Johnson enjoying final season with his father
Holliday senior Jaxx Johnson has been around the game of football his entire life. The son of Eagles head coach and athletic director Frank Johnson just completed his 18th and final set of two-a-days.
“It’s weird going from when you’re three months old to now and knowing it’s just going to be gone next year,” Jaxx said. “Growing up, I’ve been to enough football games and done enough, I think I’ve worked hard enough to where I won’t look back and think I could’ve done more. I don’t really have a bittersweet feeling towards it, it’s just the end of something.”
While Jaxx doesn’t feel the finality of his last season in the Red and White, the reality has started to set in for Frank.
“It’s kind of sad,” the Eagles head coach said. “It makes me feel old knowing he’s my last one. I remember when he was born, I calculated in my head how old I would be when he graduated. Now it’s here and I’m about to turn 58. It’s been such a long time since I haven’t had a kid to coach. It’s really weird thinking he won’t be in a huddle next year. I’ll be an empty-nester. It’s a blessing and a curse to coach your own kids.”
On the field, the youngest Johnson son plays with reckless abandon for his well being. An all-state linebacker a season ago, Jaxx racked up 128 tackles and 13 tackles for loss while also ranking second on the team with 686 yards and 12 touchdowns at fullback.
While playing for a parent is no easy task, the mental aspect of the game has paid dividends.
“He knows that he can tell me something in the middle of the game and I can go do it,” Jaxx said. “I know he’s going to be harder on me than he is on anybody else because he doesn’t want anyone to think that I get special treatment. It’s a love/hate relationship but most of the time it’s love.”
“He’s been around me for so long, I don’t have to tell him much anymore,” Frank added. “If he makes a mistake, he generally knows what it is and usually before I get the words out he can tell me what I’m about to say.”
While he’s been around the game since birth, Jaxx didn’t start playing until the third grade. Growing up, he simply wanted to follow in the footsteps of his three older brothers.
“Growing up, I wanted to be exactly like my brothers and do exactly what they did,” Jaxx said. “You want to do what your brothers do. I couldn’t tell you when I started playing linebacker. It must’ve been something I just came out of the womb with.”
Perhaps the biggest point of contention in the Johnson household – who’s the best athlete.
“If I’m not the most confident in my abilities, I’m definitely the second,” Jaxx said. “I think my oldest brother JC is better than me because he’s faster. He could do pretty much anything he wanted. I’d put myself pretty high. I think I’m better than Jett. I saw my second oldest brother (Jake) play but I never looked at it from a coaches point of view and I just know how good my oldest brother (JC) was.”
One point that is not up for contention, however, is Frank’s grilling abilities.
“My dad makes the best fajitas I’ve ever had. Everyone knows Frankjitas are the best in Holliday and if anyone wants to dispute that, I’ll try both dishes and get back to you. I might even say it’s the best dish in Archer County. I’ve eaten at a lot of the restaurants in Archer County and I think I’d still take a meal at home.”
With his final son taking the field for the last handful of times, Frank doesn’t have any different goals for Jaxx than he does the rest of the team. He simply wants to compete to the best of their abilities and try to bring the Eagles that elusive state championship.
“I just want to see him have a great year,” Frank said. “One of the things I’ve enjoyed about all my kids is they’re all multi-sport athletes. I like watching them compete. My biggest goal is for him to have a good year and win some ball games and see if he can help us get to where we want to be.”
