In a recent trip to the Tidewater, I had the pleasure of sitting down with legendary high school head coach Lew Johnston. Many of you who follow recruiting closely will recognize that name. Johnston sent a lot of players to Virginia Tech when he was the head coach of Western Branch High School, including Vince Hall and Shyrone Stith.

After his coaching days at Western Branch, Johnston moved on to Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, where he won the State Championship in 2015. He retired following the game, ending a career in coaching that began in 1972.

Not only does Johnston have a State Championship under his belt, and not only did he send a ton of players on to the college level, but he’s also regarded as one of the top Wing-T coaches around.  He’s also one of the nicest guys you’ll meet, and he’s got a ton of recruiting stories.

Johnston took over as the head coach at Western Branch in 1985. Though his interactions with Tech were few and far between in his early tenure, things began to pick up in the early 1990s. His relationship with Frank Beamer began with the recruitment of Jeff Holland in 1991.

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