A Championship Coach's Story of Love, Loss, and Unshakeable Faith | Learning to Lead - Coach Lew
On a recent episode of Learning to Lead, I had the profound pleasure of welcoming Coach Lew Johnston. Here in the Chesapeake area, I’ve found that you can barely have lunch with him without being interrupted—everyone knows "Coach Lew". After 37 years at Western Branch High School, he has impacted thousands of lives, but his coaching career began with a false start. As he shared, his early motivation was personal glory until a humbling stint in the insurance business brought him to his knees, leading him to cry out to Jesus in 1982. This transformation cemented his true calling, which his first wife had already prophesied: "Coaching is your ministry". I believe the foundation of his 22-year tenure as Head Coach—a remarkable display of longevity in today's sports culture—was the integrity that flowed from this foundational decision to follow Christ.
Coach Lew's coaching philosophy centered on achieving the "double win": success on the field and success off the field. He stressed that he was a football coach who was a Christian, which allowed him to lead by example and integrity rather than proselytizing. He never received a complaint in 22 years about his faith, yet he cultivated a culture based on respect, discipline, and clear expectations for his players. This commitment to shaping young men for their future, not just for the next game, is why he has been able to look back and see that eight of his former players have gone into full-time ministry. He taught me that culture is not a buzzword; it's a deep-seated commitment that requires "tough love" and a willingness to "toughen up" and persevere over years, which is a lesson applicable to every family, church, or organization.
I know firsthand that life is full of adversity, and I was so touched when Coach Lew shared the immense test he faced later in life: the loss of his first wife, Nancy, to pancreatic cancer after 48 years of marriage. He explained that he was able to endure the 10 months of her illness, becoming her full-time caregiver, because he could look back and see how God had prepared him for that exact moment. His established faith and the support of his community were critical, but what truly sustained his grief was Nancy’s own peace. Her confident attitude—telling him and others that she was "okay" because she knew where she was going—was a testament to a life well-lived and an incredible final lesson for the coach, teacher, and leader he had become.
Coach Lew’s final word of encouragement resonated deeply with my own message: in life's storms, you must trust Jesus and "press on toward the goal of the higher calling" (Philippians 3:14). He reminded us that there’s no such thing as a "lone ranger Christian". The key to endurance is community—to not be "that log on the fire that rolls off and goes out". I appreciated his offer to mentor aspiring leaders (we’ll include his email on the YouTube description), proving that his commitment to developing leaders hasn't stopped now that his time on the sidelines is over. I encourage you to learn from this champion coach and friend and let his story inspire you to live and lead with unshakeable faith.