David Almeda/Times-EnterpriseBrookwood athletic director Ken Johnson is set to retire at the end of the 2016-17 school year after a 44-year career.

THOMASVILLE — After 40-plus years in high school sports, Brookwood’s Ken Johnson is ready to call it a career.

The Warriors’ athletic director will retire at the end of the school year, and he’s looking back on an eventful time as a coach, an athletic director and an educator, and to what lies ahead — focusing on his time as a grandparent.

Johnson has spent 37 of his years as an athletic director. His coaching career began in 1972, when he became the JV football and JV wrestling coach at Osborne High School in Marietta, Ga. He made the move to his first private school in 1973, when he joined Robert Toombs Christian Academy in Vidalia, Ga. 

He has since been a coach or athletic director — or both — at five other schools, joining the Warriors in 2009 as an assistant football coach and as the head of the varsity baseball team. He became the AD in 2013, and held the baseball position until last year.

Being the athletic director is a taxing job — but at Brookwood, it’s practically doubled with the amount of middle school sports the school has.

“I’ve been doing it 44 years,” Johnson said. “I’ve moved around and have been at different locations. The AD job takes a lot of time and effort — You’ve got to make sure everything’s done with gate money, officials and schedules and everything.”

But despite the amount of time and effort it takes to be the head of an athletics program, Johnson’s primary focus in his decision to retire are his grandchildren, who he has had trouble getting time to visit.

“My granddaughter, who is a senior this year, I had never got to see her play a high school softball game,” he said. “I saw my grandson play one high school football game. I sort of decided it might be best to get an opportunity to see her play. Retiring, I’ll be able to do that whenever I want to.”

Johnson’s career accomplishments are numerous. He earned the distinguished service award from the GISA Hall of Fame and has been a part of a combined 12 state championships and 30 region championships in multiple sports. He coached football for 40 years, but also coached boys and girls basketball, baseball, and track during his long career. 

He also served as the GISA coaches’ association president and has been region or state coach of the year 40 times.

During his time as Brookwood’s director of athletics, the Warriors have won a state title in tennis, region titles in tennis and soccer, and the football team was the region runner-up for two years.

One of his favorite memories at Brookwood  came from his first few years as the baseball coach. At the beginning of his tenure, not many were ready to sign on.

“We had a meeting the first year I was here,” Johnson said. “We had two ninth graders and one senior sign up. I talked another senior into it, we brought the eighth graders up and played a AAA baseball schedule.”

The team struggled in its first year, but three years later, the team won a region championship with a 27-5 record, and made the final four two years in a row.

Over his years, he’s also seen a lot of changes. One thing that stands out to him is how specialized high school sports has become.

“When I first got into it, you didn’t have all the travel ball you have now,” Johnson said. “You also didn’t have kids that try to specialize in one sport. It’s changed so much. You didn’t have those things back in the 70s.”

Johnson is not sure of his specific post-retirement plans yet, but he plans to continue teaching driver’s ed before he and his wife decide if they want to move.

“I’ve been very successful and very blessed and have enjoyed it,” Johnson said. “I’ve had a great run but I think it’s time to sit back and enjoy my grandkids. I have another grandson who is just five, so hopefully this will be the one that I’ll get to spend more time with. I’m looking forward to it.”