The bond Mike Johnston Sr. has with Elmira Notre Dame High School goes back to his days as a player in the early 1960s. It has continued through multiple stints as a head coach and assistant, along with other roles at the school.
Johnston, 79, helped revive football at his alma mater last year by coaching a modified team after low numbers led the school to go without football in 2022 and 2023.
With Johnston at the helm, the Crusaders are set to return to 8-man varsity play at 1 p.m. Sept. 13 against Hamilton/Waterville at Notre Dame’s Brewer Memorial Stadium.
In 1978 he coached Notre Dame to the only official state championship for a boys basketball team from the Elmira-Corning region.
Johnston talked what makes Notre Dame football special, the influence of Corning three-sport coach Mike Johnston Jr., and his friendship with Mike D’Aloisio. D’Aloisio, who died in 2022, remains the winningest high school football coach in Elmira history.
Question: What keeps you part of Notre Dame football?
Answer: My reason for doing it is Mike D’Aloisio. I had a great friendship with him, hired him, worked with him his last couple years here.
Q: If you had a magic wand, what would you change about high school football?
A: I think the dedication of kids. That you finish the deal if you play as a freshman and sophomore, you finish as a junior and senior. You don’t get to a certain level and then abort.
Commitment is everything because you depend on kids as a coach to be there every day. Plus you’re trying to teach them the importance of a commitment, which goes on farther in life, whatever you do.
Q: What has Notre Dame football meant to you?
A: I was fortunate to be a student-athlete here in 1960. That was my freshman year, played the next three at the varsity level, came back as coach in ’71 when they hadn’t won in 18 straight games, added 11 to that, and then we finally got a win. It was like we hit a World Series home run to win it all.
Just seeing kids happy like we did last year. Kids were excited about getting football back again and even though record-wise we weren’t successful, at the end of the year they were smiling. Won our last game and they just felt good about what they had given and how it ended up.
Q: What is it about football that draws you in?
A: I think just helping kids get better. Taking what you learn with football and applying it to everyday life. Working at things when you don’t know for sure you can be successful and then because you stay after it there’s a persistence, which I think is a key component to success in life. You stay after it. You get knocked down, you get back up, you get after it again. That’s one thing I think athletics – not only football but other sports – teaches.
Q: What did it mean to work alongside Mike D’Aloisio?
A: It was just great. He just had such a great way with kids. His humor, those last years he was in a golf cart coaching and always trying to tell me what to do defensively when he never worked a defensive day in his life.
We just had the best time. We went back to city-league softball we played together and then touch football we played together.
It was just uplifting to be with him and that’s why I’m doing it. I want to get us back here to an era like we used to have, where kids enjoyed football and couldn’t wait for the season to start. He and I always believed that football got the year started. If you had a good year in football, it was a good year academically and everything else. That’s another thing we’re trying to do.
Q: What have you learned from watching your son Mike Jr.?
A: I’ve learned that work ethic is important, that you always give your kids a chance.
That’s why with football in particular the offense he runs (double-wing) he feels gives them a chance. Just like in the regional game last year, team hadn’t seen that offense. I remember watching it, streaming, and he called three timeouts in the first possession because he wanted to score and let them know they had a competition on the other side.
He works hard at it, learned from that. Getting along with kids, encouraging them academically. Just everything that’s good about sports.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Q&A: Mike Johnston Sr. talks about his bond with Notre Dame, Mike D’Aloisio and more
Reporting by Andrew Legare, Elmira Star-Gazette / Elmira Star-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
