Ohio State Football: What is the succession plan for Larry Johnson?
Ohio State football’s defensive line coach Larry Johnson is not just the best defensive line coach in college football, but he may as well be the best individual position coach in the entire country, too. Hired in 2014, Johnson has garnered the reputation of being the best at developing defensive linemen and turning them into NFL draft picks. Here’s a breakdown of all the defensive linemen he’s developed in Columbus.
Class of 2013 (arrived one year before Johnson):
Joey Bosa: 4-star DE, 1st-round draft pick, NFL ROY
Michael Hill: 4-star DT
Donovan Munger: 4-star DT
Tracy Sprinkle: 3-star DE
Class of 2014:
Jalyn Holmes: 4-star DE, 4th-round draft pick
Sam Hubbard: 4-star DE, 3rd-round draft pick
Dylan Thompson: 3-star DE, transferred to Virginia
Darius Slade: 3-star DE, transferred to Arizona State & USF
Class of 2015:
Jashon Cornell: 4-star DE, 7th-round draft pick
Dre’Mont Jones: 4-star DE, 3rd-round draft pick
Robert Landers: 3-star DT
Joshua Alabi: 3-star DE (moved to OT)
Rashod Berry: 3-star DE (moved to TE)
DaVon Hamilton: 3-star DT, 3rd-round draft pick
Class of 2016:
Nick Bosa: 5-star DE, 1st-round draft pick, NFL ROY
Jonathon Cooper: 4-star DE, 7th-round draft pick
Malik Barrow: 4-star DT, transferred to Rutgers
Class of 2017:
Chase Young: 5-star DE, 1st-round draft pick, NFL ROY
Haskell Garrett: 4-star DT, senior at Ohio State
Jerron Cage: 4-star D, senior at Ohio State
Class of 2018:
Taron Vincent: 5-star DT, junior at Ohio State
Tyreke Smith: 4-star DE, senior at Ohio State
Tommy Togiai: 4-star DT, 4th-round draft pick
Tyler Friday: 4-star DT, senior at Ohio State
Antwuan Jackson: 4-star DT, senior at Ohio State
Alex Williams, 3-star DE, transferred to Vanderbilt
Class of 2019:
Zach Harrison: 5-star DE, junior at Ohio State
Noah Potter: 4-star DE, RS sophomore at Ohio State
Jaden McKenzie: 3-star DT, RS sophomore at Ohio State
Class of 2020:
Darrion Henry-Young: 4-star DT, RS freshman at Ohio State
Jacolbe Cowan: 4-star DT, RS freshman at Ohio State
Ty Hamilton: 3-star DE, sophomore at Ohio State
Class of 2021:
JT Tuimoloau: 5-star DE, freshman at Ohio State
Jack Sawyer: 5-star DE, freshman at Ohio State
Mike Hall: 4-star DT, freshman at Ohio State
Tyleik Williams: 4-star DT, freshman at Ohio State
To sum up, that is 14 defensive linemen that have been coached by Larry Johnson their whole careers at Ohio State without transferring or moving positions. Out of those 14, 10 of them were NFL Draft picks. That’s a darn good track record, and it explains how Coach Johnson can get basically whatever recruits he wants to come and play for the Ohio State football program.
The Ohio State defensive line over the past 8 years that Larry Johnson has been a part of has always been known as a major strength of the program. But it’s time we start looking towards the future and ask the question: what are we going to do when he retires?
Coach Johnson is currently 69 years old, and at some point, his run as the best position coach in the country will come to an end. Will the Buckeyes be able to keep up the pace in recruiting & sending them to the NFL? Teams like Penn State and Clemson have been using Coach Johnson’s age against the Buckeyes in recruiting battles for a while now.
https://twitter.com/jbook37/status/942563397853356032
Factor in the underwhelming development to date of Zach Harrison and Tyreke Smith, and it seems we may be inching closer and closer to the finish line for Coach Johnson, and it’s just a matter of time until those retirement speculations become true.
As far as a succession plan? Obviously, it’s hard to predict who the best candidate would be to take over, but I imagine Coach Johnson would have some say in who he thinks would be able to take over without dropping off. That being said, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s someone that’s worked under Coach Johnson before & has seen close up what it takes to coach at his level.
That means Randall Joyner would probably be the first candidate getting an interview. Joyner was a grad assistant with the Ohio Setate football team under Johnson in 2016 & 2017, then became the Defensive line coach at SMU before being hired this offseason for the same position at Ole Miss for Lane Kiffin. While at SMU in 2019, Joyner’s Mustang D-linemen ranked #1 in all of college football in sacks per game & was top-3 in tackles for loss.
SOURCE: #SMU DL coach Randall Joyner is expected to become the new defensive line coach at Ole Miss. In 2019, SMU ranked No. 1 in the FBS for sacks per game and in the top three in TFLs. In 2020, SMU was No. 15 in TFLs. The move was first reported by football scoop.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 28, 2021
After Joyner left the Ohio State football program to become SMU’s D-Line coach, Ohio native Kenny Anunike took over his GA position & worked the two years of 2018 & 2019 under Coach Johnson before being hired as the defensive line coach for Fordham University. Buckeye defensive linemen were never shy of singing Anunike’s praises, as current DE Tyler Friday even said he’d be a worthy successor for Coach Johnson whenever the time comes.
Vince Oghobaase is another name that may get some consideration. A GA under Johnson in 2014 & 2015, he has since had stops as a defensive line coach for the San Francisco 49ers, UCLA, and now at Boston College under Jeff Hafley.
Next. Ohio State Football: Path to CFP becoming clearer. dark
Regardless of who gets hired, they will have some very large, Hall of Fame type shoes to fill. And if the Buckeyes want to maintain their reputation of having some of the best D-linemen in college football and the NFL, going with one of these three guys from the Larry Johnson coaching tree would be the best way to do it.