Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson had to take to Twitter on Friday to dispel rumors that he would be retiring after this season.
Apparently there is misinformation about my future. I want to make a bold statement that I am not going anywhere and I’m proud to be Buckeye. #Buckeyes #RushmenForLife
— Larry A. Johnson (@R2X_Rushmen1) December 15, 2017
Where did those rumors start? Some say it began as negative recruiting from other schools, which is not an uncommon claim. It has also shown up on message boards, and the first mentions of it on Twitter show up back in October from Penn State fans.
Those rumors picked up steam when Johnson’s own son Larry Jr. tweeted on December 2 that his father was trying to “retire soon.”
“Soon” can mean any number of things, or nothing at all, but four days later 5-star defensive end Brenton Cox decommitted from Ohio State.
Cox, who is from Georgia, reportedly had a desire to stay home, but the reason he committed to OSU in the first place was Larry Johnson.
Did the rumors impact Cox? Maybe, maybe not. His decommitment was not a surprise and had become expected over the past few months, well before internet rumors of Johnson’s retirement started.
Where those rumors were making a more prominent impact, perhaps, was in the recruitment of Cleveland 4-star defensive end Tyreke Smith. It is rare for Ohio’s best to leave the state, but for a while it was looking like Smith was headed out of state, and likely to Penn State.
You can find over two dozen tweets with Smith tagged in them discussing Johnson’s impending retirement, with some Penn State fans plainly telling Smith that Johnson was absolutely retiring. One fan even said the information was coming from some of Johnson’s old friends in State College.
Would you be surprised that around the time of these constant tweets that Smith began trending to Penn State? In fact, at one point there were more Crystal Ball picks for Smith to Penn State than to Ohio State.
Then the video of Tommy Togiai’s commitment hits Twitter on Thursday and people see Larry Johnson’s reaction and they realize that this is not the reaction of a man about to ride off into the sunset.
Rumors still persisted, however, because that’s what the internet does.
And so Johnson had to go to one of the sources of the rumors and posted on Twitter that he isn’t going anywhere.
Now, after reassurances from Johnson, it appears that Tyreke Smith is trending back to the Buckeyes. If the Crystal Ball predictions mean anything, what used to be in Penn State’s favor is now 96% in favor of OSU, and that number increased following Johnson’s tweets.
But this wasn’t just about Smith. The Buckeyes have had a select number of defensive end targets in Cox, Smith, and Jayson Oweh out of New Jersey. All three of those players have been tagged multiple times on Twitter telling them that Larry Johnson is retiring.
If you look at Oweh’s Crystal Ball projections, it is heavily in favor of Penn State. It wasn’t always that way, however. Things were about even between the two schools…and then the rumors started. Some of those who make projections do it based on information that they have. The rest of the crystal ballers simply follow the momentum.
You can see which way the momentum swung when the rumors began.
After face-to-face meetings, however, it would appear that any disinformation has been straightened out. Wherever Oweh ends up, at least he now has the proper information with which to make his decision.
Thank you @OSUCoachMeyer @OSUCoachSchiano and @R2X_Rushmen1 for coming to my game tonight. Enlightening talk!
— Jayson Oweh (@JaysonOweh) December 17, 2017
To call Johnson’s tweet about his future “damage control” would be giving people with too much time on their hands too much credit, but there is no doubt that it was an issue that needed to be addressed or else Johnson wouldn’t have had to take to Twitter to end the speculation.
With conversations and visits this past week, the defensive linemen that Ohio State is recruiting have been reassured that Larry Johnson will be around to coach them. A quick 20-second tweet on Friday then let everyone else know as well.
This won’t end the speculation, because that’s not how the internet works, but Johnson’s response to that speculation should end any further impact it may have on Ohio State’s recruiting.