Johnson Will Coach at Mission Viejo

Bob Johnson, who has one son in the NFL and another near the top of the county football record books, is the new football coach at Mission Viejo High.

Johnson’s selection was approved Tuesday night by the Saddleback Valley Unified School District’s board of education, and announced Wednesday by Athletic Director Steve Carnes.

Johnson, 53, replaces Carnes, who coached on an interim basis after Bill Denny died of a heart attack in June.

Johnson said it was important for him to lead a high school program again after eight years off.

“I enjoy the head coaching part of it--that’s what I was meant to be,” Johnson said. “I obviously enjoy the game experience, the planning and working hard all off-season to get a final grade on Friday night. I love the competition factor.

“I would hope within a couple [or] three years we would bring the situation back here and be one of the top programs in the county.”

Johnson praised the coaches who directed last season’s 5-5 team (1-4 in the South Coast League) and will talk to each, but indicated his son, Bret, will probably join the staff.

Bret, who graduated from El Toro in 1988, then attended UCLA before transferring to Michigan State, is third in county history in career touchdowns (63) and fourth in passing yardage (6,627).

Johnson, who teaches physical education at Mission Viejo, was an assistant at the school in 1993, when Marty Spalding was head coach.

Spalding had been an assistant to Johnson at El Toro High, where Johnson was the head coach from 1978 to 1990. The Chargers won three Southern Section titles under Johnson.

The 10-member panel that conducted the first of two interviews included a teacher, a parent, a booster club president and players.

“There may be some old-timers who have some rivalry with El Toro, but that’s OK--we have ourselves a great football coach,” Carnes said. “And that’s the bottom line.”

Johnson’s son Rob, who graduated from El Toro after the 1990 season and played quarterback at USC, plays for the Buffalo Bills.