Ohio State football isn’t out of the woods yet on major change happening to its coaching staff under Ryan Day
There’s still one domino that has to fall for this Ohio State Buckeyes’ coaching staff.
The Ohio State Buckeyes have had a busy few weeks since their season ended early in the College Football Playoff against the Miami Hurricanes.
Ohio State has the transfer portal, signing day, and coaching changes to work through recently. The most recent move for the Buckeyes is finding the next offensive coordinator with Arthur Smith coming from the NFL.
With February approaching, the Buckeyes still aren’t out of the clear with potential staff changes.
Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson is one to watch for the Buckeyes
Buckeyes veteran defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s current contract is up soon and there will be a major question mark there until a resolution comes about. Ohio State should undoubtedly have Johnson back to coach the defensive line, and that’s likely to happen unless he plans on hanging it up.
The 2024 season was a good showing by Johnson’s group on the way to a national championship with Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau leading the way. 2025 was even more impressive for the Buckeyes with the jump that DR Kayden McDonald made into a first-round talent — and the 11.5 sack season that Caden Curry put together.
Johnson has been with Ohio State since 2014 under Urban Meyer and stayed with the program through Ryan Day taking over. Before coming to Columbus, Johnson was at Penn State from 2000 to 2013. Johnson is known as perhaps college football’s top defensive line coach at 73 years old.
Ohio State returns Kenyatta Jackson for the 2026 season and having Johnson back to coach him up one more season would be ideal. Notably, the Buckeyes have the No. 1 player EDGE DJ Jacobs committed in the class of 2027. Johnson still being in the picture is vital for that recruitment.
There’s been no sign of Johnson calling it a coaching career following the 2025 season. Still, the Buckeyes need to extend the contract for things to be fully handled.
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