Right now, the Montclair High School football program is in a tough spot. After Coach Jermaine Johnson stepped down, I spoke with players and coaches to get a feel for what the future looks like and honestly, it’s not looking too good.
First off, there’s no official head coach. The wrestling coach and our offensive line coach said they’re stepping up for now.But even players are saying the coaching staff is shaky. A lot of students are already talking about transferring because football is what they want to do with their life, and they can’t build that future without solid leadership and real support.
And even though Coach Johnson lost his job as head coach, he still comes to the weight room to help us. He’s still showing up, still pushing us to be our best. With or without the principal’s support, we’re going to do everything we can to have a good season.
Even with everything going on off the field, we’re still putting in work. We’ve been in the weight room since early December, doing everything we can to better ourselves not just as individuals, but as a team. Some guys haven’t been as consistent as others, but overall, we’re doing alright. Some players even ran spring track to get faster, and a lot of us have gym memberships, so we can train on our own outside of team lifts. Truthfully, we could be doing better, but I don’t think we’ll have as bad of a season as we did last year. We’ve even got eighth graders from the middle schools already showing up to lift with us and get ready for the season.
I asked two players, Jaylin Howard and Christian Todd, shared their thoughts on this season and the possibility of schools. Jaylin was straight-up honest.“I obviously hope we will have a season, “ Jaylin Howard said. “Our season might be cooked just for the fact that every time we have a coach that’s not the head coach, they get an ego boost and think they know exactly what they’re doing, and 90% of the time they are doing s— wrong.” Jaylin also said he plans to transfer, but it’s not 100% he’s still looking for a place to live while transferring.
Christian Todd said he would like to transfer too, but if he can’t. hBut the he sees the holes left by other players as an opportunity for growth., It would give him a chance to show out and prove himself.
One of our team captains, Jasiah “Beetle”Brown, had a little more hope but still kept it real. “The season will mostly be alright if we all just tighten up and play our best because we know our plays better than the coaches,” Brown maintained. The only problem we might have is transitioning the new freshman into the rotation, but other than that we should be good, I’m not going to lie.”
When I asked Coach Jermaine Johnson what he thought would happen now, he told me, “I will be supporting every one of y’all until I transfer schools. If anyone needs, I can help find spots at different schools. But as for the football team, I don’t know what the school has in plan. I just know none of the coaches, scouts, camps, etc will be available to the school anymore since I won’t be here. That includes programs like ESU (East Stroudsburg University) and the New York Jets programs.”
That was one of the hardest parts to hear, especially being a player myself. ESU is a huge opportunity for players to compete, train, and get a taste of what college football is like. It’s not just about football either. It teaches you discipline, how to manage time and how to grind through a real schedule.
This is what a day at ESU looked like for us:
- Wake up and eat breakfast at 7:00 AM
- First practice starts at 8:30 AM
- First game at 9:45 AM
- Break from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM
- Second practice from 12:15 PM to 1:00 PM
- Second game from 1:15 PM to 2:30 PM
- Lunch break for 2 hours
- Third practice from 4:45 PM to 5:50 PM
- Third game from 5:50 PM to 7:00 PM
- 30-minute finisher workout
- Free time after 7:30 PM where we could go off campus, get food, and chill
This camp gave us a real look at what college football is like. And now, all of that is gone. Along with the Jets program and all the other doors Coach Johnson opened for us.
It’s clear a lot is up in the air right now. Players and coaches are unsure. And students are thinking about their future more than ever before. This situation shows how much one person can mean to a whole program.
Coach Jermaine Johnson, thank you.
Thank you for caring.
Thank you for showing up, especially when you didn’t have to.
No matter where you go next, Montclair football will never forget what you did here.
