Loyola Academy girls basketball coach Tanya Johnson resigns

People always try to make others out to be what they are not. When you are successful at something it is in people's ill nature to try and bring those people down. Coach Johnson is one of those people. No one could be satisfied with the fact that maybe she is just good and what she does and she at one time has players that were willing to buy into her program. It is the haters that have made her something that she has not and parents who think they know everything that have forced one of pioneers of girls basketball in the state to leave her home. We live in a time of I want and I need. The "I"s had their way in this situation but it will be a sad time if things like this continues. Coach Johnson will be missed at Loyola no matter what anyone tries to make of it.

Tanya Johnson is one of the best coaches in the state of Illinois. She is that today just as she has been in the past. Every coach of a state champion has to be lucky enough to have special players enter their program. Look back over the years---all state champs have had extraordinary players. Dave Powers, Andy Nussbaum, Frank Matucci, Dorothy Gators (I could go on and on) would never have one without their respective All-Americans. Good coaches don't screw up great players. Perhaps the parents and administrators at Loyola Academy need to look at the players. Tanya Johnson has consistently won games while producing fundamentally sound basketball players. She has done this without the All-Americans. You won't win state (AA or 4A) without at least one All-American.

I simply can't believe she is not going to be at Loyola again this year! She is the best coach in the state! Do they really think they can find a better coach? After all of her years of dedicated service, they couldn't find a way to keep her? What are they thinking???

I honestly thought this day would never come. Coach Johnson is a rambler and forever will be a rambler. Loyola Academy's girls basketball program will never again hold the respect and tradition that Coach Johnson instilled and demanded from every one of her players. Not only did Coach Johnson teach her players the game of basketball but she prepared them for life after high school. She cared for her players on an individual level- on and off the court (no matter what any know-it-all parent has to say). Although her tactics and coaching methods were, at times questioned or controversial, she always had her players best interest in mind. Loyola Academy has lost one of the greatest high school basketball coaches and their girl's basketball program will never be the same.
So I guess no matter the reason of her departure I wish her all the best and hope that she ends up in a place where her methods are appreciated and the coaching is left up to her and not to the parents.
I think her record can speak for itself!

Loyola lost many fans yesterday cause wherever Coach Johnson ends up she'll have a wave of former players and their families attending her games! Good luck Coach!

Coach Johnson taught me more about life than about basketball - the importance of commitment, honesty, integrity and that I would always achieve more with my teammates than by myself. It used to be an honor to make the team and be a part of something bigger. Nowadays, it seems that playing time has become more important - all the more reason that more coaches like Tanya Johnson are needed.
Those "close to the Loyola program [who] were unhappy with Johnson" clearly could not see that Coach Johnson was providing their daughters a much greater lesson than the fundamentals of basketball.

I have been fortunate to coach against Tanya for several years. Her teams are always well-prepared, fundamentally sound, respectful, competitive, and always showed class and sportsmanship. The games were always intense and competitive and no matter who won, respect was shown by both the players and her coaching staff in victory and defeat.
As for the "rumblings about people being unhappy" let's call that what it is. Parents upset about their kid not playing and not realizing that their kid just might not be good enough! Shame on you Loyola for letting such a great coach and role model for young women go. Good luck to you coach on your "new opportunities."
You deserve to be in a place that appreciates and respects what you bring to the young players lives.

When I heard that Tanya Johnson would no longer be coaching at Loyola Academy I was stunned and saddened. As a former player I can honestly say that Coach Johnson has had a positive impact on my life not only as a player but as a person. When I didn't think that I could it she was always behind me telling me that I could. She believed in each of us even when we did not believe in ourselves. The main reason that I went to Loyola Academy was to play for Tanya Johnson, to be a part of something special. Unfortunately, in the past few years girls basketball has taken an ugly turn at Loyola. Parents have become involved past the point of being supportive of their children. They challenge the coaching staff and their methods of teaching. Parents don't realize that they are hurting their children by acting this way, not helping them. Loyola's girls basketball program will never be the same without Tanya Johnson. Thank you to those selfish parents who believe that the game is about themselves, you have single handedly torn apart one of the greatest girls basketball programs in the state. It is ashame that a school with a reputation such as Loyola's has let this happen.

Coach Johnson thank you for all of the valuable lessons that you have taught us both on and off the court and all of the countless hours that you have spent perfecting such a program.

To all of those high and mighty folks at LA -
You should all be ashamed of yourselves for not begging Coach Johnson to say at a program that she developed, inspired, and dedicated her life to. Talk about men and women for others when her own co-workers don't even stand behind such an influential coach (and teacher) at Loyola Academy. It saddens me, a former player, to see that Coach Johnson decided to leave at such an unexpected time.(Who knows it could have been caused by some disgruntled parent whining because their daughter was not getting enough playing time. If this was, perhaps, a possible reason for her resignation - I would love to speak to the young lady or ladies that decided that they were too talented to handle the heat.) So thank you for driving the best high school girl's basketball coach away from a school that prides themselves on becoming "men and women for others". What a joke. Congrats, ramblers for earning yourselves yet another horrible athletic program... lets go speech team? but I'm sure the trevians have us on that too.

It is shameful that Loyola obviously overlooked the tremendous work that Tanya has done over the years. I have coached against Tanya for many years, and have the utmost respect for what Tanya has done for her program and her girls. The disgusting efforts of a bitter parent should never be able to undo this. My hope is for continued success for Tanya at a school that appreciates her. Loyola administration and complaining parents-- shame on you.

Tanya is a very good coach, but hardly a saint. Let's not forget when she tried to leave LA after she signed her contract. She tried to leave after her all-everything players graduated and she knew her easy route to the state tournament had left too. I can't blame her for trying to cash in on back to back championships. This is just another good coach being forced out by loud parents of players who aren't very good and a school administration caving in to their demands.

coming from marillac to loyola was hard enough without having to hear the grumblings of loy-boys about how we were ruining their school. TJ gave us the confidence to show them that girls can compete and succeed as well, if not better (note: 1997, 1998) than our male counterparts.
i fondly remember the days of shut up or get out- parents and players. what happened to those days? these self-absorbed parents have taught their children that they are owed certain privileges. we had to earn them. why are they so special? good luck teaching your children how to be independent, happy, and successful. it doesn't work like that in the real world.
all of my former teammates are successful, intelligent, and caring people. don't ever lose sight of that TJ!

it's always the parents fault! LOL

Hit Loyola where it hurts.......in the pocketbook. I will never donate another dime to the school, and I hope anyone who's life has been impacted by Tanya Johnson will do the same.....players, their parents, alumni, etc. This is such an injustice to someone who's dedicated her life to developing not only excellent basketball players, but fine young women as well.

Tanya Johnson was a great coach and athletic director at Loyola for about 14 years and did not deserve what she got. She always made sure that the girls did not get the short end of the stick in any sport or activity. Sometimes when an all male school goes coed, the girls do not get their equal share. This was not the case at Loyola in my estimation, the girls were treated fairly and she had a lot to do with that. I hope that somebody continues to make sure that all are treated fairly. Her team and coaching staff worked hard this past summer by running camps, attending team camps and summer leagues, etc. The timing of her departure could not have come at a worse time. You now have a bunch of players who do not know who their coach will be and everything is up in the air. This is hardly an example of being Christian, the girls on the team and the whole coaching staff deserved better.To the disgruntled parents who wanted her gone and who think the game is only about their daughters, I hope you are now happy. To the administration who allowed this to happen, you should be ashamed of yourselves for letting parents dictate in school decisions, This a a very dangerous road to go down. So the "Men and Women For Others" and "It's a great day to be a rambler" philosophies seemed to have taken a major hit. If these things are really your philosophies, you need to walk the walk and talk the talk, not just lip service. Your actions will be questioned by many.....

Many will speculate what the real issues were behind Coach Johnson's departure...was she fired, did she resign on her own? Coach Johnson had tried to get a position at Niles West as AD this spring and did not prevail...so good luck to her elsewhere. There is no question to her acumen of knowledge of basketball...she is very talented in that aspect. HOWEVER her "communication" techniques with her players bordered often on verbal abuse. If she loved her players why did she leave without any communication to them with regards to wishing them well with the new regime? How well did she council those players who wished to go on to play in college? A coach owes that to players who withstood her "communication" and more importantly who did their job on the court FOR HER. Shame on everybody for not realizing that there are High School girls who have futures at stake!!!

You, my friend are certainly NOT confused!

Confused RAMBLER wrote:

Many will speculate what the real issues were behind Coach Johnson's departure...was she fired, did she resign on her own? Coach Johnson had tried to get a position at Niles West as AD this spring and did not prevail...so good luck to her elsewhere. There is no question to her acumen of knowledge of basketball...she is very talented in that aspect. HOWEVER her "communication" techniques with her players bordered often on verbal abuse. If she loved her players why did she leave without any communication to them with regards to wishing them well with the new regime? How well did she council those players who wished to go on to play in college? A coach owes that to players who withstood her "communication" and more importantly who did their job on the court FOR HER. Shame on everybody for not realizing that there are High School girls who have futures at stake!!!

Those who know Tanya, know that she would not leave her players without an explanation unless she had no choice. I think it is very odd that she would be coaching her team at the Loyola Shootout on June 28th, and then a month later resigns, without another job to go to? You "speculate" all you want, but any fool who reads that statement, knows what most likely happened.

Once again, parents are indeed calling the shots at LA. Coack Johnson should bring this board member to court. If Coach Johnson really retired - then why is this board member spouting off at the mouth? She should be kicked off the board. Is this the kind of person LA wants representing LA -- oh, I forgot, it's all about the money? What type of school would kick the coach out without allowing her to talk with the kids? What about abandonment issues? Is it really about the kids? No, it's about the money! Money brings power -- it does not bring about whats best for kids. What kind of person would ever want to coach at LA??? Of, maybe a wealthy parent or maybe this board member -- since she knows it all!

Wow, it’s truly a sad day whenever parents and board members have the jurisdiction of what goes on in high school athletics. Loyola is taking a page out of Latin, Francis W. Parker and other ISL schools book and all of the other spoiled money-machine driven private schools across the city.
And what you notice about those programs that care more about pleasing parents and pleasing and non-athletic alum donors than accumulating victories is one thing—success in sports will be hard to find. And for all of these parents who say “her words bordered ‘verbal abuse,’” that’s just ridiculous. Those are the same parents who’s children are calling them 5-lettered words and everything else under the sun except mom or dad.
Take a look at another Catholic School like Mt. Carmel. Any idea why their football team has so much success? You think that the AD would jump and fire the football coach because a parent is complaining about playing time? Haha, it wouldn’t happen. Let the coaches coach.
The saddest of all of this is that these children of whining parents never learn to develop mentally, athletically or emotionally. There parents are always there reminding the principal and athletic director that they were the biggest donors last year, and because of that, these kids never learn to fend for themselves.
And what you notice is that these kids will graduate and go off to Harvard, Chapman, Princeton, Wesleyan and so forth and they won’t know how to function without their parents’ constant intimidation of the administration. So when you see them after their freshman year and ask them which college they attend, you’ll hear DePaul, Columbia College, Loyola University. And here’s the reason, they got all the way out to Massachusetts, California, Vermont and ran into their first problem, and their parents could no-longer fix it for them. So what do they do? They transfer somewhere near home because they never learned how to leave the nest.
What’s going on at Loyola isn’t athletics, it’s a joke. They’ll be the joke of the Catholic League and deserve every laugh that they get.

Her words did not border verbal abuse.
They were verbal abuse, plain and simple.
Maybe, just maybe, the responsibility is on the coach.
Let the conspiracy theories go, this should have been handled long ago. It has nothing to do with playing time.