Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 3, 2019)
2B | SATURDAY, AUGUST 3, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS Watershed plan, coho runs to be featured at STEP meeting Eli Tone Siuslaw water- shed director will discuss the Watershed Council’s 10 Year Strategic Action Plan for Coho Salmon Recovery. The Siuslaw Coho Partnership is a group of public and private partners Coach from 1B School Football history — and they have a bunch of those nice, shiny rings to prove it.” Johnson said that his family never pushed him into football; his father would have been happy with whatever path he chose, “But we just wanted to follow in their footsteps,” he said. “They’re about the greatest guys I’ve ever met. It’s like, we know how it affected us, and we’ve seen it affect thousands of boys’ lives. We want to be a part of that. “I would definitely not be sitting here today if it wasn’t for high school football.” Johnson takes over the coaching helm at a time when the program has been experiencing a slump in recent years — includ- ing being the third coach in just four years for the Vikings. Prior to that, Siu- slaw football had seen just two head coaches — Lut- ero and Dodson — in 50 years. As the Vikings began losing games (Siuslaw went 1-15 over the last two seasons), Johnson said he watched the program and town lose some of its spirit. “In 2008, the stock mar- ket crashed and we were struggling as a country — but the football team was pretty good, so everybody in town was fine,” Johnson said. “Coming back here now, there’s a different mood around town. The economy is great, but the football program is strug- gling.” But that’s something that Johnson is looking to change. “In the coming years, Siuslaw football will get back to winning a lot of football games, but just winning will never be our focus,” Johnson said. While he describes him- self as a competitive per- son who understands that to many fans football is more than “just a game,” to focus entirely on winning and losing is missing the point. “We’re going to win because we do the lit- tle things right,” he said. “When we win in life and do the right thing, Friday night just takes care of it- self. That’s when you win state championships.” It’s a philosophy born from those who coached him, including his fa- ther, Andy Johnson, who coached Siuslaw Middle School football. “If it was just about foot- ball, I don’t know if a lot of us would have stayed and played. But when we you get the players to buy into something that’s a lot bigger than themselves, it means more and in- spires a winning attitude.” Johnson said. “I would much rather our players learn the valuable lessons of life — which we can teach through football. If we only worry about winning, we’re going to have jerk football play- ers. But if we worry about the little stuff like being a good person, opening doors for people — all that ‘little’ stuff, we’ll play like winners and become winners. That’s tough to say because a lot of people don’t think that.” dedicated to the broad sense recovery of Siuslaw coho salmon. This Strategic Action Plan (SAP) was developed by a “core planning team” of these partners. The Siuslaw River once supported one of the larg- est runs of wild Coho salmon along the Oregon coast. However, over 150 years of resource use and development in the Siuslaw River watershed have con- tributed to a long and steady decline in the popu- lation. By merging the best available science with local knowledge of the water- shed, the strategic plan seeks to pinpoint the spe- cific projects that can Johnson said the proof is in the pudding with his uncles Marty and Lane at Sheldon. “They always focused on doing the little stuff right, and they’ve got a full hand of state title rings. “It’s go- ing to take time to instill doing the little stuff right. But our kids are really good kids, really respect- ful. We’re already off on a good start with that.” Johnson said that phi- losophy starts early on with programs like the Boys and Girls Club. When Johnson played for that program as a child, he said he learned the impor- tance of teamwork and the fundamentals of the game. The assistant coaches came from the junior varsity high school teams, “and it was just the coolest experi- ence ever,” he said. “Those guys are like gods to you. You look up to them and everything they do.” By the time he got to play for Siuslaw, he found himself within an even larger family. “It was better than any- thing I could have imag- ined it up to be when I be- came a part of that team,” recalled Johnson. “It’s like you’ve gotten 40 new brothers for four straight years. You see them way more than your family at home because you have morning lifts together, then you go to school with them, then you have three hours of practice four days a week and play on Friday. To me it was the greatest experience I’ve ever had sports wise. “Now I get to create that culture for another genera- tion of kids.” And it’s a culture based on respect. Johnson said Dodson ensured that his players went beyond the stereotypical cliques that football players can be seen as; the hard partying “jocks” who are the kings of the school. “We would eat lunch and it was never, ‘The football team sits here,’” Johnson said. “That was ingrained in use from Tim. He would always say that we were raised to be the ‘men of the school’ and we needed to lead by example. We made sure to go and open doors for everybody. We made sure to sit with everybody. If you saw people sitting alone, there was going to be at least two football players sitting with them. We took pride in that. “At the end of the day, those are the people com- ing out to support you on Friday night. If you have a bunch of jerk football play- ers, no kids are going to come out to support them. You have to be nice and re- spectful to everyone.” Making “good men over good football players” is a key mantra for Johnson, who sees football as a way to create strong members of the community. “If I go into a state championship and I’ve got 19 kids that have been in trouble, I’ve done some- thing wrong,” he said. That philosophy is re- flected in how Johnson views his greatest and worst moments in his var- sity years. His best play oc- curred when a teammate scored a touchdown. “Andrew Tupua had a 75-yard touchdown run, and I sprung a block late,” Johnson recalled. “We had been preaching that we’re going to do our job, we’re going to pick each other’s slack up. My slack was that I couldn’t block that guy by myself. When the tight end came around and timed it perfectly to make that fi- nal block for Andrew, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world.” As for the worst play, that came in 2011 during a state title game against La Salle. “We had an onside kick that went a little deep,” Johnson said, recalling the moment vividly. “We ran for it but right off the bat I slipped. I was a step late recovering the onside kick and La Salle recovered it. There was a long time where I thought that if I didn’t slip, we would have won the state champion- ship. All I could think was, ‘I screwed up.’” But Dodson set him straight. “He broke it down, explaining there were a million of things that happened,” Johnson said. “Win or lose, It’s never just about you.” That doesn’t mean win- ning a state championship again isn’t a goal for John- son. He’s taking his coach- ing lessons from his wide variety of mentors. Among those lessons is not forcing the kids into plays they are unable to do, but rather to build plays around his players’ ability. “Sure, every player that played for Tim knew they were going to run ‘bel- ly-right’ 25 times a game, and we did that with no matter who we had,” said Johonson. “But we would do it with different forma- tions. We would spread it out to make things easier for a fast running back. You would shrink things down for powerhouses like Sonny Tupua. It would be the same plays, but he would do it out of different formations to fit the play- ers he had.” But it’s going to take time for Johnson to figure that out. “At the end of the day, the oldest kids will be 18,” he said. “But we’ve got 14- and 15-year-olds out there who are still learning — and we’re going to teach them how to do stuff the right way.” Even if Johnson does bring home a fist full of state rings by the end of his career, he would not use that as a measure of his success. “The real measure of success will come when the members of the 2019 Siuslaw football team are 40 years old. Are they do- ing a good job raising their kids and loving their wife or husband?” Are they do- ing a good job being a citi- zen of the world? Are they representing this town well? Not many people re- member who won which state football champion- ships, said Johnson. “But they’ll remember the kid who grew up and went on to become the governor, or a great teacher or business owner. If they do things the right way in the next 20 years, and I have a tiny part of getting them there, that will be where I get joy and success from.” enhance watershed func- tion and ensure the long- term health of the Siuslaw River Coho population. Eli Tone will be the fea- tured speaker at the Wednesday, Aug. 7 meet- ing of the Florence STEP group. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at the Elks’Lodge in Florence. As always, the public is invited to attend. Buying or Selling? I can help. Ed Kopilec Principal Broker 541 991-8630 4837 Summit Ave – Lake view cottage in West- lake. Beautiful 2 bdrm, 1 bath home with Siltcoos Lake views. Features include metal roof, fi re- place, cozy kitchen, carport, and a large shop/ garage on its own electrical meter. Westlake boat ramp nearby. $340,000. #2925-19166116 1749 Highway 101 • 541-997-1200 Fawn Ridge Community Yard Sale Fri.-Sat. 8/2-8/3 8am-3pm Off North Rhododendron Drive. Multi-Family Fri.-Sat. 8/2-8/3 9am-4pm 1515 Xylo Street Lots of Misc. Fire Sale & Multi-Family Friday 8/2 11:30am-5:30pm Sat 8/3 9am-3pm 2010 Kingwood. Proceeds go to Benevolent fund & bibles for Kenya. Cleaning Out Sale Saturday Only 10am-2pm Corner of 6th & Ivy 609 Ivy Street Wringer washer, log dining set, lots of misc! 8/2-8/4 8am-3pm 2073 E 17th Street Tools, gardening, lawn mow- ers, gas powered scooters, bicycles, trailer, household items plus lots more! Friday Only August 9th 9am-4pm 4746 & 4742 Seabreeze Lane Jewelry bits & bobs, furniture, housewares, garden tools, lamps, clothes & more! Curious? We’ll keep you in the know with news and features to satisfy your interests. Neighborhood News Local Sports Dining, Arts, Entertainment & Events Coupons, Shopping & Special Off ers Cars, Real Estate, Jobs & Classifi eds New Subscribers Try Us FREE for 4 Weeks! Call 541.997.3441, use online code NEW0405 or mail the completed form below to start your free trial subscription. Yes, I want to receive home delivery of Th e Siuslaw News FREE for 4 weeks! Name: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Address: ____________________________________________________________________________________ City: _______________________________________________________ State: _________ Zip: _____________ Phone: ______________________________________________________________________________________ Email: _____________________________________________________________________________________ See Jim for your auto sales needs! Mail completed form to Siuslaw News, PO Box 10, Florence, OR 97439. New subscribers only. Returning subscribers must not have been a subscriber for 26 weeks. Siuslaw News 2150 Hwy. 101 • Florence (541) 997-3475 • 1-800-348-3475 News and views that defi ne our community. In Print & Online 541.997.3441 • Th eSiuslawNews.com