The No. 8 player on this list is embarking on his second year as a starter for the Buckeyes, and is looking to close out his career with his very best season at Ohio State. Jonathon Cooper came to Ohio State as the No. 3 weakside defensive end in the 2016 recruiting class and the No. 33 player overall. Prior to his senior season in high school, Cooper went…
The Ohio State defense has gone through massive schematic changes at both linebacker and in the secondary thanks to a new defensive staff. The one holdover on that side of the ball from Urban Meyer’s staff is defensive line coach Larry Johnson, but there are also schematic changes happeing there.Johnson and defensive coordinators…
It’s not often a team can say goodbye to Nick Bosa and still feel pretty good about their defensive ends. That’s Ohio State’s situation, and it was made easier by the fact that Bosa was gone from game three on last year, which forced everybody to grow up a bit more quickly. Now, every defensive end who played from Game Four…
Jonathon Cooper came to Ohio State as a 5-star prospect from Gahanna, Ohio. He was listed by 247Sports and Rivals as the No. 2 weakside defensive end in the nation and one of the top 50 players overall. Now a senior, Cooper has played in 33 games for the Buckeyes, starting 13 games last season. He has recorded 5.5 career sacks…
There was a telling moment during an interview session with Ohio State defensive line coach Larry Johnson last week. He was asked about the oft-discussed simplification of the OSU offense and he remarked that “you can never be simplified enough.” This thought flies in the face of what the Buckeyes did the last two years on defense, with…
There are four new defensive coaches on Ryan Day’s initial coaching staff, with Jeff Hafley, Greg Mattison, Al Washington, and Matt Barnes all having to fill out change-of-address forms over the last three months. The lone holdover from Urban Meyer’s staff is defensive line coach Larry Johnson. For obvious reasons, Day didn’t feel…
When it came time for Ohio State to take the field in 2018, it was Nick Bosa and Jonathon Cooper who were the starting defensive ends for the Buckeyes. Yes, Chase Young played just as much as Cooper, but defensive line coach Larry Johnson was more than comfortable relying on Cooper in a starting role. Bosa’s injury affected…
The Ohio State Buckeyes opened their 2019 spring football season on Wednesday at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. It was the program’s first practice since the end of the 2019 Rose Bowl, and also the first one of the Ryan Day era at OSU.
The early days of Ohio State’s Rushmen Package began in 2015. Designed to get the four best pass rushers on the field at the same time on passing downs, the Rushmen satisfied defensive line coach Larry Johnson’s desire to put as much pressure on the quarterback as possible. The Rushmen probably would have begun in 2014…
School is underway at Ohio State, which means the Buckeyes’ early enrollees are getting their first real taste of what it is like to be an Ohio State football player. It’s a learning experience for all of them, so they rely on each other to get through it. They also rely on the veterans to show them the way. Zach Harrison was one of the most…
Even though he’s only been on the job for a little while, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day has already made an impact on the recruiting trail. Along with defensive line coach Larry Johnson, the two of them were instrumental in keeping Central Ohio defensive end Zach Harrison from heading out of state. Harrison is not the first Columbus-area…
