New Riverview coach makes most of quick turnaround

On July 31, high school football programs the state over hit the practice field for the start of training camp.

Forgive new Riverview High coach Josh Smithers if he appeared tired.

“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Smithers said. “It’s like it was when I was in high school. You get the butterflies, excitement, nervousness, all that stuff. Double checking, triple checking, making sure everything is in order, and I haven’t forgotten anything or anybody.”

Smithers, 40, is taking over for Todd Johnson, who stepped down as coach in June. Last season, Johnson led the Rams to a 9-2 record and the program’s first playoff win since 2004. The timing of the move didn’t give Smithers, who was initially named the interim coach, much time to prepare.

As a result, he wasn’t able to take the team away for a camp out of state, as is tradition, but he did have time to put a staff together, with many holdovers from the previous regime, including Jared Clark, now the offensive coordinator, who served as a running backs coach under Johnson.

The “interim” label was peeled off the week before camp began. Its presence in Smithers’ title was likely always a formality. He brings experience to the program, having been the coach of Cardinal Mooney for eight seasons, accumulating a 42-42 record. He learned a lot from that experience he can use at Riverview, even if the Class 3A football of Cardinal Mooney and the Class 8A football of the Rams are different beasts. That starts with surrounding his players with “great men and great coaches,” he said, and he said both the academic and athletic administrations at Riverview are the cornerstones of that. Assistant coaches such as Clark and new defensive coordinator Gerald Perry are as well.

Smithers also said he’s figured out how to manage the program as a whole and stay organized better than he did at Cardinal Mooney. Smithers said he has been “blessed” with the amount of talent he’s inheriting on the Rams.

That talent feels blessed right back.

“There haven’t been any differences, really,” senior defensive back Jamar Johnson said of the transition to Smithers. “He’s stepped in and played his role like he’s supposed to.”

The coaching staff selected Johnson as the leader of the defense. His talent is obvious, having been offered scholarships by Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Purdue, among other schools. He showed another side when he rounded up the rest of the defense after practice and led them in 50 jumping jacks, all synchronized. Johnson isn’t sweating the added responsibility.

“No pressure at all,” Johnson said. “I’m a natural born leader.”

He also declared the Rams defense as “the best in the area.”

On offense, the Rams will have a similar identity to last season: Run the ball, and run it well. Rising senior quarterback Arthur Brantley, a transfer from Booker who is verbally committed to Georgia Southern University, has the mobility to replicate what former signal-caller Mike Welcer meant to the Rams’ offense last season. Smithers also complimented Brantley’s improving ability as a passer.

“He’s had a really good summer,” Smithers said. “I thought he really started throwing the ball well toward the end of the summer there. We’re not going to ask him to throw the ball 50 times a game, but he’s a dangerous enough runner where, if people worry about him, we’ll be able to throw it over their heads. It’s going to be a really good dynamic.”

Unfortunately for the Rams, the passing game will have one fewer threat to start the season. Sophomore wideout Malachi Wideman, who already holds a scholarship offer from the University of Florida, broke his wrist in a travel basketball tournament over summer vacation. Smithers is uncertain when he’ll return this season, if at all. The team may decide to hold him out for precautionary reasons, he said. Return too early, and there’s a risk of doing even more harm.

Rising junior running back Ali Boyce will join Brantley in the backfield, and together the pair will make up the bulk of the team’s attack. Brantley said there’s already chemistry developing between him and the 5-foot-8 Boyce, a powerful runner.

They’ll need to cultivate that and other relationships quickly. Riverview’s first regular-season game, against Brantley’s former teammates at Booker, is three weeks away.

“There’s a lot of talent and yet a lot of pieces that still have to be put together,” Smithers said. “We still have a lot of gelling to do, so to speak. Just to see how fast we can put it together and get on the same page is going to be the key for us.”