Faith, family and excellence are the core values exemplified by the recipients of the Ed Thomas Award. Presented in memory of Coach Ed Thomas ’72, who inspired and motivated athletes through these guiding principles, the award honors individuals who carry forward his legacy.
This year’s recipient, to be honored at Homecoming ’26, is Cornel Johnson, a 1983 graduate of William Penn University with a degree in Physical Education. Johnson is a well-known figure in New York City High School track & field with over four decades of sustained excellence, championship success and athlete development.
Johnson founded the DeWitt Clinton Girls Track & Field Program in 1984 at DeWitt Clinton High School, Bronx, NY and served as Head Coach along with being a legendary Physical Education Teacher. A 1979 graduate of DeWitt Clinton High School, Johnson is best known for his continuing contributions to Clinton’s girls track program.
His personal accolades include being a 3-time New York City Coach of the Year in 1996, 1997 and 2011. He was inducted into the DeWitt Clinton High School Hall of Fame in 2004. More recently, Johnson was inducted into the New York City Coaches Hall of Fame in 2019. Part of the honor that evening was the presentation of the award by Comedian Tracy Morgan who wanted to express thanks to a man, who years earlier, had helped shape his future. Morgan was a tailback on DeWitt Clinton’s team when Johnson was the team’s linebacker coach. “He always inspired me to do my best and keep pushing. To Coach Johnson’s current athletes, run and never give up – this is life, it isn’t just track,” Morgan related to the audience.
Let’s take a look at the strength of Johnson’s leadership on the track: there are 5 Indoor New York City Team Championships, 4 Outdoor New York City Team Championships and 48 Bronx Borough Team Championships in Indoor, Outdoor and Cross Country.
His athletes tallied at the state and national level 40 New York State Championship Medalists, 2 New York State Individual Champions, 1 New York State Championship Relay, 13 National Medalists, 3-time All-Americans and 2 Olympians.
Continuing on, the recognition of individual and relay titles, Johnson coached 11 New York City Championship Relays, 51 Individual New York City Champions, 55 Freshman City Champions, 62 Sophomore City Champions, 14 Freshman City Championship Relays, 10 Sophomore City Championship Relays, 359 Bronx Individual Champions and 112 Bronx Championship Relays.
In 2019-2020 Johnson was nominated for the Big Apple Award. He pushed the message of ‘Pride, Determination, Quality’ on all his student athletes. “Developing every aspect in a young athlete, it’s the thrill of the whole thing,” Johnson stated.
He and his wife, Nadine live in New City, NY.
Congratulations Coach Cornel Johnson!