Larry Johnson's track record of exporting talent to the NFL speaks much louder volumes than his own voice, one he rarely raises to a decibel level higher than what middle school teachers use when they work with teenagers.
"If you can teach in a classroom, you can teach on the field," Johnson said in August 2014, during the first fall camp at his current job as Ohio State defensive line coach.
At that time, the bodies he had for molding in the heart of the Buckeye defense included Noah Spence, Adolphus Washington, Michael Bennett and Joey Bosa. Urban Meyer likened that foursome to the wrecking crew he had at Florida in 2006, one that embarrassed Heisman Trophy winner and Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith in the BCS National Championship Game.
“There's a lot of pressure on Coach Johnson and that unit. When we won the national championship the defensive line played as well as any team in America, and a good chunk of those guys are gone.”– Urban Meyer
We now sit about three months before Johnson's third training camp in Columbus and those four names — and many others — are gone. Bosa, Washington, Spence and Bennett are all in the NFL, and all but Spence played significant time for Johnson. (Spence was ruled permanently ineligible by the Big Ten in November 2014 after multiple failed drug tests).
Who is left? What kinds of things can they do on the field? Who in the world is going to replace Bosa, the third overall pick in the 2016 NFL Draft?
So many questions that need answers before the Buckeyes host Bowling Green Sept. 3 to kick off their 2016 slate, but Meyer brought Johnson to Ohio State for this exact reason.
Johnson is here to recruit, reload and rehash the results that led to such departed talented making it to the NFL without batting any eye.
"I have great respect for him as a family man, as a coach and mentor of young men, and as a recruiter," Meyer said the day the school announced the hire of Johnson. "He is an outstanding addition to our coaching staff."
Spring 2016 had a much different feel at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center than the one before it, with so many players gone and so many new, inexperienced faces filling the lockers inside. That includes Johnson's unit, which returns just one starter in Tyquan Lewis — who didn't even participate because of offseason shoulder surgery.
Meyer stresses the need for growth on the interior of the defensive line almost weekly with the media. It is where games are won and lost, so he continued to show that concern when practice opened in March. Once April 16 and Ohio State's spring game rolled around, the head coach felt much better by what he saw from the unit.
"I liked our defensive line. Mike Hill, Dre'Mont Jones was all over the field today, Jashon Cornell played well," Meyer said that day. "I think Jalyn Holmes and Sam Hubbard played well."
Credit that to Johnson, the man who considers himself a teacher way before anything that has to do with football.
"It's called development of your players," Johnson said. "When you get some extra time to spend with your players and your young players, talk about life skills, talk about their academics, it's so important to do that."
Hubbard and Lewis have Ohio State's starting defensive end spots all but locked down as May comes to a close and summer conditioning gets in full swing. Dre'Mont Jones and Jashon Cornell came to Columbus as defensive ends but moved inside after Johnson saw what they could do and how it could fill holes at the spot. Robert Landers, Davon Hamilton, Jalyn Holmes — the list continues of guys available. The only problem is the bulk of them haven't yet had to play at Ohio State.
"I thought they made a lot (of progress)," Johnson said. "Especially the guys on the inside."
They needed to, but reinforcements in the form of Nick Bosa are on the way. Other true freshmen Jonathon Cooper and Malik Barrow enrolled in January. More young bodies for Johnson, the teacher to mold both when they wear pads and when they do not.
"My philosophy has always been, if you can teach, you’ve got a chance to take a classroom onto the football field and you can develop that skill set and it makes it really nice for your guys to understand exactly what you’re doing, how you’re doing it and the reason why you’re doing it," Johnson said in 2014.
Ohio State needs his methods and the development of his unit to get on the fast track ahead of September. Its season depends on it.
"There's a lot of pressure on Coach Johnson and that unit," Meyer said. "When we won the national championship the defensive line played as well as any team in America, and a good chunk of those guys are gone. I think they're talented, very eager and we have an excellent D-line coach."
