Tom Johnson
Class of 2003
Bismarck-Henning
A 1966 graduate of Rantoul High School, Tom Johnson played football and wrestled. He attended Western Illinois University where he played football and wrestled for one year. He was an All-Conference lineman in football while in high school and college.
After graduation from WIU in 1970, Tom served as an assistant at Bismarck-Henning for two years. He took over the head coach position in 1972. During thirty-one years as head coach for the Blue Devils Tom has had a career record of 403-158-12. He has had thirty-three state qualifiers and six place winners. He has coached one wrestler (his son) to a state championship. His teams have won seven conference championships, thirteen Vermillion County titles and two regional crowns. He has also served as the head football coach and head track coach during this time.
Tom was inducted into the Illinois Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1996. The Champaign News-Gazette named Tom as Vermillion County Coach of the Decade for the 1990’s. He will retire from teaching and coaching at the end of the 2003 school year.