The Washington High School football team is 2-1 heading into their matchup with Bethlehem-Center Friday night.

Chace Johnston, Waynesburg University graduate student and assistant football coach at Washington High School, will be coaching his fourth game with the Prexies as they attempt to make a run to the WPIAL 2A playoffs.

Johnston’s journey to the Washington sidelines has been a story of growth. In 2016, Johnston came to Waynesburg University, by way of Mapletown High School, as a psychology major and football player. Johnston soon ended his playing days and switched his major to communication. Still, he wanted to return to the gridiron…this time, as a coach.

“I had a semester that year where I didn’t really want to do anything,” Johnston said. “That second semester of sophomore year, I was looking at some places that had some coaching jobs and Carmichaels had one but had already filled the spot.”

In his new major, Johnston was enrolled in a special events course, where he would assist in a fundraising basketball game between Carmichaels Area High School and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

At this event, Johnston first met former Carmichaels Area head football coach and current owner of Be Your Best You Coaching & Mindset Training, Ryan Krull.

“The night before, after setting everything up, he [Krull] calls me into his office,” Johnston said. “I had my interview there. He interviewed me, I ended up having a really good interview. It was crazy because it just happened that way.”

Krull saw potential in Johnston leading up to the fundraising event that led to the impromptu interview.

“He sold a bunch of tickets for the game,” Krull said. “Enough that I thought he had the kind of work ethic that would be helpful to our team.”

While Johnston had watched his father, John, coach at Mapletown growing up, he still did his own research to prepare for his first coaching job. His research helped, but it was the experience under the mentorship of Krull that taught Johnston to pay attention to detail.

“Ryan Krull really was the one who mentored me into knowing how much work goes into it. Before I thought you just watch film or whatever and then you prepare. That’s not the case at all,” Johnston said. “You have to watch film, break down every play multiple different times from two different angles.”

Johnston learned the importance of time from multiple sleepless nights breaking down film, while still managing the course load of a full time student. All of this was done while meeting the expectations of Krull.

“I challenged him to get certain things done in a particular time frame and aggressively made sure he knew why things had to be done the way I asked,” Krull said. “He learned how to take constructive criticism and move forward.”

Sara Smith

In Johnston’s second season, he was entrusted with leading the Mighty Mikes’ junior varsity team. One Monday, Carmichaels JV squad hosted Washington, with Johnston as the lone coach on the Carmichaels sideline. Johnston called all the plays in a Mikes win, which caught attention from the other side.

“I don’t know what it was,” Johnston said. “Mike Bosnic was kind of intrigued and that’s how we met each other.”

Bosnic, Washington High School athletic director and head football coach, was drawn to Johnston’s demeanor as a coach.

“I was impressed and could see right away that his dedication to his players and the Carmichaels program were obvious,” Bosnic said.

Bosnic and Johnston talked after the game, and kept in contact as Washington advanced to the WPIAL playoffs. After the season, Krull resigned as head coach at Carmichaels.

Faced with a difficult decision, Johnston began looking for another coaching opportunity.

“I felt that I had two years underneath him [Krull] as a mentor, that I was ready to go off and pursue another place,” Johnston said. “It was leaving the kids that was hard.”

Johnston reached out to Bosnic about coaching at Washington, and joined his staff as an assistant coach. While Johnston and Krull no longer coach together, Krull still serves as a mentor to Johnston.

“We have a good relationship currently. I don’t sugarcoat anything with him,” Krull said. “I’m honest and straightforward. If he needs called out on bulls**t things he’s doing, I just tell him.”

Sara Smith

Moving from Carmichaels to Washington was not easy for Johnston. He had to learn a new system, along with meeting new people.

“A lot of the kids there, when a new coach comes in, they don’t accept them right off the bat. You have to earn their respect,” Johnston said. “There, you kind of have to prove yourself as a coach, because there, they don’t mess around.”

Bosnic believes Johnston has transitioned well and earned that respect.

“Chace is adapting well and establishing great rapport with our kids and coaches,” Bosnic said. “He is well liked and respected by all.”

Bosnic said that Johnston is dedicated to his work in organizing offensive, defensive and special teams systems, while staying committed to his graduate school work.

“I think the biggest challenge for Chace is just managing all the time and effort he puts into football,” Bosnic said. “He is still taking classes and must balance a busy schedule, but he seems to be up to the task.”

Ben Champ

Johnston said he has already benefited from working under Bosnic at Washington.

“He’s helped me in a variety of different ways,” Johnston said. “He’s helped me so much in all aspects of the game. He puts a lot of emphasis on how much he cares about his players, which is something I like to do a lot and I kind of mimic that.”

Bosnic believes Johnston was a positive addition to the Washington coaching staff and looks forward to continuing to watch him grow.

“I’m just really happy to be able to coach with Chace. He is a great guy, down to earth, and fun to work with,” Bosnic said. “We think a lot of him here at Wash High and I know he is going to continue to mature into a great coach and leader.”

Johnston plans to continue coaching, with hopes of someday becoming a high school head coach and eventually coaching in the NFL.

“If you would have told me years ago that I would be any type of coach, I would have laughed at you,” Johnston said. “But now it’s getting to the point where I might be able to make a career out of this.”