The Ohio State football program has been waiting on Larry Johnson to decide if he is going to continue coaching. He has been the defensive line coach for the Buckeyes for over a decade. He has been a legendary coach for a long time and has been one of the best defense line coaches in the country.
Now, he is still trying to decide if he wants to coach next season after winning a national championship. Johnson is 73 years old and has been approaching his job on a year-by-year basis. It seems like if he does decide to come back, this will be his last year, regardless.
The Ohio State Buckeyes need to find a succession plan for him. It looks like they may have done that over the weekend. They brought in Tony Washington Jr. as their assistant defensive line coach. Now, the Buckeyes might have a plan that they can execute.
The Ohio State football program may have found their new defensive line coach
Washington Jr. was the defensive line coach for the Bruins before joining the Buckeyes. Now, it doesn't matter if Johnson wants to return this season or not. They have someone who can step in if Johnson decides that he wants to retire, although it seems likely he will stay one more year.
Washington Jr. was also the outside linebackers coach at UCLA, so he has multiple areas of experience. He was also the assistant defensive line coach for Oregon prior to being hired by UCLA. He is someone who is young and hungry, which Ryan Day likes.
It seems like the Buckeyes have finally found their successor to Johnson. It seems very likely that will happen next season once Johnson retires. Everything points to him being back, including the fact that Washington Jr. is only being hired as the assistant defensive line coach.
Ohio State is going to replace its entire starting defensive line next season. Washington Jr. has his work cut out for him. It's good that he'll get to learn from Johnson for a year before possibly taking over the main job.