Career Coaches, Hall of Fame Members, Longtime Friends

Philion is the coach at Red Lake County Central and Johnson is at Win-E-Mac. When their teams met on a frigid January evening here at Win-E-Mac, it was part homecoming, part family reunion, part elbow in the ribs.

“I tease Steve every time I see him,” said Johnson with a smile. “I tell him, ‘You can’t quit. I don’t want to be the only old guy.’ ”

While their junior varsity teams were on the court, Johnson and his son/assistant coach Bret saw Philion in a hallway. In a voice loud enough for his longtime coaching counterpart to hear, Vern said to Bret, “Look! There’s an old coach over there.”

All jokes aside, Johnson and Philion are among the top coaches in Minnesota history. Both are members of the Minnesota High School Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame; Johnson was inducted in 2013 and Philion in 2016.

Their successes, however, extend far beyond the basketball court. Philion is retired from a career teaching high school math and Johnson is a retired elementary teacher who currently is working as a long-term elementary substitute teacher at Red Lake Falls (the Red Lake County boys basketball team is a cooperative team with students from Red Lake Falls and Red Lake County Central). 

Philion, a graduate of Red Lake Falls High School and Bemidji State, began his coaching career in 1975 as coach of the boys and girls basketball teams at Gonvick-Trail (which became Clearbrook-Gonvick). In 1998 he returned to his hometown to coach the Red Lake Falls boys. He also is a longtime official, working football, baseball, softball and volleyball on the high school and college level for more than four decades, and works as an MSHSL Rules Clinician.

Johnson, a graduate of Erskine High School and the University of North Dakota, began his coaching career as an assistant at Erskine in the 1970s and became the head coach at Grygla-Gatzke in 1980, where he remained for 33 years (also coaching football) until retiring in 2013. A year later, he returned to coaching when he was hired at Win-E-Mac to replace a young coach who moved to Colorado.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I would coach again,” Vern said. “I was satisfied. I took a year off with the intention to take a lot more years off. But the kids keep you young. It is refreshing.”

Memories can be foggy, but Philion and Johnson recollect that they first crossed paths playing softball when they were in their 20s.

“Vern’s a pretty passionate guy,” Philion said. “He’s into the game and he’s pretty lively on the sideline. They always play good defense and they always have good fundamentals; typically he’s had pretty decent teams over the years. Small schools usually have ups and downs but he’s had more ups than downs.”

Johnson said, “Oh, we’ve battled against each other. We still compete and we’re still friends.”

The Win-E-Mac Patriots defeated Red Lake County 64-42 in their first meeting earlier this month; they will meet again at Red Lake County in the regular-season finale on Feb. 27. 

Like Johnson, Philion has a son (Kevin) who serves as assistant coach. Kevin also drives the team bus.

“This is his fourth year with me,” Steve said. “It’s pretty special. It’s fun having him there, he’s very sharp.”

Bret Johnson has been coaching with his father for three years, and Vern calls their relationship “kind of a special bond.”

“The other night I know he wasn’t real happy with me, and he thought I should have made a change earlier. Later I said, ‘Are you mad at me?’ He said, ‘Yup. You should have gotten out of that zone earlier.’

“You don’t always get to spend a lot of time with your kids. I have a feeling I won’t be the best coach in the family. He’ll be a lot better than I am.”

Both coaches are taking it a year at a time, enjoying the days with their teams and the competition with friends.

“I hate playing his teams,” Johnson said of Philion. “They just work hard and they’re fundamentally sound. It doesn’t matter how much talent they have or don’t have. You better be ready or you’re going to be taught a lesson.”