Did you know that the father of the celebrated NFL player Josh Johnson is Gordie Johnson, a former Head Basketball Coach? Pretty sure you didn’t! Josh thinks sports brings him closer to his family and says it is the easiest way to get to know him.
Gear up to know some intriguing facts about Gordie.
He is a Sports Veteran
Gordie’s professional life is all about sports, especially basketball. He has reportedly spent over 40 years of his life as a basketball coach. Additionally, Gordie has 30 years of experience as a martial arts instructor and over 8 years of experience as a Varsity girls and boys golf coach.
Gordie’s formal name is Gordon. However, he is popular with his nickname “Gordie”.Likewise, in his long experience, he has garnered over 50 skills relating to sports, basketball, coaching, and athletic development.
Similarly, his skills have been endorsed by a number of dignitaries of the Sports fraternity, such as Chris Carlson, and Kiernan Gordon, Ph.D.
Started as a Head Coach at UCSC
Johnson started his coaching career as a Head Basketball Coach at the University of California Santa Cruz in October 2003. He worked there for almost 9 years until July 2012. Gordie did a phenomenal job there; his coached “Banana Slug” team was named the highest academic team at UC Santa Cruz in 2009.
On his last day at UCSC, on June 26, 2012, he made a heartfelt tweet saying,
“Sad day today, cleaned out my office at UCSC. Going to miss the co-workers and players. New beginnings start today.”
After leaving UC Santa Cruz, Gordie worked as a Summer League Assistant Coach at Brooklyn Nets for a month in July 2013 and at Milwaukee Buck Inc. for a month in July 2014.
His role revolved around assisting with the development of the summer league team.
Johnson Got Back to Being the Head Coach
After taking a good break of 4 years, he again started what he loved the most. In September 2018, Gordie joined the Leadership Public School Hayward(LPSH) in Hayward, California as the Athletic Director and the Head Coach of the Boy’s Basketball Team.
Gordie is still working at the school.
Josh’s Father Served in the Navy
Before kickstarting his athletic career, Gordon was in the Navy. He also flew back seat on the attack air-craft A4 and A7. Furthermore, Johnson worked in the United States Air Force as a Flight Engineer in the C-5 Aircraft.
Gordie has Strong Academics
Afterward, this learned athlete graduated with a BA and MS in Business Administration and Organization Management from the University of Phoenix.
Furthermore, Gordie also has an AA in Business Administration from UC Berkeley’s Certificate Program.
Relationship with Ex-Wife Rosemary Whisenton
Gordie was previously married to Rosemary Whisenton. The former husband and wife have 4 children together, including Josh. They separated while their kids were still too young due to their irreconcilable differences. After Rosemary and Gordie separated, the former raised all 4 children by herself.
In fact, she worked three jobs to make sure that her children got the life they deserved.
Rosemary is Gordie’s first wife.Rosemary worked as a security guard for Oakland Tech High School in the day where she used to coach volleyball to girls. Then at night, she used to work at the FedEx and during the weekends she used to work at the Toys R Us.
Gordie Wasn’t An Involved Father
As Gordie got married again and started a new family, he wasn’t much around for the kids he had with his first wife. Since Rosemary had to raise all four of their children as a single mother in Gordie’s absence, their children got to witness Rosemary’s sacrifice. So, Josh always credits his mom for his success.
Gordie has already become a grandfather.Irrespective of Gordie’s absence, Rosemary always wanted her kids to have a good relationship with their dad. As a matter of fact, she used to tell her kids, “My thing is, regardless of what happened, he’s still your father…. respect your parents, no matter what.”
Johnson Would Sneak Into Josh’s Matches
Even though Gordie couldn’t see Josh play during childhood, he couldn’t resist his urge to watch him grow and play sports. Gordie revealed that he would often sneak into the gym and watch Josh play from the corner.
“I wasn’t the type of father that could sit up in the stands and yell and holler……It was his time in the spotlight. I didn’t want him to know I was there.”
Josh Johnson is a renowned football playerOn 2012, July 15, Gordon posted on his X expressing how proud he was of his son Josh for his performance in football camp in Oakland.
Went to son’s, Josh Johnson, football camp in Oakland, Ca. Great turnout great job for the kids. Very proud if him.
— Gordon Johnson (@gordiej23) July 15, 2012
Likewise, now Gordon’s little boy Josh has earned fame as a quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens. So, it’s safe to assume that Gordon’s heart must have swollen with pride.
Gordie had an Elder Sister
Even though not much has been revealed about Gordie’s early life and parents, it is known that he had an older sister named Barbara.
It came to light after Johnson paid tribute to his late sister on her 69th birth anniversary. He heartily expressed that he missed her so much.
Today would have been the 69th birthday of my oldest sister, Barbra (Babs). I miss you so much.
— Gordon Johnson (@gordiej23) September 17, 2012
He lives a Good Life with His New Family
If anyone goes through Gordie’s X profile, they will notice that Gordie is a family guy, who loves to be around his family. But it is certain that he was referring to his second marriage.
Way back on June 10, 2012, he wrote on X (previously Twitter), “Heading home from a fun weekend in Windsor, CA with wife’s fam and granddaughter.”
Johnson’s tweets suggest that he looks forward to the time he gets to spend with his family.
In the same note, on June 23, 2012, he wrote:
“Beautiful day, family day, life is short, enjoy it while you are here.”
Likewise, he also seems to love festivities and get-togethers with his family.