Fisher’s Johnson Understands the Variables
by Jac Coyne | Lacrosse Magazine Online Staff | Coyne Archive | Twitter
|
| He's been coaching lacrosse at the prep and college
level for a total of 31 years, so there's not much that St. John
Fisher coach John Johnson hasn't seen. He's well aware that even
though the Cardinals are 7-0, they'll have plenty of
variables to contend with. © SJF Sports Info |
Susan Johnson was having second thoughts about going to see her
son, Marshall.
It wasn’t the lengthy drive from Canandaigua, N.Y., to
Connecticut that gave her pause. It was that Fairfield University,
at which Marshall is a freshman on the men’s lacrosse team,
was about to take on Hobart and the Statesmen’s last result
had mom worried.
“She said, ‘Hobart should have beat Syracuse. Are we
going to get killed if I go down there,’” said John
Johnson, the husband and father of the aforementioned and the head
coach at St. John Fisher.
“I told her ‘It’s all about match-ups; it’s
the ups and downs and the momentum swings,’” continued
Johnson, who is in his fifth year with Fisher. “Next thing
you know, it’s 8-0 at halftime for Fairfield and they beat
Hobart 14-5 or something. You just never know.”
It’s because of this unpredictability of sport, particularly
lacrosse, that Johnson doesn’t get too excited about his
team’s 7-0 start to this season. He knows one bad set of
match-ups here or an injury there can transform the entire
season.
Johnson has learned this through decades of coaching – 32
years of football, 26 years of lacrosse and 25 years of basketball
– at Canandaigua Academy. And while there are some
differences between the prep and college games, including longer
days in the office and in front of the projector, there are truisms
that transcend all levels.
“My motto, and the kids here are probably sick of it, is
‘It’s not who you play, it’s how you
play,’” said Johnson.
While his creed is essentially a corollary to the legendary
‘One game at a time’ coaching axiom, Johnson has found
it has worked during his career. It’s certainly tough arguing
with what it has done for him at Fisher. The Cardinals are 43-15
over the past four years – an impressive stretch considering
the program was founded just nine seasons ago.
Adding to Johnson’s hesitation about getting himself, or his
team, too far ahead of themselves is the grueling Empire 8
conference slate has yet to begin; it starts on Wednesday against
Ithaca. The sparkling record and the No. 15 national ranking
won’t mean much if the Cardinals aren’t one of the four
teams to advance to the E8 league tourney. Any NCAA tournament
at-large dreams would go up in smoke at that point.
Johnson does, however, like his chances.
“In most cases when I coached, and I think most people feel
this way, you’re only going to be as strong as your seniors
are,” he said. “If they are good leaders and are
focused, they are going to carry everyone else. We have 12 seniors,
which is by far the biggest class I’ve had. They were my
first recruiting class and I was pretty fortunate to get those
kids. If you have the coaches but not the leadership in the locker
room, then I just don’t think you’re going to be real
successful at times.”
The leadership component has been important, but the Class of
’10 has also been key critical in all phases of the game.
Dave Malone and Chris Schmidt are four years starters on attack and
complement each other well. Johnson calls Schmidt (14g, 9a assists)
his finisher and Malone (11g, 19a) his feeder. Jon Cortina is a
three-year starter in net (7.06 GAA, 56.3 Sv%) for the Cardinals,
providing an anchor on the backline.
With a defense returning everyone from last year, the expectations
were high. Perhaps not another 15-win season like ’09, but
certainly a return trip to the Empire 8 championship game.
Probably the biggest question mark was at face-off, where Johnson
had to replace All-American Dave Wood, who racked up a 70.5 winning
percentage last year. Enter junior Erich Rassow, who is only
ripping 70.1 (103-for-147) of his draws.
Rassow, who was slightly over 50 percent last year, is one of the
variables that has gone in Fisher’s favor so far this season.
Johnson knows the spring has plenty more twists and turns in
store, so forgive him if he’s not raising any banners after a
7-0 start.
Johnson just has to take one look at Ithaca to find something not
tilting his favor.
“Jeff Long is a great coach and they have some great players,
but their top three midfielders – who are all really, really
good – are 8-for-111 this year in shooting. Do I want to go
and play a team when their top guys are 8-for-111 in shooting? Not
really, because that dam is going to break. I hope it’s not
against us.”
