Freeport Football Thriving Under Veteran Coach Bobby Johns
Freeport High School’s football program is finding its identity under new head coach Bobby Johns, who has made the weight room and a physical run game the foundation of his approach since taking the reins in March.
Johns, hired March 30 as the Bulldogs’ 14th head football coach and athletic director, brings a resume that few in Florida high school football can match. Over 24 seasons as a head coach, he has compiled a 217-104 record with 37 playoff victories, two state championships at Columbia High (6A, 1996 and 1998), a 1A title at Blountstown (2004), and two more 1A championships at Baker County (2008 and 2009). He is the only coach in Florida history to win state championships at more than two schools. His programs have reached the playoffs 20 times in 24 seasons, with six semifinal appearances. Johns also spent eight years on the Florida High School Athletic Association’s board of directors before coming to Freeport.
The Bulldogs return quarterback Carter Nunes, who as a junior last season threw for 2,012 yards and 23 touchdowns while completing 54 percent of his passes with just nine interceptions on 209 attempts. Leading rusher Dylan Louthain, also a junior last fall, finished with 746 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground, adding 246 receiving yards and three scores on 17 catches. Johns inherits a program that went 5-5 and reached the playoffs under predecessor Shaun Arntz, who resigned in February after nine years as head coach and 18 years in the Bulldogs program. Arntz compiled a 41-50 record with one playoff victory during his tenure.
Freeport High Principal Donna Simmons, who selected Johns from more than 40 applicants, praised the hire at the time of his introduction. “He brings a wealth of experience, he’s a winner and what struck me is that he’s willing to work just as hard, if not harder, than our players to accomplish what we need,” Simmons said. “I think Bobby Johns’ feet are going to hit the campus and we’re not going to miss a beat.” Johns also serves as Freeport’s athletic director, overseeing all sports programs as the school prepares to transition into new football facilities, including a stadium that has been in the planning stages.
For Freeport residents, the hire signals a new chapter for a program that has been steady if not spectacular under Arntz but now has a coach with a track record of turning programs around. Johns has averaged 7.1 wins per season across his career, even while inheriting seven teams that were a combined 15-55 the year before he arrived. His weight-room emphasis — honed during a career that also includes multiple state weightlifting titles at Wewahitchka — is already reshaping the Bulldogs’ culture as summer workouts intensify ahead of the fall season.
Image: Freeport High School
Originally reported by Northwest Florida Daily News, High School on SI, and MyPanhandle (WMBB).
