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HHF/GID Interview with Bloomington South Head Coach Gabe Johnson


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HHF Interview with Bloomington South Head Coach Gabe Johnson
 
 
Coach Johnson enters his second season leading the South program and has some high end talent on hand to rebound from last years 4-4 season
 
 
Thanks for visiting with us at Hoosier High School Football Coach Johnson,
 
 
Question 1
Last year was your first at the helm of the South program, following in the footsteps of legendary Hall of Famer Mo Moriarity. You closed out your first season at 4-4, a year that was clearly impacted by Covid. The 2019 team reached the south semi state, so by most measures, 2020 would be viewed as a step back for the program. What is your personal evaluation of the 2020 season, where did your team fall short, and what positives did you identify that can help push your team back into contention in the 2021 season?
Response
Heading into 2020 we were optimistic in spite of the wide range of restrictions and assumptions that we were hearing about the season. I have been at South for 8 years and came back with Coach Moriarity in 2013. Could not have been prepared for the things that all teams across the country had to endure. 2020 being my first year as head coach at South was a challenge in itself. We were able to keep most of the staff intact which was great because I believe we have an outstanding staff. We started 4-1 with almost no incidents, then nothing but quarantines for several players and we were completely shut down on two separate occasions. Week 9 we were shut down immediately after our walk thru on a Friday. I hated calling the coach and telling him not to come because we were not going to have any receivers or defensive backs for the game. We didn't play a game for an entire month and starting week six never had our entire team. That being said, I liked our senior class and we were not going to let that be an excuse to not play well. I thought we practiced well. The players that were available to us played hard. In the end, we couldn't overcome it. I credit this years seniors because they did not let the disappointments of last season effect the preparation going into this season. Expectations at Bloomington South are always going to be at the highest standard. We have so much work to do but having the opportunity to put in the work means everything to our program.
 
 
Question 2
Expectations are always high at Bloomington South, and it took several years for the program to rebuild after the disastrous 3 year run from 2010-2012 when the Panthers won just 4 games. Heading into the fall, how do your numbers look, what is the current state of your team's overall strength and speed, and do you feel the kids have a grasp on your offensive and defensive systems as you come out of summer drills and team competitions?
Response
Right now, we have just under 80 players in grades 9-12 and 30 freshmen. I am happy with our numbers. They are where they have been for the last 8 years. When we came back in 2013, I know one of the things Coach Moriarity wanted to do was to get the numbers back to a place where we could hold competitive practices and build quality depth. In speaking with other coaches, I don't know that other programs are in the same boat, so we consider ourselves fortunate. I believe the true advantage of what we do at Bloomington South is how we prepare our players. Our strength and conditioning program is second to none. It's not easy. Our strength coach is outstanding and works as hard as anyone in our building. As far as our schemes go, we are very consistent with what we do on both sides of the ball. Our approach to the offseason is to find ways to make it better. I think it is hard for your players to truly grasp anything if you change scheme and philosophy all the time. The off season and season are a continuation of getting our players to understand it a little better with every practice.
 
 
Question 3
IUs hiring of Associate Head Coach Deland McCullough will have a major impact on your program as his two sons fransfer in and step on to the field for South this season and will have an immediate impact. Senior Dasan McCullough is a 6-5, 220lb athlete who can play just about anywhere on the field and is a 4star recruit and the #2 ranked player in the Indiana Class of '22. Younger brother Daeh is also a 4 star recruit and ranked #2 in Indiana Class of '23. The 6-2, 195lb Daeh is a safety and already has the size of an NFL defensive back. How do you integrate this type of high end talent into your program, and have the additions of the McCulloughs taken expectations through the roof for your team this season?
Response
Let me start by saying that both Dasan and Daeh are outstanding people. Their family is awesome. The boys work as hard as anyone on our team. Clearly, they are very talented as you alluded to in your question. The thing that we have to do as coaches is identify what our immediate team needs are and then to put them in a position to be successful. The great thing about both of them is that they are extremely coachable players. They listen and ask questions. The players took them in as Panthers from day one. There is no doubt that they make us a better team and give us some options, but there is so much work that has to be done and coaching that has to happen. I don't think that either player has changed our expectations. As I stated, expectations are always going to be at the highest at Bloomington South. We are very happy that they are a part of our team. They fit in with us very well.
 
 
Question 4
Who are some of the other impact players returning from last year who have the skill and game experience to be difference makers for your team in the fall?
Response
Our players have been working hard this season. Our senior class is a strong one, but we have many young players that we are looking to mature quickly.
Offensively:
Zach David QB - Played a limited role as a sophomore last year. Has developed into a leader.
Tysen Smith TE/LB - Started as a freshman and has put on strength and size. Will play on both sides
Sam Young OL - Good size and has had a good off season
Evan Smythe OL - Great offseason. Good size.
Matt Griffin WR/LB - 2 year starter. Physical and hard working
Cooper Fox WR - First year playing but will have an impact. Fast
Drew Crum Heitje QB/WR/DB - Very athletic player with good size. He will have some versatility
Jarrin Alley QB - New player that is tough and throws a great ball
David Nussbaum OL - Senior who started in 2020.
Caleb Hayes OL - Senior who started in 2020.
Defensively:
Jordan Tolden LB/RB - Moved from RB to LB, but will still run the ball.
Murry Ross-Harmon DB - 2 year starter at corner
Grif Gillard DB - 1st year at corner
Noah Fox DL - Having a great offseason. Will Play NG and End
Devante Brown DL - Moved from LB. Another good offseason
Aiden King DL - Moved from LB. Great offseason
Cayse Stephens DL - Started last year
Tyree Rochell DB - Athletic DB
Ralph Rogers LB - Athletic LB with a nose for the ball
Ethan Barnes LB - Young and athletic
Ben Ridner LB - Also young and athletic
 
 
Question 5
Conference Indiana has been through many changes over the years, and was a revolving door of schools for several years over the past 10-15 seasons. The remaining schools in the league all have solid football reputations but are generally not considered to be state championship caliber programs. What is your overall assessment of the conference in terms of competitiveness, physicality, and coaching, and do you feel the conference gives you what you need to prepare your team for postseason play?
Response
I think all the teams in Conference Indiana have great programs. We see a wide variety of schemes on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Southport and Terre Haute North will have new coaches this season, but both are really good coaches. For the past couple years, we have all been chasing Columbus North. Tim Bless does as good a job as anyone. Bloomington North has some really talented players that are extremely difficult to defend. Scott Bless' teams are always well prepared. Terre Haute South has so much experience back, so I look for them to be vastly improved. This year we have to go play at both schools in Terre Haute which has always proved challenging for us. Our conference is a good mixture of 6A and 5A schools. Columbus North has unfortunately been lined up with CG in the sectional. Southport has lined up with Ben Davis. Those are tough draws for anyone right now. The Bloomington schools are in sectional 15 and both Terre Haute schools are locked into sectional 13. Our sectional assignments make it difficult for our conference as a whole to have a ton of success in the tournament. The programs in our conference are really good, though. There are only 6 teams so at some point some moves will probably have to be made. I don't know what the answers are. The AD's and coaches will have to come together at some point in the near future and decide how we want to move forward with what's best for all programs.
 
 
Question 6
Your non conference schedule has undergone some changes over the past few seasons. CI and The Circle City Conference have had a nice cross over partnership for several years as CI schools have had some very intriguing and challenging matchups with Indianapolis area Catholic schools. Do you see this arrangement continuing and do you anticipate any other changes to your schedule going forward?
Response
The schools in The Circle City Conference are obviously very good. I think with only 6 schools in CI, the schedule is always evolving. Chatard and Roncalli are on a different level right now. Very good programs, coaches and players. I don't know where either conference goes moving forward. Both conferences have similar challenges.
 
 
Question 7
We have spoken this summer with many Indiana football coaches and the majority agree that The Indy schools have a big advantage over the rest of the state in the areas of strength and speed training., primarily due to the investment in state of the art equipment and specialized coaching. How would you assess this area at South and do you compare favorably against other 5A and 6A schools across the state?
Response
I think we compare favorably to the 5A schools and some of the 6A schools. We have two 6A schools on our schedule. The Indy area schools have huge numbers often times. I spent 6 years at Carmel High School. They obviously have an outstanding program and great coaches. The facilities at the high schools in the central part of the state are as good as anywhere in the country. There are also really good coaches. When you add up facilities, coaching, and the level of talent, I think it makes it hard to compete consistently for programs in other parts of the state. I think Indy area football is as good as any other big city in the country top to bottom. That being said, I am excited about what we have at Bloomington South. We have a great administration, which is where it starts to me. I think our coaching staff is very good. Our players work very hard. Our weight room isn't the biggest, but it works well for us. Our approach is that there is nothing that should keep us from working hard. We don't control facilities or when upgrades happen, but we do control the level of work we are willing to put in. We have been fortunate to bring in quality coaching. We haven't accomplished all of our goals, but we are working very hard to get there on a daily basis.
 
 
Question 8
Given the abundance of talent you have on hand, and combined with a solid summer of preparation, what are your expectations for BSouth football in 2021 and how far can this team go in the tournament?
Response
I don't know if we have an abundance of talent. We have some talented players like everyone. My expectations are for this team to be at its best when the tournament gets here. What our best is cannot be determined at this point. There is so much work and coaching that has to take place between now and week one and as the season progresses. We cannot talk about winning until we first talk about doing the things it takes to win. We haven't talked about winning game 1, conference or a sectional. My message right now is about coming to practice every day and working as hard as you can. Being coachable. Watching film. Making corrections. Running to the ball on defense and taking care of the ball on offense.
 
 
Thanks Coach, and best of luck to you and your team this fall.
 
Tim Phillips
Hoosier High School Football

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17 minutes ago, southend said:

Gabe has a good assistant coach resume. would be nice to see him parlay  that into head coach success. Bloomington is not the talent rich community it once was 15 years ago.

Good point.  But he is walking into a situatrion where only two schools in the state have "2" 4 star recruits on roster

Center Grove and Bloomington South

 

Edited by DT
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4 hours ago, DT said:

Good point.  But he is walking into a situatrion where only two schools in the state have "2" 4 star recruits on roster

Center Grove and Bloomington South

 

Oh I agree, no way around it, 2 ,four star players.But I’m here, And the football aura is gone in this area. They will be good, and have a winning record. They may never replicate the state championships era again. Coaches aside. 

Them days are over

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2 hours ago, southend said:

Oh I agree, no way around it, 2 ,four star players.But I’m here, And the football aura is gone in this area. They will be good, and have a winning record. They may never replicate the state championships era again. Coaches aside. 

Them days are over

Did someone say "Kirk Kennedy?"

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15 hours ago, ragdoll said:

The old tradition and quality goes back to Bloomington HS days. Also, Coach Enright had some very good teams at South before Mo took over. Remember 83? 

Sure, and the youth football league was huge for the size of this town. Or for any sized city or town in the state ,for that matter. 
The kids were ready tested-and could contribute immediately for coaches Dave and Myron. 
That and Mo had a huge weight program before it was the thing to do to in Indiana football.  

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