LaRon Johnson takes over for Jesse Craven as the Head Football Coach of the John Burroughs High School Football Program

It’s a new dawn for the John Burroughs Bears Football Program with LaRon Johnson being named the new Head Football Coach. He takes over the position vacated by Jesse Craven, who left Burroughs for a head coaching position at Westlake High. Craven, this past season, led the Bears to a Pacific League Championship. Still, the playoff run was short-lived with Burroughs suffering an early exit from the CIF Southern Section Playoffs with a loss to Agoura in the opening round of the postseason. Johnson spent the last two seasons as the Head Football Coach at La Puente High School, and last fall he guided the Warriors to a 2nd place finish in the Miramonte league with an 8-3 overall record and 2-1 in league play.

Before his head coaching stint with the Warriors, Johnson coached at Pasadena High School (Wide Receivers Coach), Mark Keppel High School (Offensive Coordinator), and La Canada (JV Head Coach/Varsity Wide Receivers Coach). In addition to his head football coaching duties with Burroughs High, Johnson will also serve as the school’s head track and field coach.

Johnson will be tasked to get Burroughs to repeat as Pacific League champions. One of the early key decisions he will have to make is who will be the starting quarterback for the varsity squad for the 2024 season. The quarterback competition will be between sophomores, Brandon Chaparo and Sean Ghaman, junior Frankie Tapia, and possibly senior Rocco Melillo. Mellio has versatility since he also plays tight end and defensive line for the team.

“I’m super excited. I’m glad that I’m at a place like Burroughs because this is an elite program with elite players but this season we will be a young team which will be part of the process,” the new Bears coach said. Johnson admitted that Chaparo, Ghaman, and Tapia will all fight for the starting quarterback job on the varsity squad, and he won’t reveal the starting quarterback until the night of the Week 1 showdown with Hart.

“We went through an extensive interview process that included student and parent feedback. We felt that Coach LaRon Johnson was the right person for the job,” said Burroughs Assistant Principal of Athletics and Activities Jessica Palaski. Palaski admitted that he will become a valuable member of the Bears family.

Burroughs football will begin training for the 2024 season on Monday, June 10th, leading to their first game of the 2024 season against Hart High School on Friday, August 30th with kick-off slated for 7 p.m.