Jimmy Johnson and Coronado softball are synonymous. Like white on rice the two have been joined at the hip since 1996. He became the head man in 1998 but originally wanted to be a basketball coach and ended up stumbling upon the softball program.

“I got my first chance Mr. Booe, Jack Booe called and said they needed a math teacher and a girls coach in basketball and I thought that was my opportunity to get to Coronado and I did and then I volunteered to help with the softball program and you know I hadn’t stopped since,” said Johnson.

The rest is history, JJ’s background in softball naturally came from baseball. He played under the great John Dudley and was a walk on at Texas Tech. Since 1996 Coronado has won the district title every single year. Johnson attributes that to a little bit of luck and tradition,

“nobody else really had a pitcher so we started winning early on because of the luck of a pitcher coming in then from there it’s kind of been tradition each group’s been wanting to do the same thing and not be the first team that didn’t win.”

Throughout all the success coach Johnson has been the one constant, former player now assistant coach Daniela Garcia says he’s not the same guy he used to be,

“we think that he’s got a little softer in his old age I don’t know if it was from the daughter or the changing generation I don’t know but we feel like he used to be a lot stricter than he is now.”

This will be Johnson’s 22nd and final year stalking the the third baseline as head coach. He will move into the LISD athletic department at the end of the season. After more than 500 wins it’s kind of hard to imagine Coronado softball without Jimmy Johnson.

“He’s everything to this program this is the only thing that’s been rock steady in this whole thing and tradition never dies so losing him is going to be you know it’s going to be tough for everybody,” said Garcia.

It might be even tougher for the long time coach, who will miss almost everything about the softball field,

“ahh the kids being on the field fungoing to them you know trying to figure out the pieces to the puzzle each year you know the day to day operation of putting a team together.”

The only thing missing from this illustrious career, a state championship.