Edison coach Johnny Sears on team growth and goals

Edison High coach Johnny Sears at practice on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026.

ANTHONY GALAVIZ

agalaviz@fresnobee.com

Edison High coach Johnny Sears at practice on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. ANTHONY GALAVIZ agalaviz@fresnobee.com

Johnny Sears is entering his third season as the head football coach at Edison High.

The first two years haven’t always been smooth sailing for Sears (1-19), but he understood that building a successful program wouldn’t happen overnight.

Still, Sears has remained optimistic about his Tigers heading into each season, and this year is no different.

Edison returns several key players, giving Sears plenty to build around. That includes transfer quarterback Vernon Lacy, who previously played at McLane.

Lacy’s availability, however, remains uncertain. The Central Section office still must determine whether he is eligible to play this season under transfer rules.

Regardless of the outcome, Sears believes his program is headed in the right direction.

The Bee spoke with Sears about his team’s growth, the quarterback situation, the importance of building a sense of family at Edison and what has him excited about the season ahead.

What have you seen from your team as you head into Week 0?

A: For the most part, I’ve seen growth — growth from last year to this year. If you rewind a year, we weren’t dissecting as much, we weren’t as detailed. Their numbers are a little bit better. My young guys are a year older, so that definitely helps.

From an offensive standpoint, having our guys in another year of a fresh offense, or a second year of the offense, and just the younger guys getting older, understanding the expectations, understanding what it takes to play at 7:30, understanding the division and what it takes and how our league is set up, and just knowing the importance of the fall season.

It ain’t about the summer, it ain’t about the offseason. It’s about how that accumulates to your regular season. So I’ve seen a lot of growth, and that’s kind of the main thing I’ve been trying to push.

Q: After what happened last year, are you using that as motivation heading into this season?

A: Yeah, yeah. We use that as fuel. We want to look forward, probably getting pulled from last year — things like how we need to get better, what aspects of the game we need to get better at as a team and as a coaching staff.

So we used last year as fuel and something to learn from, to make better decisions.

Q: How are you feeling about the makeup of your team so far, especially the size and numbers?

A: Yeah, for sure. Slowly getting bigger. The numbers are slowly creeping in. I’m retaining a lot more kids, which is a great help. This is my number one goal, and so that’s starting to show. I’m really happy with that.

Q: What’s the quarterback situation right now? Do you know who your starter is going to be?

A: So right now, it’s still up in the air. That’s one of the main keys to our team. This is the waiting process for us, but we have to use the next-man-up mentality.

We’re also preparing for the worst-case scenario. In this case, we have our guy. Worst case, we’ll do it by committee and play them.

Q: Is the quarterback situation still waiting on the section office’s decision?

A: Right, right, right.

Q: That’s a tough situation.

A: Yeah, man, it’s a sticky situation. I hate for any kid to go through this. Right now, we’re in high school, so it’s family and kids’ choices. I would like more people to think that way and let them kind of deal with their choices, not interfere.

But, you know, it is what it is. We got his back, we’re in his corner, so he’s home, though. We’re all right.

Q: You’ve got a talented group of kids here, including some of the players you mentioned and sent me on the players to watch list. You’ve got to be pretty excited about what you have.

A: Oh, for sure, for sure. A lot of these kids, I’ve known since like the fifth and sixth grade, sometimes even earlier than that. A lot of kids came my first year as head coach.

So, again, to see the growth, to see the work being put in, to see them buying into the standard here, and to really understand what Edison really means as a whole — I’m excited.

I’m excited because I feel like, no, they’re my kids, but they’re not my kids, but they’re a part of me. I’m trying to get them to understand they are a reflection of the coaches. So what they show on film is what we’re trying to produce.

Q: Just like the back of the jersey says?

A: Family.

Right. And that’s what we’re bringing back to Edison — a sense of family, a sense of community.

That’s why we’re here today having this Black and Gold scrimmage. That’s why we’re trying to get the kids to understand that it’s a whole village that’s behind you.

It’s not just what you’re reading in the news clips or what you see on social media. You have a community behind you, and they love you to death. We gotta put something out there for them to be proud about.

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