Hall of Fame high school football coach Bob Johnson, who turned El Toro and Mission Viejo into powerhouse high school football programs and became one of the winningest coaches in state history, has died. He was 80. He had been battling Alzheimer’s.
“I feel for the family,” Mission Viejo football coach Chad Johnson (no relation) said Wednesday.
Johnson died early Wednesday morning,
Johnson won six Southern Section titles coaching at Mission Viejo and three at El Toro while winning 338 games, the second winningest in Orange County history and in the top five in state history, according to the Orange County Register.
Former Santa Margarita coach Harry Welch said, “I think he was one of the greatest high school coaches in Southern California history.”
Johnson’s competitiveness was legendary, and Welch remembers a passing tournament in which he and Johnson went face to face. “We came close to doing something terribly inappropriate,” he said.
Afterward, Welch said, “We bonded.”
Johnson retired after the 2017 season and was inducted into the California High School Football Hall of Fame in 2023.
His two sons, Rob and Bret, were standout high school quarterbacks before enrolling at USC and UCLA, respectively. Rob made it to the NFL. Both became coaches after their playing days were completed. Rob still coaches as an assistant at Mission Viejo.
