By Christopher Manson
The first thing I ask Bobby Johns—Freeport High School’s new athletic director and head football coach since April—is, “How’s your summer going so far?”
“It’s almost over, thank goodness,” he says, adding, “It’s been good. We’ve had great attendance, and it’s gone smoother than I expected. Most of the kids have been here every day, which makes it easier to do what you gotta do.”
Johns retired from coaching at Wewahitchka High School in 2024, but it didn’t take much to entice his return.
“I wanted to get back into coaching, and I wanted to be at a good school with a decent foundation where I wouldn’t have to start from scratch,” he says. “This is the second best school district in the state. The job had everything I was looking for.”
He spent a couple of years around the area—a couple in Vernon, as well as Milton and Blountstown.
“I’m a small-town guy,” says Johns. “I remember when Freeport was very small. I coached against them in the early 2000s when they had about 400 kids. It’s growing, but it still has that small-town feel.”
Johns says the biggest challenge for the 2026-27 season is “the competition we have to play. We’re sitting at 700 kids, and most of the teams in our district are double that.” It’s a situation he’s familiar with after seven years of coaching at Wewahitchka, where he dealt with as few as 20 students.
“It is what it is. Our job is to be successful in spite of that. We’re thin in some spots, especially on the offensive line, so we need to keep those guys healthy throughout the year.”
Johns says there’s nothing lacking in the Freeport athletic program and credits his predecessor for bringing in wrestling, flag football and beach volleyball.
“We’ve almost got too many sports now. I hope to build on that and offer some stability. Make my mark on the athletic department, building on what’s already here.”
His overall vision for Bulldogs football is “to find a way to take the next step, to play in the postseason. That’s the initial goal. We’re not at that point yet where we’re a legitimate ‘threat’ to people.”
“We just want to be relevant, where people know we’re here and we’re going to be prepared. And that they’ll have to prepare for us when they play us.”
Johns and wife Chevon celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary this month. She’s a teacher at Freeport, and the couple have 32 years of education experience between them. They are the parents of a 37-year-old son and a 24-year-old daughter, and they recently welcomed their first grandson.
“And I have 12 rescue dogs and four cats,” he says. “We don’t have room, but we keep taking them!”
The Bulldogs’ first game is set for Friday, Aug. 14, on the road. The first home game is Sept. 11—“played at the old stadium in Freeport,” says Johns. A multimillion-dollar athletic facility is in the process of being built on the high school campus.
Johns praises all of the seniors on his team, notably quarterback Carter Nunes, who just verbally committed to the University of West Alabama.
“He’s one of the best quarterbacks in the Panhandle, and he’s gonna have a great season.”
Football huzzahs aside, Johns says his most cherished accomplishment in three decades of athletic experience was winning nine state weightlifting championships at five different schools. Pretty impressive, considering he has hundreds of wins to his credit and numerous Final Four appearances.
Johns holds family and faith high among his life’s passions. His relationship with God informs all of his decisions. He is protective of his family and his pets.
“My wife, my daughter and my son have basically built their entire lives around my career,” he says. “Not every coach has that support system—picking up and moving. Doing whatever it takes for me to have success.”
Johns promoted the “Freeport Coaches Show” heavily on his Facebook account the week I spoke with him. The program appears weekly on the Freeport High Touchdown Club website and live from wherever Johns and company happen to land that week. For the July 14 show, it was Freeport’s Sip Studio.
