Johnson’s new job a good fit

By Lane Kramer

Posted: November 8, 2009 at 5:37 a.m.

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FARMINGTON — Brad Johnson has been somewhat of a nomad over his coaching career.

It isn’t unusual for young high school coaches to make several stops before finding a program and community they feel comfortable in. Johnson, who took over for longtime Farmington Coach Brad Blew in April, hopes his seventh job in 12 years will be the one that lasts.

“Farmington is one of the best jobs in the state of Arkansas,” Johnson said. “It’s a place where you can build your family and finish your career. When I got the opportunity, I couldn’t pass it up.”

Blew took the position at Farmington in 1986 and built the Lady Cardinals into a perennial state playoff team. Farmington won its first state championship in 2004 and advanced to the state title game on two other occasions under Blew.

Blew stepped down after last season but remained at Farmington as athletic director. He also was a member of the committee that hired Johnson as his successor.

“The first time I saw him coach was at Elkins,” Blew said of Johnson. “What kind of got him on our radar was he was such a good person - young and energetic and able to get along with kids.”

Johnson, 33, took his first job in 1998 as a boys assistant at Clarksville after graduating from Arkansas Tech. He spent the next six years as the head boys coach at Plainview-Rover (1999-2001), Elkins (2001-2003) and Dardanelle (2003-2005), his alma mater.

He returned to Northwest Arkansas in 2005 and spent three years under Springdale Har-Ber Coach Sandy Wright as an assistant for the Lady Wildcats.

“She’s a person I have a lot of respect for” Johnson said. “I had to take a step back and learn from somebody I had a lot of admiration for. I got to help build a new school, which is an opportunity not a lot of people get.”

It was also Johnson’s firstchance to coach a girls team.

“I may have grown more as a basketball coach during those three years than the rest of my career combined,” Johnson said of his time at Har-Ber.

Johnson became a head coach again last year, spending one season with the Gravette boys team before taking the position at Farmington. The Lions finished 5-20 under Johnson.

“It was probably my most challenging job,” Johnson said. “There wasn’t a tremendous tradition in basketball there. It’s a great sports town, but it’s always been a big football and baseball place.

“I was trying to get a system in place and get kids excited about basketball.”

That shouldn’t be too difficult at Farmington.

The Lady Cardinals aren’t short on enthusiasm or talent, but Johnson has a tall order ahead of him again. Decimated by injuries last season, Farmington limped to a 6-16 record and finished near the bottom of the competitive 1-4A Conference.

Senior Hanna Qedan, a 6-0 forward, has drawn interest from several Division I colleges. After missing all but the first two games of last season because of a shoulder injury, Qedan had off-season surgery and should be back at full strength now.

“Being around him reassured me I’m going to have a good year and we’re going to go far,” Qedan said of Johnson. “Coach Blew’s shoes are hard to fill, but I know he’s the right man for the job.”

Special, Pages 90 on 11/08/2009

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