the staff of the Ridgewood blog
‘Ridgewood NJ, according to North Jersey Media, the North Jersey sports icon and Ridgewood football coach since 1984 has been in the hospital for more than a month, dealing with complications from a serious infection that had him in intensive care for five days.
Johnson is one of the pillars of North Jersey football. He has won 285 games in his career, with time spent at Ridgewood and Bogota. That is the most anyone individual has with a Bergen County public school. Hasbrouck Heights coach Nick Delcalzo is second.
Johnson won state titles in 1991, 2003, 2004 and had a perfect season in 2016. (Ironically, that 2016 season culminated with a sectional title win over Passaic Tech at MetLife Stadium.) He is a vocal advocate for the benefits of football and Ridgewood in general.
Johnson, 67, had been dealing with a handful of odd medical issues, including back pain and a swollen thigh and there was no reason to suspect anything serious.
Johnson grew ill the following Tuesday after the Maroons victory over Paramus . Coach Johnson had developed sepsis, an extremely serious infection of the blood. Doctors determined that the infection had gotten into his artificial hip and into his spine and Johnson had to undergo surgery.
Praying for you Coach Johnson, with Love to you and your family Wes Thomas.
Thoughts and prayers for him and his family! Be strong and get well, Coach! RHS needs you!
Wish him the best.
Stand up guy – an icon of Ridgewood and Bergen County sports for sure! We need you Coach! Your boys are doing their best for you and because of you. Prayers for your continued recovery.
Sepsis is no joke. Praying for a recovery. Best wishes coach!
I wish him well, but the dude is sooo inappropriate to the girls in gym class. Just ask any of them. He should have been fired years ago.
Coach just read the news, get better soon. You are as beloved as all of the acclaim suggested, god speed old friend
Chuck! so sorry to learn about your illness but understand you are improving. You are a hometown legend and my Father, Fernando speaks so highly of you, and he was delighted to have seen you again recently.
Hang in there!
Warm regards,
Mike Gomez
Hope you get well soon Coach Johnson even though we played on opposite side of the ball still respect because your a human ❤️💯
northjersey.com is reporting that Coach Johnson will not return for the 2020 season.