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Where Are They Now? – Johnnie Sloan
10/21/2019 9:40:00 AM | Football
Over 160 players crowded the Tom Oxley Athletic Center field on Aug. 29, 2000, in hopes of impressing Florida Atlantic University coach Howard Schnellenberger.
To walk-on defensive lineman Johnnie Sloan, Schnellenberger's goal was simple: to find the mentally and physically toughest players for the 2001 inaugural team – and to weed out the rest.
That meant plenty of running and three-hour practices under the unforgiving Boca Raton sun. Many of Sloan's teammates quit. Even Sloan, who thought "I could play at any school in the country," considered it.
"Practicing every day without a game, hitting every day without a game, it was almost to the point where, shoot, I don't know if this football thing is for me," Sloan said.
Sloan didn't need football to pay for college; he came to FAU on a full academic scholarship. Still, he stuck around for the love of the game and the locker room camaraderie – and was eventually rewarded for it. After Sloan's first semester, Schnellenberger awarded him a football scholarship.
Sloan was appreciative of the offer, but also took it as a challenge: he had to produce because Schnellenberger and his teammates counted on him.
"They put me on this level, so I have to perform, I have to show that I'm worth it," Sloan said.
Sloan did that and more in his four seasons at FAU, recording 159 tackles (30.5 for loss), 11 sacks and four forced fumbles over 47 games. He also was voted the team's most improved player his senior year.
Upon his 2004 graduation, Sloan began training for the NFL. He had pro-level production, and the film to back it up. His 6-1, 240-pound frame, however, was well below league average.
So, after a few Arena Football League tryouts, Sloan retired.
"To play a game to say, 'I did it,' wasn't for me," Sloan said. "I felt like I earned a degree, and I'm going to use it."
The only question was how.
Although Sloan performed well academically at FAU, employers were concerned about his lack of job experience. They wanted him to "start at the bottom." And for a health administration major, that meant long, low-paid hours in nursing homes and hospitals.
Sloan wanted no part of that. Instead, he got a job at a summer camp. And shortly into his time there, Sloan fielded a request that completely shifted his career trajectory.
"The supervisor asked me to teach a preschool class, and I was like, 'man, I'm not a teacher, I don't do this; but I'll try it for a period and see how it goes,'" Sloan said. "So, I did that, and fell in love with the kids and what I was doing."
The children clung to Sloan's words. They paid attention to him and followed his directions. Sloan couldn't get enough of the work he was doing. Because for the first time in his life, work didn't feel like work, it felt like an opportunity to make a difference.
"I felt like I was just called to teach," Sloan said.
Sloan proceeded to teach preschool for two years, then middle school for 10. He's now in his fourth year as a math teacher at Coconut Creek High School.
His lessons go beyond fractions and formulas, though. Sloan makes his students keep and update journals to share what's happening in their lives. He also assigns group work to encourage collective success over individual. "That same football mentality," he says.
"My presence changed how kids took on the classroom and their learning, so that was kind of an eye-opener for me," Sloan said.
Sloan's presence is also making a difference on the Coconut Creek football team. He's coached the school's defensive line for as long as he's taught there, showing players the techniques that helped him dominate at FAU.
Above things like hand placement and pad level, though, Sloan is instilling a mindset he learned from Schnellenberger: "no excuses, no exceptions; we make it happen."
And that no-nonsense approach is resonating.
"I feel like these boys would run through a wall for me, and you can't get that everywhere," Sloan said.
Although Sloan loves coaching, his time in that profession may be coming to an end because of his ascension in another. Sloan recently earned his master's degree in educational leadership and plans on soon becoming a school administrator. As a husband and father of five, he knows he can't balance both.
But Sloan believes if this leap of faith is as successful as the one he took at that summer camp 16 years ago, the sacrifice will be well worth it.
"There's always something else to reach, I'm never going to stop," Sloan said. "So I can't be content. Of course I love what I'm doing, I'm appreciative of what I have and even what I've done thus far, but I'm going to keep moving, I'm going to keep going."
To walk-on defensive lineman Johnnie Sloan, Schnellenberger's goal was simple: to find the mentally and physically toughest players for the 2001 inaugural team – and to weed out the rest.
That meant plenty of running and three-hour practices under the unforgiving Boca Raton sun. Many of Sloan's teammates quit. Even Sloan, who thought "I could play at any school in the country," considered it.
"Practicing every day without a game, hitting every day without a game, it was almost to the point where, shoot, I don't know if this football thing is for me," Sloan said.
Sloan didn't need football to pay for college; he came to FAU on a full academic scholarship. Still, he stuck around for the love of the game and the locker room camaraderie – and was eventually rewarded for it. After Sloan's first semester, Schnellenberger awarded him a football scholarship.
Sloan was appreciative of the offer, but also took it as a challenge: he had to produce because Schnellenberger and his teammates counted on him.
"They put me on this level, so I have to perform, I have to show that I'm worth it," Sloan said.
Sloan did that and more in his four seasons at FAU, recording 159 tackles (30.5 for loss), 11 sacks and four forced fumbles over 47 games. He also was voted the team's most improved player his senior year.
Upon his 2004 graduation, Sloan began training for the NFL. He had pro-level production, and the film to back it up. His 6-1, 240-pound frame, however, was well below league average.
So, after a few Arena Football League tryouts, Sloan retired.
"To play a game to say, 'I did it,' wasn't for me," Sloan said. "I felt like I earned a degree, and I'm going to use it."
The only question was how.
Although Sloan performed well academically at FAU, employers were concerned about his lack of job experience. They wanted him to "start at the bottom." And for a health administration major, that meant long, low-paid hours in nursing homes and hospitals.
Sloan wanted no part of that. Instead, he got a job at a summer camp. And shortly into his time there, Sloan fielded a request that completely shifted his career trajectory.
"The supervisor asked me to teach a preschool class, and I was like, 'man, I'm not a teacher, I don't do this; but I'll try it for a period and see how it goes,'" Sloan said. "So, I did that, and fell in love with the kids and what I was doing."
The children clung to Sloan's words. They paid attention to him and followed his directions. Sloan couldn't get enough of the work he was doing. Because for the first time in his life, work didn't feel like work, it felt like an opportunity to make a difference.
"I felt like I was just called to teach," Sloan said.
Sloan proceeded to teach preschool for two years, then middle school for 10. He's now in his fourth year as a math teacher at Coconut Creek High School.
His lessons go beyond fractions and formulas, though. Sloan makes his students keep and update journals to share what's happening in their lives. He also assigns group work to encourage collective success over individual. "That same football mentality," he says.
"My presence changed how kids took on the classroom and their learning, so that was kind of an eye-opener for me," Sloan said.
Sloan's presence is also making a difference on the Coconut Creek football team. He's coached the school's defensive line for as long as he's taught there, showing players the techniques that helped him dominate at FAU.
Above things like hand placement and pad level, though, Sloan is instilling a mindset he learned from Schnellenberger: "no excuses, no exceptions; we make it happen."
And that no-nonsense approach is resonating.
"I feel like these boys would run through a wall for me, and you can't get that everywhere," Sloan said.
Although Sloan loves coaching, his time in that profession may be coming to an end because of his ascension in another. Sloan recently earned his master's degree in educational leadership and plans on soon becoming a school administrator. As a husband and father of five, he knows he can't balance both.
But Sloan believes if this leap of faith is as successful as the one he took at that summer camp 16 years ago, the sacrifice will be well worth it.
"There's always something else to reach, I'm never going to stop," Sloan said. "So I can't be content. Of course I love what I'm doing, I'm appreciative of what I have and even what I've done thus far, but I'm going to keep moving, I'm going to keep going."
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