Long ago in 1971, a young high school track coach named Rob Johnson was working for a program called Upward Bound in New Jersey when one of his coworkers, a student and runner at Wabash College, told him that his track coach was retiring that season and that Johnson should look into the position. That student was Victor Ransom, a member of a young organization called the Malcolm X Institute, which was pressuring the school to interview some African American coaches for the new position. Johnson became one of them.
Wabash’s Dean at the time flew out to the New York area later that summer and introduced himself to Johnson and told him about the open position as head track and field coach. At first, Johnson was unimpressed.
“I wasn’t really interested, but I told him I was anyways,” Johnson said. At the time, Johnson had a great high school team at the time and was generally content. Most of all, he was worried about how the farmlands of the Midwest would react to him and his family. “Initially, I thought I was coming to redneck Indiana,” Johnson said. “I was a black man in a mixed race marriage, and I thought ‘these guys aren’t going to hire me,’ but we decided to fly out anyways.”
Johnson’s reception on Wabash’s campus wasn’t quite what he expected. “Everyone was suspiciously nice at first,” Johnson said. “I thought it would change, but it’s been like that for 37 years.”
Another thing that hasn’t changed in 37 years is the name next to the title “Head Track and Field Coach” in the Wabash athletic office. After a long and successful tenure, Johnson is finally calling it quits, retiring as one of Wabash College’s most revered figures, and not just in sports.
Last Saturday night, the college hosted a banquet to honor Johnson and his incredible contributions to the college, as well as to announce the new name of the indoor oval- the Robert H. Johnson Indoor Track. Nearly 400 friends, family members and colleagues came to pay homage to Johnson, who has had a profound impact on the College. And there are countless others throughout the country whose lives have been touched.
One of these people was Roger Busch ‘96, who ran four years for the Wabash cross country team, helping the Little Giants to sixth, 11th, fourth, and third-place finishes at the NCAA Division III Championship meet from 1992-1995, and is the current Wabash Cross Country Coach. Busch has had the opportunity to get to know Johnson as both a runner and a fellow coach, and he says that it’s his naturally caring and easy-going nature that made him such a popular figure at Wabash for the last few decades.
“He has this very unique ease to him,” Busch said. “He’s very approachable, you don’t feel intimidated by him, and you feel like you can just open up to him for some reason.” As a person and a coach, the only thing that distinguishes Johnson more than his big, boisterous laugh is his caring.
“He is Wabash,” Busch said. “A dinosaur, if you will. He really cares, and not enough coaches today do. He is of a dying breed, unfortunately.”
Whether caring about student’s academic success, their mental struggles, or simply how their family was doing, Johnson has been there for so many young men who have come through Wabash. When Busch’s best friend was killed overseas in military service, Johnson was the one who was there for him. Some things never change.
“Even now, when I have questions and concerns, I’ll go to him,” Busch said. “He’s really been a father figure for a lot of people.” Busch said that Johnson is also a daily inspiration for him as a coach,
as well. “He always used running as a metaphor for life,” Busch said. “It’s a long, committed journey, not a quick fix for success. He’s been invaluable to the college that way.”
Busch also said he tries to emulate Johnson’s ability to connect with his runners, “He’s so good at reading people. He called it ‘eye-balling’ people. He has a gift to be able to look at you and really tell how you’re doing. Hopefully, with more experience, I’ll be able to do that more myself.”
Though these stories of Johnson’s caring are probably the most important aspect of his legacy, it’s definitely not the only one.
Over his prolific career, Johnson has coached 23 All- America performances(16 in track, 7 in cross country), and12 Academic All-Americans or Scholar Athletes. His teams won the 2007 and 2004 North Coast Athletic Conference Relay Championships, tied for second at the 2005 NCAC Indoor Championships, second at the 2000, 2005, and 2006 NCAC Outdoor Championships.
Perhaps most notably, Johnson earned 1995 NCAA Division III Cross Country Coach of the Year honors after his runners defeated 3rd ranked Calvin College in Regionals. Johnson cited this as one of his favorite memories at Wabash.
Johnson was also an assistant coach for the US Olympic Track & Field Team for the 2000 Sydney games, the only D-III coach to do so. Even while he was in Sydney, his heart stayed in Crawfordsville.
“It was a good experience,” Johnson said. “But not as much fun as coaching my D-III athletes. One of the misnomers about Olympic coaching is that you don’t really coach. You facilitate. I remember the guys telling me, ‘Remember, Johnson, these guys aren’t your friends.’ It’s a different kind of pressure.”
Last Saturday, Wabash gave a grand farewell to one of its legends- congratulating and celebrating a man who deserves every ounce of praise he gets. But above all the awards, successes, and the Olympic experience, Johnson is just proud that he’s been able to represent Wabash so well.
“The biggest honor is when people mistake me for a Wabash graduate,” Johnson said. “I couldn’t have gotten in here with a shoehorn, and I certainly wouldn’t have made it out of here. But if I represent Wabash that well, that’s a great honor to me.”