ROGERS — Johnny Brewer is going to get paid to coach football at Rogers High.
Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan recently named Brewer the freshman football coach as the first-year Mounties coach has finally completed his staff.
Brewer has been a volunteer coach the past five seasons and the 2005 Rogers graduate and former Mounties quarterback was the freshman defensive coordinator last season. Brewer replaces Alan Rettmann, who was elevated to a varsity assistant position after Flannigan was hired as the new coach.
Brewer became a certified teacher earlier this month, allowing Flannigan to bring him aboard as a paid staff member.
“He passed his test, so he is good and full-fledged,” Flannigan said. “I heard a lot about Johnny before I was hired, primarily as a player. When I got here and talked to him, I was really impressed. He already has a lot of coaching experience under his belt for a young guy.”
Brewer is a recent graduate of Arkansas and he finished his playing career at Rogers with 4,437 yards passing. An injury the fifth game of his senior season in 2004 ended his Rogers playing career. He completed his high school career by helping the West defeat the East 28-13 in the Arkansas High School Coaches Association All-Star football game.
Brewer, who was also a standout baseball player at Rogers, started volunteering at Rogers before he ever started classes at Arkansas and has been part of the football staff ever since.
“It’s exciting to graduate from college and get a head coaching job at the junior high,” Brewer said. “I’m really excited about the opportunity.”
Brewer has been working with the freshman team since Rettman was promoted and he is optimistic that the team can compete for a Northwest Arkansas Conference championship.
“We have some real good kids; we have 70 kids out,” Brewer said. “We are getting them a lot of reps and our goal is to keep them in the program.”
Rogers will face cross-town rival Rogers Heritage on Aug. 31 to open the season. The game was moved from Sept. 2 because the Heritage varsity team is playing that night.