Johnson steps down as football coach at Ripon High

Chris Johnson has stepped down as the football coach at Ripon High School after 12 years.

Johnson cited a desire to explore new challenges, personally and professionally, while spending more time with his daughters.

“It’s the right time. At the end of the day, I’ve been doing this for 12 years as the head coach at Ripon. I’m ready for a new challenge,” Johnson said. “I don’t know that I’m done coaching football. I just know that I’ve run my course at Ripon. It’s time to focus on the next stage of my career.”

Johnson, who graduated from Ripon High in 1988 before attending Sonoma State, said he’s wrestled with the decision for a few years.

“I’m at that point where I’ve been restless here for a couple of years,” he said. “I think it’s time for a change for everybody.”

This may be more than a coaching move, too. Johnson said the “next challenge” may involve a move away from Ripon High, where he’s currently the athletic director and a health and P.E. teacher with five classes.

“I’m not averse to leaving Ripon. It’s a great community, but you get to a point where you get restless,” said Johnson, who moved to Ripon from southern Idaho in the 1980s. “Call it a midlife crisis if you want, but you also want to see what’s out there for you.”

So what does a year-round football coach do when he’s no longer a year-round football coach? Well, anything he wants.

“This is the first time in 20 years that I have no clue what I’ll be doing or where I’ll be in a year from now,” Johnson said. “It’s scary, but it’s also like, ‘Bring it on!’ Sometimes in life, you have to get out of your comfort zone.”

Maybe the avid rider will cycle a little more, taking friends up on their offer of a daring “double death ride” somewhere with punishing climbs and picturesque backdrops.

Or maybe he’ll pop up on a sideline somewhere in the Stanislaus District ... just to watch. Maybe he’ll leave at halftime, too. He can do that now.

Chances are, though, Johnson will be at home with his daughters, supporting each as they embark on new adventures of their own. His youngest, 13-year-old Payton, will be a freshman in high school next fall, and his oldest, Hailey, 17, will graduate high school in the spring.

He looks forward to being a full-time father. As athletic director, teacher and football coach at Ripon, his attention was often dominated by the weight room, scheduling officials or supervising home contests.

“I just have to be available for my kids a little more. With my (oldest) daughter going to school, I need to make sure she needs to get to where she’s going. I also want to be able to visit her,” Johnson said. “And my youngest daughter needs someone home before 7 o’clock.”

Johnson said he was the longest-tenured coach at Ripon since at least the 1950s. He was 77-53 with eight Sac-Joaquin Section postseason appearances and two Trans-Valley League championships. He also served five seasons as an assistant before becoming head coach.

“I wish I would have done better in the playoffs,” he said. “That’s the one thing.”

The Indians shared the TVL title this fall with Hilmar, finishing 4-1 in league play and 6-5 overall. Ripon was eliminated in the first round of the Division V playoffs by eventual finalist Bear River, also the 2014 section champion.

While his coaching career isn’t lined with blue banners, Johnson is comforted by the fact that his teams – never the most talented, biggest or strongest – made life difficult for championship-caliber programs.

This season, Ripon slugged it out with three CIF NorCal finalists: Sierra, which will play Chowchilla in the Division IV-A State Bowl on Saturday; Sutter, which lost to Sierra in last Saturday’s regional; and Sonora, which lost to Hanford in the Division IV-AA regional.

The Indians beat the Timberwolves 34-20 in their season opener and then walloped Sutter 28-3. Ripon lost to Sonora 36-20.

Ripon never advanced to a section final under Johnson. In 2013, the Indians were knocked out in the D-IV semifinals by eventual state champion Central Catholic 38-7. The Indians also played Escalon (2010) and Modesto Christian (2009) during their state championship seasons.

“We’ve never shied away from playing good competition, and for the most part we’ve competed against those kinds of teams,” Johnson said. “Our best games, even though we may not have come out on top, were against those guys. We’ve been physically outmatched in many of those games, but we got out there and competed.”

This story was originally published December 15, 2015 at 8:30 AM with the headline "Johnson steps down as football coach at Ripon High."