Sometimes the call to return home can be too much to resist.

“I hate to equate anything to Lebron James but,” Oak Ridge head coach Clint Johnson said while thinking.

Like the King returned to Cleveland, Clint Johnson was returning to Oak Ridge, the school where he got his start two years ago as an assistant.

“I knew the kids here, and had a relationship with them as well,” he said. “So that made the transition easy.  And I want to see these kids be successful and have some success as well.”

Success was hard to come by for the Pioneers last season. Just 3-7, a big dip from the 9-3 campaign Oak Ridge enjoyed when Johnson was on the sidelines.

“It was really tough,” junior wide receiver Marcus Taylor said. “I had a few conversations with my mom and she was like, I don’t know what you’re going to do next year. So having your mother say that and she doesn’t know a lick of football, that’s pretty rough.”

It may just be the Spring but optimism is high at Oak Ridge. Boosted by a few transfers from Colonial, where Johnson was the head coach last year, the Pioneers have bought in and are ready.

“I don’t care what anybody else says, but we have some serious talent that hasn’t been touched yet,” junior quarterback Darvion Bailey said.

“We have a lot of good athletes on our team this year,” junior wide receiver Kevin Moran said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing them play and playing with them.”

Oak Ridge will face Haines City and Celebration at Celebration on May 19th for their Spring game. But moving forward it’s a rather simple goal Coach Johnson has set out for his team, to compete.

“I know a lot of people are wondering what happened to Oak Ridge, so we’re looking to bring Oak Ridge football back to where it’s supposed to be,” said Johnson.