Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson is considered one of the best defensive line coaches in College Football History, from his time at Penn State, then continuing to Ohio State. Johnson has had an impressive number of defensive linemen whom he recruited and developed. Still, in recent years, his recruiting prowess has fallen off as questions have arisen about his age (73 years old). Plus, Johnson has not been on the road recruiting as much as he used to. Ohio State needs a bigger recruiting cycle in the 2026 class from Larry Johnson.
The results show a dip for Ohio State's defensive line recruiting, but he did land a commitment from four-star defensive lineman Khary Wilder in the 2026 class two days ago. Ohio State is hoping that this most recent commitment will springboard them to add more defensive linemen to the 2026 class, as Wilder was the 1st commit. After losing 4 defensive linemen to the NFL draft, Ohio State desperately needs to have a big year recruiting defensive linemen.
National top-100 defensive tackle prospect Nate Kamba enjoyed his experience at #OhioState's camp.
— Bucknuts (@Bucknuts247) June 12, 2025
"Coach Larry Johnson taught us a lot of things... This was my first camp ever."
✍️ @SteveHelwagen https://t.co/K6JEzeTUz0 pic.twitter.com/vjZr2HVT1B
Larry Johnson did sign 5 defensive linemen in the 2025 class, so that is a positive step in the right direction. Still, Ohio State has not signed a 5-star defensive lineman since Jack Sawyer was in the 2021 class. The expectation of signing a 5-star defensive lineman in every class might be too high a goal, but not signing a 5-star defensive lineman prospect from 2021 is alarming. Larry Johnson needs to do more on the recruiting, even with all these questions circling about his age and retirement.
There is no doubt that Larry Johnson is still a good defensive line coach, but he needs to find a way to do better on the recruiting cycle. Only having one defensive line commit this late in the 2026 class is alarming, but he still has time to fix the problem. If he struggles to land several elite defensive linemen in this class, Ohio State might have a long-term problem at the defensive lineman position. Time will tell what happens over the next several months until the early signing day.