be the head girl’s track and field coach and assistant cross country coach. The following year, he became the boys’ head coach for track and field and later assumed the program director role for track and field. 

In 2009, Coach Johnson joined the football staff and coached football for 13 seasons and spent time coaching girls’ basketball from 2009-2014. 

In 2021-22, Pope Strength and Conditioning were recognized as a National Program of Excellence by the National High School Strength Coaches Association.

Coach Johnson provides insight on being a “Positive” Strength Coach and how to implement these beliefs into your strength training program.  

What are the core values of your training philosophy?

My training core values are 1) to create a positive environment for students and athletes to increase their quality of life while improving their abilities to play their sport, 2) to enjoy the process and have fun working toward their goals, and 3) to embrace a strong work ethic established by stacking sessions together with consistent training over time.  

The weight room should assist athletes in reaching their on-field goals and cultivate a desire to grow. Our students and athletes should grasp and accept an understanding that their efforts produce their results and take ownership of that.  

How has your experience as both a track coach and a football coach impacted your philosophies as a strength coach?

Over the years, my philosophies as a strength coach have essentially transformed immeasurably due to what I have learned as a sports coach for track and football (and basketball). For years, I competed in powerlifting and, like many of us in the profession, at some point, fell in love with chasing numbers. I noticed that the stronger I got, the better athlete I became. At some point, the more I chased numbers in the big lifts, my sports performance started to suffer. That is when I dove into training to perform well as an athlete and what that looked like. It is much more exciting to me because you get to balance all the physical qualities and get them to fit the right way at the right times. Power, strength, speed, endurance, mobility, sustainability, etc., must come together. Now numbers we chase in the weight room are tied as scientifically as we can to how well an athlete performs on their field/court/track.  

What do you do in your training program that makes it unique?

I think our attention to the science behind performance makes us a little different from most. We push it and work hard, but everything we put into the program has a sound and logical effect. We use technology and data to drive many decisions in our training and gain an understanding of what an athlete/team may need. We aren’t just doing things to do them and getting tired to get tired. 

You’ve received an award from the Positive Athlete Georgia Association during your career. What are the keys to being a “Positive” Strength Coach, and how do you implement these beliefs into your strength training program?

It is very important to me that our students and athletes encourage each other and lift each other up. I strongly believe that a positive mindset starts with self-talk and imagery. If we can eliminate negative self-talk and replace it with encouraging words, we will have an easier time visualizing our goals and will be more likely to reach them. Will we fail at things sometimes? Sure. Will we do things that we are not good at? Of course. But we can change the narrative to improvement––the silver lining––and embrace the word “yet” instead of “can’t.”

I also place great importance on building relationships and ensuring our students and athletes understand that I care about their success as a strength and conditioning coach. I want them to see me at their games, and I try to converse with them about their lives. This personal interaction allows me to connect to them, know what drives and motivates them, and help push them toward their goals. These conversations and connections can promote how the weight room and strength and conditioning program can teach many life lessons and help overcome obstacles. The strength and conditioning program can teach necessary skills that we need to draw on to be successful athletes and productive members of society.  

Which strength coaches have impacted you the most, and in what way have they influenced you?

Honestly, there are too many even to mention them all! I love to sit back and learn from others. Nowadays, with social media and what is available on the internet and attending clinics and conferences, it’s truly amazing what you can learn if you want to.  

The first coaches that come to mind are Gary Schofield, Tobi Jacobi, Mark Hoover, Rich Burnett, Dr. Chris Bellon, John Garrish, Mikah Kurtz, Boo Schennayder, and Tony Villani. I probably need to throw JT Ayers in, too, as an honorable mention for track and field because I’ve been closely following how he leads his program, and it’s very inspirational and crosses over into the strength and conditioning world. But honestly, I follow so many great coaches who are so supportive and helpful that I could easily have a list of 20 more coaches who probably don’t even know I exist. I’m very thankful for what they give back to the profession. 

What do you hope for a student-athlete to learn while in your program?

I hope our student-athletes develop a sense of accountability and pride in accomplishment as they strive toward their goals. I want them to cultivate a desire to grow individually by practicing valuable skills such as self-discipline, effort, patience, and ethical behavior. And, of course, I would like our student-athletes to learn to move efficiently and improve their physical capabilities to fit many settings. In doing so, I hope our students/athletes leave the program understanding sound training and the scientific principles to implement a training program on their own.

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