BEULAH — The Bobcats now have a new athletic director.

Adam Johnson has accepted the role at Beulah High School in addition to becoming the new assistant principal.

“I’m super excited,” Johnson said. “I actually only live about 10 miles from there, it’s right across the long bridge. Once this opportunity opened up, I was excited to jump in and take a shot at it.”

Johnson comes from 7A Smiths Station, where he served as athletic director for 15 years. 

“Thank you,” Johnson said as his message to Smiths Station. “They took me in 2004, I was coaching across the river in Columbus, Georgia. They took me in 2004, I raised my kids there, coached several different sports, I was able to give all three of my kids their diplomas. Thank you. That’s a special place, too. I’m blessed to be here, and that’s a great position out there. Timing’s everything and when this position came open, I felt the Lord pulling me this way.”

He said that once his youngest daughter graduated from the school, he became open to the idea of going to another school.

Johnson said that he felt in love with the Beulah community atmosphere last fall when he came down to support former Smiths Station assistant and the- Beulah head football coach Cody Flournoy in the Bobcats’ first-round playoff game.

“[The 7A level] is exciting, we go play at a lot of great venues against a lot of great talent,” Johnson said. “The sheer numbers almost turn it into an impersonal environment. When I came out [to Beulah], everybody knew everybody, it was a welcoming feeling. When I gave my daughter her diploma last year, I looked at those seniors and I didn’t know half of those kids. That bothered me. [Smiths Station] lost two young ladies last year during the school year that I was really close to, and the Lord took them away too early. I felt like I didn’t want to miss any other opportunity with any other kids.”

Johnson and his family don’t have to move for his new job, and he said that he’s ready to get started with all of the teachers and coaches at Beulah High School.

Johnson received his master’s degree from Auburn University in 2008 and his specialist degree from the University of West Alabama in 2015. 

He is replacing longtime Beulah athletic director Richard Brown, who recently accepted a job to become the principal at his alma mater of Beauregard High School.

There is no relation between Johnson and new Beulah head football coach Matt Johnson.