Phil Johnson (born 1941)
Phil Johnson (born September 6, 1941)
Teams coached: Weber State Wildcats, Kansas City/Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls
Weber State record: 68-16 (.810)
Overall record^: 68-16 (.810)
Career Accomplishments:
- NCAA National Championships: 0
- NCAA Tournament Appearances: 3 (1969, 1970, 1971)
- NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen: 1 (1969)
- NCAA Tournament Final Four: 0
- NIT Championships: 0
- NIT Appearances: 0
- Big Sky Regular Season Champion: 3 (1969, 1970, 1971)
Awards:
- Big Sky Coach of the Year: 3 (1969, 1970, 1971)
- NBA Coach of the Year: 1 (1975)
Coaching Career (head coach, unless noted):
| 1988-2011 | Utah Jazz (asst) |
| 1984-1988 | Kansas City/Sacramento Kings |
| 1982-1984 | Utah Jazz (asst) |
| 1982 | Chicago Bulls (interim HC) |
| 1979-1982 | Chicago Bulls (asst) |
| 1973-1978 | Kansas City Kings |
| 1971-1973 | Chicago Bulls (asst) |
| 1968-1971 | Weber State |
| 1964-1968 | Weber State (asst) |
| 1963-1964 | Utah State (freshmen) |
Phil Johnson Facts
- Philip Donald Johnson
- Born September 6, 1941
- Hometown: Grace, Idaho
- Alma Mater: Utah State University (BS, 1963 & MA, 1964)
- Graduated from Grace HS (ID) and spent one year at Utah State before transferring to Weber JC (now Weber State) in 1960
- Played one year at Weber before transferring back to Utah State, where he finished his career playing for LaDell Andersen
- Started his career coaching the freshmen on Andersen‘s staff, then returned to Weber State as an assistant coach in 1964
- Spent four seasons assisting Dick Motta, who had been his coach at Grace HS in Idaho
- Elevated to head coach in 1968, coaching the Wildcats for three very successful seasons
- Went 68-16 overall, winning the Big Sky and reaching the NCAA Tournament in all three years he was at the helm
- Left Weber in 1968 and spent the rest of his coaching career – which would span another 40 years – in the NBA ranks
- Was an assistant with the Chicago Bulls on two occasions, working under Dick Motta (1971-73) and Jerry Sloan (1979-82) and was the Bulls’ interim head coach for the final game of the 1981-82 season (a loss)
- In between those two stints was a five-year run as the head coach of the Kansas City Kings, going 155-185 from 1973-78
- Named the NBA Coach of the Year in 1975 after going 44-38 and reaching the Conference Semifinals
- Returned to Utah in 1982, spending two seasons as an assistant under Jazz head coach Frank Layden
- Hired again by the Kings in 1984 and served as head coach for another four seasons, including the teams move to Sacramento in 1985
- Went 81-120 during this second stint and just 0-3 in the Playoffs, a first-round sweep by Houston in 1986
- Reunited with Sloan in Utah in 1988, spending the next 23 seasons on his coaching staff there
- Time on the bench included the best seasons in franchise history: back-to-back Western Conference champs in 1997 and 1998
- Stayed with the Jazz until 2011 when Sloan retired; in 23 years together, the Jazz made the Playoffs 20 times
Phil Johnson Coaching Tree
- John Block (Point Loma Nazarene, UC San Diego)
- Mike D’Antoni (Houston Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers, New York Knicks, Phoenix Suns, Denver Nuggets)
- Larry Drew (Cleveland Cavaliers, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks)
- Frank Hamblen (Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks)
- John Kuester (Detroit Pistons, George Washington, Boston University)
- Dan Sparks (Wabash Valley, Vincennes)
- Reggie Theus (Cal State Northridge, Los Angeles D-Fenders, Sacramento Kings, New Mexico State)
- Terry Tyler (Eastern New Mexico)
- Gene Visscher (Northern Arizona, Weber State)
- Mike Woodson (Indiana, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks)
^ overall record includes head coaching positions at the NCAA Division I level only
NOTE: For the coach Phil Johnson that was born in 1958, please see here.
