South Gibson football names Westview defensive coordinator Ben Johnson new coach
MEDINA — South Gibson announced the hiring of Westview defensive coordinator Ben Johnson as its next football coach.
Johnson was the defensive coordinator for Westview since 2019 and helped the team reach the playoffs in all three seasons he was there. He helped lead Westview to its first state championship win in 2021.
Johnson's defense was one of the best in the state, as Westview held opponents to less than 12 points per game last season.
This will be Johnson's first time being a head coach.
Johnson played football at Fairview and later became an All-Ohio Valley Conference Defensive Player and All-America linebacker for UT Martin during his time with the Skyhawks from 2010-13.
“I didn’t want to go to a school with low expectations. I want to be a part of something that has expectations of winning and being successful,” Johnson said. “When the community has expectations they tend to support it pretty well and we are going to continue to build upon those.
I’m happy for those expectations and my expectations are to take it to the next step.”
He replaces Scott Stidham, who resigned after 13 seasons in December and was recently hired as the coach for Independence.
Stidham was one of the first employees the school hired in 2009, and he led the Hornets to a 79-41 record and region championships in 2012 and 2019.
South Gibson went 9-4 in 2021 and made it to the Class 4A quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Reach Jarod Hamilton at jhamilton@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @therealrod24.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: South Gibson football hires Ben Johnson as coach from Westview
