RICHMOND, Ind. (WTHR) - Another football season is over at Earlham College, a third consecutive winless season. The Quakers have lost 33 games in a row, the longest losing streak at any level in college football. Earlham Head Coach Nick Johnson took over at his alma mater two seasons ago. Johnson is yet to lead his team to victory.
“One of our major messages to our team and our program is perseverance and pushing through adversity,” said Johnson a few days after the season ended. “I often talk to guys about what I consider the wall of adversity. The wall of adversity is too high to climb over. It runs too deep to dig underneath. It so far on either end you can't run around it. You have to break right through."
The adversity for Earlham includes a roster of just 37 players, almost half of them freshmen in an NCAA Division III program that awards no athletic scholarships. The Quakers lost by an average of 38 points a game this season.
"We just get overlooked because of the scoreboard,” said junior quarterback Wes Hundley, who has never won a college game. “But I bet you if you came and played us, you would see that it's just not a pushover game."
Earlham College's football struggles are nothing new. The Quakers have enjoyed just three winning seasons in the last 40 years. The last winning season (6-4) came in 2000, when Coach Johnson was a senior player. Earlham’s last football victory was 21-20 at Anderson University on October 26, 2013.
“I'm not sure if we bring Lou Holtz in here that he has the capability of doing any better than Nick Johnson,” said Earlham Director of Athletics Mike Bergum. “As a former Earlham student athlete, I think that Nick has the capability to turn the program around and put it in the right direction. We see the true grit, the fight, the tenacity of the student athletes wanting to be a part of the program, wanting to rally around a coach, rally around an institution to get better and move forward.”
While Coach Johnson fights for a football victory in Richmond, his wife Melissa fights a bigger battle in a Cincinnati hospital. Serious complications from a hysterectomy two years ago and pancreatitis have left Melissa hospitalized almost continuously since her husband became head coach. Doctors have operated on or removed 13 of her organs. Melissa suffers from major digestive problems.
“Her strength and resiliency is such an inspiration,” said Coach Johnson. “Her toughness is an inspiration. If I get a head cold, I'm done for like two weeks. She has gone through so much and I've seen her in so much pain. She's really been a strong support for me through what I'm going through as a spouse watching this, and as a football coach not being very successful. I'm honored by that and I'm blessed that that's who my spouse is. I think that's important if anyone gets anything out of this is that the bond of marriage is as strong as you make it and my wife works so hard to make it the greatest thing that's ever happened to me.”
Nick and Melissa met at Earlham, both Quakers athletes. He played on the football team. She was a basketball player. They married in 2005 and have two children, Jayden and Jacob. The family visits mom in the hospital as often as possible, which pulls Nick away from the team in Richmond.
“I feel as a football coach somewhat ineffective because we haven't been successful and maybe I haven't always been there 100 percent for our students,” said Coach Johnson. “I would hope that our guys know that they are family to me.”
“Coach Johnson is one of my favorite coaches all time that I've had,” said Hundley. “I believe it's the family aspect, the way that he knows how to take these people from everywhere who may have nothing in common, but you're all just a family and he's always there for you. It makes you want when things are tough and frustrating to keep fighting, because you know you've got someone who is fighting for you every day.”
"We know that he goes through a lot,” said Earlham junior wide receiver Marcaus Cooper, who has never won a college game. “We try our best to not make his job any harder than it has to be."
Melissa was the women’s basketball coach at Earlham until her serious medical issues. She has not been able to come to a football game since Nick took over the program. He hopes she's there when the Quakers finally win.
“That would mean everything, more than the win itself, because it was her inspiration, her idea for me to accept this job,” said Coach Johnson. “I wasn't sure if I was the correct candidate at the time, if that was the right thing or God's will for us. But she had a strong inclination and I'm glad that she did. I think I would regret every day not having done this."
“For us to get a win, that would just...that would change the whole feeling on campus, basically, and the feeling in the locker room,” said Cooper. “It wouldn't feel as if it's for nothing, just in vain."
"Just seeing Coach Johnson go through it, I feel like it gives everybody hope,” said Hundley. “We may have the longest losing record, but I feel next year everything will be different because we finally have a team coming together."
A winless coach keeps football and life in perspective.
“The pressure, the adversity, the difficulty, all the pain and sorrow - all it does is serve to refine you,” said Coach Johnson. “I've been able to praise and be joyful in the midst of the darkest circumstances. I've been able to be happy and enjoy the game of football without the consequence of victory or loss."
This website page tells more about Melissa’s medical issues and collects donations to offset medical costs.
