The Coach Who Changed a Young Man's Life With One Decision | Coach Jim Johnson

Welcome to the Legacy All-Stars Podcast. We feature inspirational stories from people who dedicate themselves to helping others. Here is your host, Alan Pavlosky.

Welcome back, everybody. This is the Legacy All-Stars Podcast. I'm your host, Alan Pavlosky, and today I have the honor of sitting down with someone whose story has literally moved the world. Coach Jim Johnson spent over 30 years building winning high school basketball programs in Rochester, New York. Compiling 428 victories, turning 3 losing programs into champions, and earning Coach of the Year honors multiple times over. But on February 15th, 2006, something happened that no playbook could have ever scripted. Coach Jim decided to put his autistic team manager, a young man named Jason McGalway, known to everyone as J-Mac, into the final home game of the season. What happened next sent an entire gymnasium, the entire world, into an unforgettable frenzy. J-Mac scored 20 points in just over 4 minutes. I mean, that's good for an NBA player all day long, right? Draining 6 3-pointers and became an instant national celebrity. The story went viral. Coach Jim and J-Mac appeared on the Oprah Winfrey Show and the Jim Rome Show. J-Mac won the ESPY Award for best sports moment. They were welcomed to the White House and met NBA legend Magic Johnson. And it all started with one leader, Coach Jim, who chose to see potential where others might have seen only limitations. Since retiring from coaching, Coach Jim has taken his message of inspirational leadership to corporations, sports organizations, universities, and associations across the country, sharing his 7 keys to leadership built over a lifetime on the court. His keynote, Dreams Really Do Come True, challenges audiences to think bigger, lead better, and win more in their organizations, their communities, and their lives. On Legacy All-Stars, we celebrate people who use their success as a force for good. Coach Jim Johnson is a fine example of that. Coach Jim, welcome to the show.

Thank you. I'm looking forward to this.

Yeah, I've been looking forward to it myself. I remember seeing the video. Just for context for my audience, I saw the video when it first came out, and I was absolutely brought to tears by it. So after you listen to this episode and watch this episode, if you get a chance, definitely pull up on YouTube, find the clip, or find it on Coach Jim's website, and you will be amazed at what happened. And we're going to talk about it today. So let's talk about the night that changed everything. Set the scene for us. February 15th, 2006. What was it about Jason McElwain or McElwain that made you decide to put him in the game that night, and what did you hope would happen?

Well, to give you context, Jason tried out for our team 3 consecutive years. He's on the autism spectrum, and when he was in high school, he was very, very small in stature. And, and to be frank with you, being a basketball coach for a long time, he wasn't a very good player. But man, did he this big heart. And so he tried out for our junior varsity. I was the head coach as a sophomore, didn't make the team, but our JV coach asked him to be their manager. And I saw, because many games the JVs and varsity would play back to back, so he would end up sitting on the bench for both games. And I just admired the kid's passion. So what really touched me was after his sophomore year, he came to all our offseason workouts. He wanted to make the team as a junior, and he tried out and he didn't make the team, but I offered the team manager, and he just embraced the role. And at that point, to give you context, Alan, I was known as kind of a coach that was successful as far as wins and losses, but I was the famous coach that couldn't win the big one. We would keep losing postseason tournament. And Jason embraced that. He knew that about me. In fact, at our first team meeting his junior year, he raised his hand in our first meeting. I said, "Yes, Jason?" He says, "Coach, we know you've never won the Section V Championship." I said, "Well, thanks, Jason." He called you out like that, huh? Yeah, he did. I said, "Thanks for the reminder." And he said, "Well, we're gonna help you win it this year because we're gonna embrace this slogan, 'Stay focused.'" And we had a good season. I took the team, led them to a semifinal appearance for actually the 6th time in my career. And we lost at the buzzer to our crosstown rival. I remember losing it at home. My wife, she had never seen me that night. I was thinking I just wasn't the right person. But Jason inspired me, Ellen, because he came to everything again and tried out his senior year. And so when he, during tryouts, I brought him in, I said, "Jason, unfortunately not quite good enough to make the team." You could see he was really disappointed 'cause it was 3 years in a row. I said, "But I wanna give you a gift 'cause your loyalty and commitment." And the gift was, I'm gonna put you in uniform for our final home game where we honor the seniors. So you'll go through senior night. And to see him that night being honored was really cool. But what was crazy, I wrote a book about it called "A Coach in America." Alan, the first 6 weeks of the season was the most difficult of my career. We really had a severed team and I nearly resigned if it wasn't for my wife and my staff. 'Cause I was a big quote guy. They said, "Coach, you always say when the going gets tough, the tough get going. It is time for you to step up." So I hung in there, but it was a really difficult first half of the season. But fortunately we finally got it going and we actually won 8 of our last 9 games going into our final game, which was our home game and senior night. And to see Jason in uniform and embracing his parents for the game was something I will always cherish. It was really special in my heart. Well, The game goes on and we, uh, we build up some little lead. And my thought process, Alan, is I wanted to get him in with enough time so he could score a basket. I thought if he could score a basket, that's a memory he'll cherish for the rest of his life. So I put him on just over 4 minutes to go, and the place went bananas. But what I didn't know is we had a student body following. They called themselves the Six Men. And when Jason walked on the court for the first time, they gave him a standing ovation. But what I didn't know, and Jason didn't know this either, is one of our parents— he was kind of our unofficial photographer. He made all these pictures of Jason's face and gave them to the, the student body and put them on paint sticks that were like placards. So when Jason enters the court, they show these pictures, and I get so overwhelmed with emotion, Alan. I sat down, which I rarely did in games, and tears start flowing down my face. I'm super touched. The game begins. The first time we have the ball when he's in the game, he gets a 3-pointer from the corner, and I kind of glance, and we had a fairly good crowd, about 900 people there, and you could see everybody raise as he lets his 3 go. Alan, it misses by like 6 feet. And I kid people, I know you're not supposed to pray in the public schools, but dear God, I was praying, please help him. Well, the next possession, he has a much shorter shot from about 10 feet, and this time he lets it go. It hits the backboard, hits the rim, and falls off. And the crowd groans, but I'm thinking, all right, God's starting to listen, we're getting closer. Third possession, he has another 3 from the right wing, he lets it go. This time, magic, it goes in. The place erupts. I'm thinking to myself, God must be a basketball fan. At least he scored. He's got a 3-pointer. It can't get any better than this, right? Wrong. Well, the next time he comes down, he makes another 3. Then he makes a 2 where actually his foot is on the line. I'm gonna fast forward, then I'll come back and close the story. 6 months after that, you mentioned Jason was at the ESPYs. He was up for the greatest sports moment of the year. And I kid you not, Alan, his idol was the late Kobe Bryant. Jason used to sign his name Jason J. Mac Kobe McElwain. That's how much he loved Kobe Bryant. Well, at the ESPYs, one of the other finalists for the same award is Kobe Bryant. Kobe had scored 81 points in a game for the Lakers that year, and so he beats his idol, that he beats him out of the ESPY. Well, how did he do that? He didn't just make a couple shots, he started making shot after shot, and the place is just going crazy. And the two things I'll never forget, without a minute to go, I'm sitting on I can't believe what I'm witnessing. And tears are still flowing down my face. And I get a tap on my shoulder and I'm shocked. I look behind me and it's Jason's mother and she's bawling her eyes out. And she whispers in my ear, "Coach, this is the best gift you could ever give my son." Of course, I don't know what you would've done, Alan. I cried harder.

Oh, I'm a softie, man. I would've bawled my eyes out. I'm not gonna lie.

I'm crying my eyes out. And then this is actually how the game ends. Our opponent, I want to give kudos to their coach and the team, it was called Spencerport High School. They were really good sports that night. They score with about 10 seconds to go and our player takes it out of bounds and normally he throws it to our point guard, but for some unknown reason he throws it to J-Mac. And it's the only time J-Mac had ever dribbled. He's dribbling down the court and I'm looking at the clock and it's 5, 4, and I thought they were just gonna let him go in and make like a short layup. Oh no, he slows down, he pulls up like 2 feet behind the arc and I'm thinking, don't shoot from there, Jason, you're gonna ruin the moment. He launches this this rainbow, swish. I look over and it was like the scene out of Rudy. The whole gym ran on the floor. Our players put him up on their shoulders and he's got the game ball over his head. At that point, I had no idea how many points he had. And our public address announcer comes on and says, the leading scorer for Greece-Athenians tonight, J-Mac, with 20 points in less than 4 minutes. That's pretty good.

There's not too many pros I've ever seen do something like that other than maybe Kobe and a few others, but yeah. Pretty incredible.

Yeah.

You know, the story exploded overnight. And again, I remember seeing the story.

Yeah.

You would be on Oprah, the White House, the ESPY. How did your life and Jason's life change in the days that followed?

Well, it did get crazy. It wasn't quite overnight, but it was pretty quick. So here's what happened. I was not a marketer and, you know, I was a high school teacher and coach, right? So, but in my heart I felt they did for all the reason, right reasons. We had no idea. No media there at the game. It was all— it wasn't set up or anything. But I did have to call it in our local newspaper back then, and they would usually do a box score and sometimes a small article. But they didn't think that much of it. They mentioned that we won our league championship, and they barely mentioned about Jason scoring. What, you know, you talk about the famous 'it takes a village.' Jason's speech pathologist had worked with Jason for 4 years. He had never come to a game, but Jason told him you might get in. So he, the next day, called one of our local TV stations, said, "You gotta borrow this video. It's the greatest thing I've ever seen in sports." And so they called me and they borrowed the video and then he showed it that night. And then within 2 days, it spread like wildfire. And then, so the crazy thing is we're going into our postseason tournament. The tournament, as a coach, I was never able to lead a team to a championship. And now the phones are ringing off the hook. I mean, at home, at school, it was just crazy. And of course, we're trying to prepare. And the crazy thing is now Jason's got to go back as our team manager because he had to play in 6 regular season games to be able to qualify in the postseason roster. Yet he embraces it, you know. And, and we get by my obstacle. We ended up winning the semifinal game after being down by 6 in the fourth quarter. And then in the Championship game, we played arena downtown and we're not a basketball hotbed. I mean, you know, like most places in the country, you know, people like sports, but our arena seats about 10,000 normally for championship. We have different classes, so there's like 5 games there. And we got there, we were the second last game. And when I got in, because we had gotten so much media attention, the place was sold out. And of course we start the championship game, we're down 13 to 2.

And so, but not exactly what you wanted, right?

But our kids just were resilient. They hung in there and Jason kept encouraging them and we ended up rallying and winning the game with a late 3-pointer. And so we ended up winning the championship for the first time as well. So that was kind of the cherry on top. But, uh, yeah, the one thing, you know, I do a lot of like talking about how to build championship team culture in one of my presentations. And, you know, the coolest thing, Alan, that touched my heart so deeply about Jason's game was the other 4 players on the court. I never asked them to pass the ball. Out of their own hearts, they decided they passed the ball.

I was going to ask you about that because I remember in my background reading that that was one of the factors. So yeah, that was going to be one of my questions.

Yeah, he passed them every time. In fact, I still kid Jason when, you know, this day I still live very close to him, and I said, Jason, I'm still looking for your first assist. You didn't pass the ball once. But, uh, but it was, you know, and then Jason actually came back and volunteered my program my last 9 years, and we won 5 more championships together. So he was my good luck charm. But nothing ever touched my heart like that night. Just something I'll cherish to the day I die.

So yeah, let's get back to the teammates kept passing him the ball.

Yeah.

And they were never told to do that. And one of the things that I want to hear from you is, what does that tell us about the culture you built on that team?

Well, you know, one of the things I do talk about is how to build, you know, championship team culture. And what I learned about culture is it's built daily. You know, it's not the signs on the wall. We had that, you know, in our core values. But it's really more than that. It's, you know, what you as a coach or a leader, in my case, you know, the head of the basketball program, what I teach, what I model, and what I'm consistent with my words and actions. You know, one of the things I talk about is how to build trust. I encourage leaders to have an intentional trust plan. And we took over, you know, 3 different 3 programs that we were able to turn around. And what we did is really focused on how we were going to build, because the 3 programs had all been losing. So, you know, and when you take over a losing situation, there's a lot of negative mindset. And so we really focused on how we could start to build that bridge of trust so that our players believe in what we're doing. So that was the thing that I was really proud of, because as I mentioned, it was a very difficult first half of the season, but we just kept after it. And, you know, and things started to finally click. And that was something that I think, you know, and I talked to leaders about building, you know, a great culture, is that I think it's two things. I think it's consistency and challenging. So what I mean by consistency is they know that we cared about them day in and day out, but they also knew it was not easy to play in our program. We put a lot of high expectations, so we didn't lower the bar, we raised the bar. But at the same time, they did know as much as we're pushing them very hard that we did care about them very deeply.

Yeah. I have a question about the relationship with Jason. You managed him as a team manager for 2 full seasons before that night. As a leader, what do you look for in people that others might overlook?

You know, it's a great question because one of the things that we really tried to figure out is how to put the right players on our team. And even if we were picking team managers. And the one thing that's hard, but it's something that I really try to learn as much about, you know, building relationships, is how much do they have passion for the game? Because when you love something, you're willing to put up with a lot. And the other thing is, do they have a caring heart? So, you know, we talked about that we were looking for people that love the game of basketball, but the other love was they love people, you know, that they are a we over me guy. And so that's what I was really admired about Jason was the fact that he, you know, he loved the team. The players loved him because he was always willing to stay after and, you know, and help people. He'd rebound for him. He'll do anything to help one of the team members or the team in general. And so that's what really attracted to me. And then I guess the other thing is the commitment to excellence. You know, here's a young man, I I've never had in my 30 years other than Jason, someone try out 3 years in a row and not make it. And yet he was still willing to be part of us. So that really goes to show his commitment that he wanted to be a part of us, you know?

Yeah, for sure. You do a lot of keynotes and speaking, and you challenge audiences to think bigger, lead better, and win more.

Yeah.

What does that philosophy connect back to what happened on that night with J-Mac?

Well, you know, one of my speeches is Dreams Really Do Come True. And what really was the epiphany of that is, Alan, when I got to think about it, I believe most people have a big dream. I also believe that most people believe that big dream can't come true. And I think what I really learned from Jason is, you know what, there's miracles that happen every day. And I believe, you know, my book's called The Coaching Miracle, so I do believe I the miracle. But the, the key is, is that giving people an opportunity and teaching them what it takes day in and day out, you know, like one of the things we always talked about with our players— I coached boys basketball— was what are you doing in the unseen hours? Are you willing to do the extra work? Are you willing to have the discipline, the, you know, not drink alcohol or be in drugs because that's going to affect your play? Are you hanging around found the right people. You know, that was one thing we're trying to, to teach our young people each day. And that was the one thing that I really admired about Jason, is that the kids felt he was part of us, you know, even though he wasn't a regular player, because he had a giving heart and he was there every day, you know, day in and day out. You could count on him.

Yeah. Well, let's talk about Jason one more time. And yeah, where is he today? And when you see his life and how it's unfolded, what does that mean to you as the person who you gave that moment to?

Well, it's really nice and I'm proud because Jason has done a lot of things with his life. He's grown now, he's 6'2", about 175. He was 5'9", 150 pounds in that game. He actually worked at a local grocery store this big in— they started in Rockshire, but I think it's in 9 or 10 states on the East Coast called Wegmans. And then he actually, a number of years ago, he ended up going back. He's working for the school district as a bus monitor, but he He also does his own social media and he volunteered my program for my last 9 years when I retired in 2016. So he actually goes around to the local colleges and high schools and he interviews players and coaches and he loves it. He calls it the J-Mac Show. And nice. He also is involved with some of the, like he coached at one of the local high schools. He did their 9th grade baseball team and then he helps out, you know, as a volunteer at one of the local colleges for their men's basketball team. And so he's just— he loves sports. Basketball is his number one love. But, you know, he's also become an avid runner. So he's run the Boston Marathon 3 times. He's broke 3 hours. So he, he's done a lot of amazing things in his life.

Yeah, I mean, people like that have an innate sense, I think, of what they're capable of. And maybe it took what you did with him to unlock that. Yeah, it sounds like he was just gifted in terms of his desire.

Yeah, yeah. And that's the thing, you know, we talked about that briefly, is that's hard to measure, but that's something as you get to know your people is do they have that real desire to be the best they can be? You know, I found this with some players that were really talented, but they just didn't have what it took inside, you know. And, um, or there are other people that didn't have nearly the talent, but because of that inner desire, you know, they really achieved quite a bit.

So Yeah, yep. You often talk about positioning people to receive opportunities. I love that because that's something I try to live by. How do you define that as a leader, and is it something that can be taught?

I do, you know, I think it starts with clarity of your expectations. I think as a leader, the first thing is, you know, I kid people in my leadership presentations, who's the first person you got to lead? And of course it's you. So I, you know, I teach people about how to get clarity on what your personal mission statement, you know, same Simon Sinek made that famous with, you know, Why book. And then getting clarity of what you are all about, what you stand for, and giving clarity to the people that you're working with. There's business, in my case was a basketball team, you know, and I oversaw the whole program. So I had a staff and, you know, in teaching them, you know, like what our core values What are those behaviors that we are expecting day in and day out of building that culture? And then really, when I first started coaching, you know, I came across as this real badass. And it's like, you know, you got to be who you are. And who I am is, yes, I'm demanding and I expect a lot of myself and I expect a lot of the people that I'm leading. But at the same time, I'm a very caring person. I want to see people be successful. And so What you're really doing as a leader is finding out what are their strengths and how can you put people in positions so they can excel with their strengths.

Yeah, for sure. Well, let's see if we can move the needle for our audience here. For those watching and listening, if somebody feels stuck right now, maybe they feel like they're on the bench of life, what does Coach Jim Johnson tell them?

Well, I'm big into personal growth. So I truly believe there are two huge things to answer that question. Number one is, what are you consistently feeding your mind? You know, I'm quite a positive guy, you know, but we all have negative. But is that I consistently— I'm an avid reader, I read almost a book a week. I'm a big podcast junkie, so I gotta start listening to your Alan's podcast more. Uh, I listen to a ton of them, and I'm always feeding my And when I was growing up younger, it used to be cassette tapes. You know, I was big into Zig Ziglar and Jim Rohn and Tony Robbins. Same. And, you know, Les Brown and the list goes on and on. So, I think that's where it starts is where you're feeding your mind. And the second thing is being very aware of who you're surrounding yourself with. And I always used to challenge our players, are the people that you're associating the most hindering you or helping you from where you want to go in life? And then, you know, getting clarity of, you know, what they want, you know, what are their goals and how can you help them in building a team. I think one of the major keys as a leader is understanding each person's individual goals, but how do they fit into the team goals? That's why I believe one-on-one meetings are so important.

Yeah, that's well said. I totally agree with all that. I've been an avid consumer of all those books, all those writers that you mentioned, and those speakers that you mentioned. I believe very strongly in filling up your mind with as much positive as you can so there's no room for the negative to get in. Because you're right, we all do have some negative thoughts that creep into our mind at times. But the more you pump in there is positive, the, the more you're going to push that negative thought out, and abundance just happens at that point, right? Yeah. You've taken 3 losing programs and turned them into a success. What was the first thing you do when you walk into a broken culture?

So two things is really, number one is I think you have to go on a listening tour. So I believe, you know, one of the things that I really tried to do is meet, you know, in my case, the basketball players, the staff, you know, if I had to hire new staff and getting to know them. And that's where I did a lot of one-on-ones, you know, and asked a lot of questions and try to figure out who is, you know, and trying to find out, you know, do they have a passion for the game of basketball? Basketball? Are they team players? You know, some of the things that we really said. And as you're meeting your people and getting to know them, then it's really establishing, you know, I talked about a personal mission, but we had a team mission. Our mission was to develop winners on and off the court. And as the leader, I kid leaders that you got to be the CRO, the Chief Reminding Officer. So you've got to be living the mission, sharing the mission, and modeling the mission every single day. Because when I talk to leaders, whether in business or athletic teams or whatever, I always think, you know, if your only objective is to win games, I think it's got to be bigger than that. And the same thing in business. If your only objective is to make money— although they're both important, because as a coach, if you don't win games, eventually they're going to ask you not to come back. And as a leader, if you don't, you know, make money, your business is not going to survive. But I truly believe I believe with all the studying I've done of great teams in a great, you know, whether it's business or sports, is that they have a bigger mission and it's something that everybody buys into.

Yeah, yeah, for sure. I would be remiss if I didn't bring up a legacy question because this is Legacy All-Stars after all. What does building a legacy mean to you personally, and what is the one thing you hope someone carries with them after hearing your message?

So it's a good question because, you know, I've been out of coaching for a decade now, and, you know, I'm in late 60s, so I've been around now for a while. And the one thing that I really— the more I've thought about it and the more I've listened to different people is that what I want to do is do the best I can to make a positive impact with what I'm doing now. You know, it's my speaking, and I, I also have a podcast, and I do a lot of different posts. And so I want to help people. You know, I brand myself as an inspirational leader. So the The other part of the question is what I would like the audience to take is number one, find ways, you know, we gave you some ideas with personal growth to inspire yourself each day. Number two is to dream big and then figure out the consistent actions you can take to make those big dreams come true. And, you know, coaching a championship team, that happens all year, what we did. What we did in our offseason workouts, what we did during the season, you know, how we built relationships. Those are all part of the process. You know, we talked a little bit about what are you doing in the unseen hours. You know, as the leader, are you being a great model? You know, I talked to our players about that. I wanted them to be well prepared. Well, that starts with me. If I come in and I'm like, I have no— I had no idea about that our opponent that we're gonna play, or I'm not prepared for practice, you know, then I'm sending a really bad message to my team. But you ask my players, you know, that every day I was prepared. You know, I had written plan of action. You know, everything was trying to be as clear as we possibly can of what our objectives were so we couldn't be successful on the court, but also teaching how they can be successful off the court.

Yeah, for sure. Well, we've come to the end of the episode. I really want to thank you, Coach Jim Johnson. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your intentional nature of how you lead. What you shared today is a reminder of something that sits right at the heart of Legacy All-Stars. That is, the most powerful legacies aren't built through achievement, but through service, through the courage to believe in someone else as well. And you've demonstrated that very clearly with the people that you've inspired. So I really admire that. You gave J-Mac 4 minutes on a basketball court, and in doing so, you gave give the world a story that it will never forget. The programs you've built, the players you develop, the audiences you've inspired from coast to coast, all of it points toward the same North Star, helping people discover what they're truly capable of. That's legacy. And to our audience, I encourage you to visit Coach Jim at coachjimjohnson.com. If you lead a team or run an organization or simply want to be inspired to think bigger, reach out to bring him in. You won't regret it. I'm Alan Pavlosky, and this has been another episode Legacy All-Stars, where we spotlight the people using their success to leave the world better than they found it. We'll see you next time.