Former Penn State assistant and current Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson looks on during the third quarter at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 23, 2019. Joe Hermitt | jhermitt@pennlive.com
Why the Ohio State football team should tell Larry Johnson to retire
For a long time, the Ohio State football program had the best defensive line coach in the country. Larry Johnson was the best recruiter and developer of talent of anyone coaching the big guys up front. He has developed a number of first-round picks since he’s been with the Buckeyes.
Chase Young, Joey Bosa, and Nick Bosa are just some of the first-round picks he’s developed. He’s got an outside shot at adding Jack Sawyer to that list as well. Johnson has done some incredible work since he’s been on staff with the Ohio State Buckeyes.
Johnson is allegedly trying to decide if he wants to return for one more year or not. The Buckeyes are less than a month away from starting Spring practice, and he still hasn’t made a decision. It’s time for them to make it for him. Despite everything he’s done, it’s time for the Buckeyes to tell him to retire.
Why the Ohio State football team needs to tell Larry Johnson to retire
Even though he has now won two national championships with the Buckeyes, he still needs to go. He can’t keep holding Ohio State hostage like this. He’s 73 years old and clearly is not in it 100% anymore. His recruiting has started to slip in recent years as well.
Johnson was part of the reason why the defense was so bad in the Oregon regular season game. After that game, Jim Knowles was finally able to do things the way he wanted, and the defense improved mightily. It seems like Johnson’s way might be a bit antiquated.
Telling Johnson to retire now would give Ohio State a chance to find a replacement before it gets too deep into Spring practice. It would also give them a chance to develop some sort of plan for the future of the defensive line. Waiting another year is prolonging the inevitable.
It’s time for the Buckeyes to do what is very hard. They need to move on from Johnson and start building the future. They’ve done that with every other position on staff, so they need to do it there as well.
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COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day quickly went into offseason mode after a Jan. 20 win against Notre Dame.
He lost defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to Penn State, offensive coordinator Chip Kelly to the Raiders and offensive line coach Justin Frye to the Cardinals.
