Cougar Mom
By
Shane Roe
What
do you call a woman who has hundreds of children, cares for them,
waits on them, is named “Mother of the Week,” and yet has no offspring
of her own? For the past 23 years, Brigham Young University football
coaches and players have called her ‘Shirley.’
Since
1980, Shirley Johnson has served as secretary to two BYU
head football coaches: LaVell Edwards, and, currently,
Gary Crowton. Her memories from the past 23 years include
the glory years, and the (thankfully few) losing seasons.
As I spoke with Shirley, it became evident that it wasn’t
“they” who lost or won, but “we.” She considers herself a part
of the team, and indeed she is.
During
her time in the Cougar football office, she has seen coaching
evolve from the Stone Age when scouting reports, game plans, diagrams,
tests and reminders were all done by hand, to the high-tech world
of today where coaches plug numbers and plays into a computer
which then spits out the diagrams. In spite of technology, Shirley’s
responsibilities haven’t changed much – the same tests, scouting
reports and reminders are necessary to help the coaches and athletes
keep up with all that needs to be done.
Beginnings
Shirley grew up in the Avenues area of Salt Lake, with
her parents, “Dub” and Ruby, and her older brother Boyd. As a
teen, she worked at the Woodland Drive-In Theater, and, after
graduation from West High, went south to BYU. Subsequent to earning
a degree in English, she became the Department Secretary for Educational
Psychology where she met former assistant football coach Norm
Chow while he was working on his doctorate degree. A couple
of years later, when Edwards was completing his doctorate, Chow
suggested to him that he work with Shirley in completing his dissertation.
Edwards was so impressed with her, that when his secretary retired,
he asked Shirley to join the football program. She’s been there
ever since.
A
Tale of Two Coaches
Shirley fondly remembers working with Edwards, with
whom she still keeps in touch. “He is laid-back, funny, wise
and knowledgeable. Sometimes, it was hard getting his attention
because his mind was going a hundred different directions,” she
says.
She recalls one day hearing hysterical laughter coming
from Edwards’ office. When she went to see what was so funny,
he had in his hand a cancelled check that had been made out to
“Holy Ghost.” Though it was supposed to have been made out to
Holy Cross Hospital, it had been paid anyway.
Crowton on the other hand, is anything but laid-back.
“He’s always got a full-head of steam,” Shirley says. “He’s always
moving at a hundred miles per hour. LaVell kept abreast of what
his assistants were doing, but left it up to them for the most
part. Gary is very involved in everything that’s going on, which
is good because it helps him expend his energy. One thing that’s
really impressed me about Gary is his upbeat attitude, win or
lose – and, of course, his smile.”
Church
Callings
Shirley has served in many capacities in the Church
including: ward and stake Relief Society presidency member, magazine
director, speech director, chorister, pianist, and as secretary
for both a bishop and a stake president. “Right now I probably
have the best job in the ward for me,” she says. “I teach the
lesson at Enrichment Night, so I have a whole month to prepare
for a 15-minute presentation.”
Reality
Check
Cancer. It’s a word that all of us dread to hear.
Shirley heard that word about her own life several years ago when
doctors discovered she had breast cancer. Surgery was performed
to remove the lump and lymph nodes and radiation therapy followed.
It was a difficult time, yet her family and friends contributed
a lot of support.
“(Former University of Utah coach) Ron McBride
was one of my biggest supporters, always asking after my health
and giving me a big hug when he saw me,” she recalls.
Recently, she passed the five-year mark since her last
radiation treatment – cancer-free. “I learned not to take life
for granted,” she says. “Now I empathize with people instead
of just sympathizing with them.”
Career
Highlights
Throughout her career in the Cougar football office,
Shirley says that it’s the people she has met and worked with
that have been the most memorable. She fondly recalls working
with the coaches, players, scouts, fans, and even the media. She
mentions working with the players as the highlight of working
in the office.
“I love my ‘boys’ dearly,” says Shirley, who is single.
“I’ve had the joy of seeing them make great strides in their
lives, academically, personally and spiritually. I’ve attended
hundreds of baptisms, weddings, sealings, missionary farewells,
and homecomings. It’s wonderful when they call or come back and
we can catch up. When I started out, I was an older sister to
them, but time has caught up with me and I’ve been the football
mom for many years.”
She also likes the chance that her job gives her to
talk about the gospel. “Just the other day, a couple of pro scouts
asked me many questions about the gospel,” she says. The Church
comes up frequently among coaches and scouts who aren’t familiar
with the gospel.
Then there are the fans, many of whom she’s become friends
with. She remembers a group of retired people that would always
come to watch practice no matter what. She recalls a 15-year-old
girl who sat on the office couch for hours waiting for Robbie
Bosco to walk through.
Of the 1980 Holiday Bowl win over Southern Methodist
University (which BYU trailed, 38-19, after three quarters before
going on to win, 46-45), she recalls: “We received stacks of mail
and hundreds of phone calls from fans telling us where they were
the last 3:51 of the game. Many were mad at us because they left
after the third quarter and didn’t know we had won until the next
morning.”
The
Future … and Present
When asked what she’d like to do when her tenure in
the football office ends, she says, “I’d like to help out with
the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Or maybe work for FARMS (Foundation
for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies) or some other research
group like that.”
In her spare time, she likes to attend The Utah Shakespearean
Festival, go to movies, opera, theater, read, and spend time with
family and friends.
When asked about her philosophy of life, Shirley replied:
“It would include trying to keep my life Christ-centered and to
represent Him to the best of my ability; trying to find joy in
life everyday; not letting anger, hurt or unforgiving thoughts
drag me down; and trying to serve others. If I live by that,
I am going to be one happy lady!”
She should be happy – she deserves it.
The updated
LDS athlete list
Ed.
Note – Shirley Johnson has been instrumental in helping to secure
interviews for past Meridian Sports articles on Gary Crowton,
Todd Christensen, Vai Sikahema, Greg Clark and Andy Reid. Her
willingness to help has earned this sports editor’s deepest gratitude.
-- KLM
