Larry Johnson (born c. 1952) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

defensive line and associate head coach for the

Ohio State Buckeyes football The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in ...

team. Prior to joining Ohio State, he served as an assistant football coach at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

from 1996 to 2013. Johnson was a

high school football High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, part ...

coach in the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

area from 1983 to 1993. He is the father of former

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

Larry Johnson and former Penn State wide receiver Tony Johnson.

Playing career

A native of

Williamston, North Carolina Williamston is a town in Martin County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 5,511 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Martin County and is located in North Carolina's Inner Banks region. The closest major city is Greenvill ...

, Johnson was a standout

linebacker Linebacker (LB) is a playing position in gridiron football. Linebackers are members of the defensive team, and line up three to five yards behind the line of scrimmage and the defensive linemen. They are the "middle ground" of defenders, p ...

Elizabeth City State University Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is a public historically black university in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. It enrolls nearly 2,500 students in 28 undergraduate programs and 4 graduate programs and is a member-school of the Thurgood Mars ...

,Coaching Database - Larry Johnson
rivals.com earning NAIA

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

honors there in 1973. Johnson was initiated as a member of

Iota Phi Theta Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. It was founded on September 19, 1963, at Morgan State University (then Morgan State College) in Baltimore, Maryland, and is currently the 5th largest Black Greek Le ...

fraternity while attending Elizabeth City State.

High school coaching career

A legendary prep coach in the state of

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, Johnson was a six-time coach-of-the-year, and architect of one of the winningest football programs in the Maryland public school system. From 1977 to 1991, Johnson's teams at Maurice J. McDonough High School in

Pomfret, Maryland Pomfret is a census-designated place in Charles County, Maryland, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 514. There are five properties in the area that are on the National Register of Historic Places. The origins of the sett ...

were annually ranked among the top squads in the

Washington, DC metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

. In his final eight years, the Ram dynasty amassed an 82-10 record, made eight consecutive appearances in the state playoffs, were 8–2 in championship games and captured three Division 3A state championships (1983, 1985, and 1990). His overall record as head coach was 139–36. From 1992 to 1993, Johnson was head coach at T. C. Williams High School in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in the northern region of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Downto ...

(made famous by the film ''

Remember the Titans ''Remember the Titans'' is a 2000 American biographical sports film produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and directed by Boaz Yakin. The screenplay, written by Gregory Allen Howard, is based on the true story of coach Herman Boone, portrayed by Denzel W ...

''). He was hired by his brother AK Johnson, the school's athletic director.

College coaching career

Penn State

Johnson was the defensive line coach at Penn State from 2000 to 2013. From 1996 to 1999 he served as the Nittany Lions'

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formation (American football), formations over the years have substantially ...

s and

special teams In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitu ...

coach. In that time, Johnson developed a reputation for being a premier blue chip recruiter, consistently landing top talent from the mid-Atlantic states. He was instrumental in the development of five first-team

ns there:

Devon Still Devon Joshua Still (born July 11, 1989) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft. He played college football at Penn State Nittany Lions football, Penn State, ...

, first-round NFL draft choices

Tamba Hali Tamba Boimah Hali (born 3 November 1983) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State), where he earned All-American honors, and was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs in the fi ...

, Michael Haynes, and

Jimmy Kennedy James Kennedy (20 July 1902 – 6 April 1984) was a Northern Irish songwriter. He was predominantly a lyricist, putting words to existing music such as "Teddy Bears' Picnic" and "My Prayer" or co-writing with composers like Michael Carr, Wi ...

, and former first-overall selection Courtney Brown."Profile: Larry Johnson"
, Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics website Johnson was offered the

defensive coordinator A defensive coordinator is a coach responsible for a gridiron football (American football) team's defense. Generally, the defensive coordinator, the offensive coordinator and the special teams coordinator represent the second level of a team's c ...

and assistant head coach job at

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

in January 2009. He ultimately decided to continue at Penn State. On November 10, 2011 Tom Bradley announced that Johnson and linebackers coach

Ron Vanderlinden Ron Vanderlinden is a retired American college football coach. Vanderlinden was most recently the linebackers coach at Air Force. He served as the head football coach at the University of Maryland, College Park from 1997 to 2000. Vanderlinden is ...

would serve as co-defensive coordinators. On January 7, 2012, Johnson was retained as a coach on the team's staff with the arrival of new head coach Bill O'Brien. On January 1, 2014, Johnson was named interim head coach after O'Brien's departure to the NFL.

Ohio State

Johnson left Penn State following the 2013 season after 18 years when he was hired by Ohio State to be an assistant head coach and defensive line coach. At Ohio State, Johnson is known for his ability to develop several highly-touted NFL prospects such as

Joey Bosa Joseph Anthony Bosa (born July 11, 1995) is an American football outside linebacker for the Los Angeles Chargers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was selected third overall by the (then San Di ...

Nick Bosa Nicholas John Bosa (born October 23, 1997) is an American football defensive end for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Ohio State and was selected second overall by the 49ers in the 20 ...

, and

Chase Young Chase Young (born April 14, 1999) is an American football defensive end for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). A native of Maryland, he played college football at Ohio State University for the Buckeyes. During hi ...

. All three would later go on to win the

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year Various entities present a National Football League Rookie of the Year Award each season to the top rookie(s) in the National Football League (NFL). The NFL considers the (rookie) of the year awards by the Associated Press (AP) to be its official ...

award in their respective seasons. Johnson was Ohio State's acting head coach for the 2020 win over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

after head coach Ryan Day had tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Personal

Johnson has two sons,

Larry Larry is a masculine given name in English, derived from Lawrence (given name), Lawrence or Laurence. It can be a shortened form of those names. Larry may refer to the following: People Arts and entertainment *Larry D. Alexander, American arti ...

, who was a running back at Penn State and for nine seasons in the NFL and

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, who was a wide receiver at Penn State in the early 2000s.

References

External links

*
Ohio State profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Larry 1950s births Living people American football linebackers Elizabeth City State Vikings football players Ohio State Buckeyes football coaches Penn State Nittany Lions football coaches High school football coaches in Maryland High school football coaches in Virginia People from Williamston, North Carolina African-American coaches of American football African-American players of American football 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople