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Longtime Ceres teacher/coach Brett Johnson earns state, section honors
Brett Johnson
Brett Johnson has coached a combined 42 seasons of football and track and field at Ceres High.

Brett Johnson has dedicated 30 years of his adult life to coaching sports in Ceres.

Johnson, 55, was honored during last Thursday’s Ceres Unified School District Board of Trustees meeting for earning state and section honors.

He was named the National Federation of State High School Associations Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year for the State of California in December.

Johnson won the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year award in November. 

“I’m honored and humbled,” Johnson said. “To represent Ceres and bring positive light to the high school and district is awesome. I didn’t get into coaching for awards and recognition. I want to help kids and give them the best experience to making amazing memories. I love my athletes.”

Johnson has coached a combined 24 seasons of track and field at Ceres High and Mae Hensley Jr. High.

He completed his 30th season of coaching football at Ceres High this past fall. An assistant for 25 years, Johnson served as head coach from 2006-10.

“When I get into something, I’m very committed and loyal,” he said. “That’s why it’s easy to be at the same place for a long time.”

“When you surround yourself with good coaches and people, good things happen,” he added. “We try really hard to make it a family environment. My goal as a coach is I want them to feel safe, appreciated and loved. They can come to me for guidance or anything. I was fortunate enough to have two of the most amazing parents. They (Larry and Annetta) were always kind and helpful.”

Johnson played two season of football at Humboldt State.

“I got into coaching because my playing career was over,” he said. “I loved the game and wanted to share some of the life lessons I learned from playing.”

Johnson moved to Ceres in 1991 after his wife Robin got hired to teach health and P.E. at CHS.

Brett has worked as a teacher for CUSD for 28 years.

He’s taught health and P.E. at Ceres High for 16 years.

He was a seventh-grade P.E. instructor at Mae Hensley Jr. High for 12 years.

Brett and Robin have been married for 30 years.

They met in college.

“She was in the dorm behind mine,” he said. “When we started dating, I was coaching. She’s been very supportive of it in every path that I took.”

Brett and Robin have two sons. 

Caden and Conner both attended Ceres schools and earned college scholarships.

Brett got to spend a lot of time with Caden and Conner at CHS.

They played football and did track and field.

“I was so fortunate enough to be able to do that,” he said. “It was an amazing experience.”

Johnson doesn’t plan on retiring as a coach anytime soon.

“I don’t have an end date in mind,” he said. “It’s a year-to-year thing. I don’t see it as work. I still enjoy it. Even if we decide to go somewhere else, there would always be a reason to come back. We have a lot of ties here.”

Brett Johnson and John Bussard
Longtime Ceres High School coach Brett Johnson, pictured with Bulldog athletic director John Bussard, was honored at Thursday’s Ceres School Board meeting. Johnson was recognized for being named the state’s and section’s Boys Track and Field Coach of the Year.