L.J. Sr. Formally Offered Defensive Coordinator Position At Illinois

[Tough offer for him to turn down. - RUTS]

The Penn State defensive line coach and top recruiting assistant met with UI officials and head coach Ron Zook on Saturday and was offered a deal in the $400,000 range, possibly with the title of Assistant Head Coach to Zook as his title. Johnson would be the de facto defensive coordinator and earn close to double his salary at Penn State.

5 months ago Run Up The Score Comment 28 comments 0 recs |

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Peace yo

I hope I’m wrong but LJSr is gone. Too much money and a promotion to give up. Lets all hope the next DL coach is half the recruiter he is.

by kmblue on Jan 10, 2009 9:12 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Great for LJ Sr.

The Zooker is getting a great one.

WE ARE.......PENN STATE!

by Nick7 on Jan 10, 2009 9:39 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good for him

He’s earned this.

by speedomike on Jan 10, 2009 9:43 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

recruiting

the thing that scares me is not only the recruits we will lose when he goes to ILL. in the future, but the possible recruits he may bring with him. I dont want to put LJsr in the same boat as rodriguez. but because ive seen it happen (with dickrod) i cant get the thought out of the back of my mind.

by Dmfsomething09 on Jan 10, 2009 9:44 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Current recruits

I think the kids in this current class that have committed to PSU should be kept on the up and up, and if they do in fact de-commit LJ Sr. shouldn’t be blamed.

These kids not only made a commitment to Penn State, but mainly to Larry Johnson, so they shouldn’t be obligated to Penn State if Larry Johnson isn’t (assuming he takes the job).

As previously stated, the man more then deserves it.

With that being said…PLEASE DON’T LEAVE LJ!!!

by nittanyroar on Jan 10, 2009 9:57 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

The bright side

I bet LJSR doesn’t log two years in Illinois before someone else offers him a head coaching job.

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 10, 2009 9:48 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, the head coaching job at Illinois.

--
Mr. Bob Dobalina

by Run Up The Score on Jan 10, 2009 10:15 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What's a matter?

Not a fan of the Zook? :(

by phantom818 on Jan 10, 2009 10:26 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Or Penn State?

Mike
Black Shoe Diaries

by BSD on Jan 10, 2009 10:30 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

If that's his ultimate goal...

…he has to take Zook’s offer.

--
Mr. Bob Dobalina

by Run Up The Score on Jan 10, 2009 10:35 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Bags are packed...

:-/
And I just won’t and can’t tell him to stay. If he does…what loyalty. If not, I’ll echo the sentiments expressed here and say the man’s earned it.

So I guess the 2010 edition of the NCAA video game won’t have Maryland as a pipeline state anymore? That’d be too bad. Best of luck to the man whether he decides to go or not.

by phantom818 on Jan 10, 2009 9:59 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

this makes me sad

it’s great for LJSr, but sad for us. he’s been amazing

funny though he’d only be making $100k less than joepa

by amandakt on Jan 10, 2009 10:41 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

Break Ups are tough.

Former Eagle Carl Hairston, who was the DL coach last season for the Packers, has reportedly been in contact with the Lasch Building. Hairston was one of six defensive coaches to get fired at the end of the season by Green Bay.

This was posted over on a blog at PennLive.com.

Reportedly he has his foot in the door in Virginia and Maryland. I don’t know what to make of this but …

LJ Sr. would probably consider this job heavily even if the raise was only 1 dollar more because it is a higher coaching title that he deserves. I think that the other Assistants and hopefully JoePa will come through and make sure each and everyone of these recruits come to Happy Valley. Also they have one thing that most recruits don’t have at most other schools…most have a chance to play now or in a year or two. It will be tough to lose Larry Johnson Sr. but stuff like this happens all the time in the real world and it is fact we have to deal with. I would hope JoePa and staff at PSU will come back with a counter off for LJ Sr. to help make this decision hard.

by ACtheStud1980 on Jan 10, 2009 10:51 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

PSU reply

The most sensible reply by PSU if they are intent to keep him at PSU would be to promote Bradley to “Assistant Head Coach” and up LJ Sr to “Defensive Coordinator” alone with given them a raise each. I don’t think they’d pay LJ Sr as much as the Illini are offerering but going up to somewhere in the $300-350K range might enough to convince him to stay. Hell, they have 8 home games next year — they make enough from the one extra game to play all the assistants and extra $100K a year for half a decade if they wanted.

by Laaaaazzz on Jan 10, 2009 11:18 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs

What does this say about PSU?

It’s one thing to lose LJ Sr to a team, a whole other thing when we’re losing him to a team within the conference. With JoePa so high up in the stratosphere in tenure, virtually statuesque in legend and lore, it makes our talented staff poachable even to our rivals? I think a reclassification of status and rank within the coaches are in order, along with reallocation of salary to retain “loyalty” – if that’s how JoePa sees it. Otherwise, we will devolve into a stepping stone program.

by Mr. Rosewater on Jan 10, 2009 11:57 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

he'd

pretty much be a fool to turn down this offer. Thanks for all the recruiting wonders you’ve done, getting us back into relevancy with D-Will and the boys. I wish him nothing but the best, i’m sure he’ll be k’in some a’s

For the glory

by lionalum05 on Jan 11, 2009 1:03 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Don't agree

I can certainly see a lot of positives for Johnson to take the job offer, but there are certainly reasons to not take it too. I don’t think either decision would “make him a fool” and no big decision in life is full of such absolutes.

by Laaaaazzz on Jan 11, 2009 9:50 AM EST up reply actions 0 recs

Taking this would not make sense

He has been talking retirement for the last 2-3 years. Why would he all of a sudden go for this? You don’t talk retirement one year, then talk I want to be a head coach 2-3 years from now the next. Schools won’t hire someone who will retire in 5 years to be their head coach. His best move would be to stay at Penn State.

by MrBrianPSU on Jan 11, 2009 1:22 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

time for State to ante up

This is the perfect time to announce Johnson as the successor to Joe. There is no way this team competes for talent in Maryland area without Larry Johnson right now. There are many that believe he is the next coach so if that is possible than he should be named the successor this week with a pay raise.

I saw some that mentioned he is planning on retiring in the next few years and I don’t know anything about that but even if he is he could take this job and double his income for a few years.

by gman2797 on Jan 11, 2009 8:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Good Luck LJ

Thanks for making a difference at Penn State. Joe, you have some big shoes to fill…choose wisely.

Penn State Proud, Lionspride

by Lionspride on Jan 11, 2009 11:20 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

AUGH!

This pretty much sums up my feelings currently.

by Tailgate Shogun on Jan 11, 2009 12:25 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

It's a smart move on a lot of levels.

Not just because of the pay raise and the advancement to DC. Zook is going to be gone in 1-1/2-2 seasons. He just isn’t a good coach. He reminds me of Norv Turner.. lots of flash, does ok when he has twice as much talent as the opposition, generally.. a moron.

When Zook gets canned in 2010, I expect LJ Sr to be tapped as the head coach of the University of Illinois. Zook has major recruiting hooks into the D.C. area so this will really harm our MD recruiting. To maintain our current recruiting level we need Schiano to leave Rutgers or we need someone to recruit Wannstedt back to the NFL. Pitt will never accomplish anything significant while Dave is there… but they will swallow up 4 star recruits that could strengthen our depth chart.

by dyehardfan on Jan 11, 2009 12:46 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

You're not making any sense

The idea that Zook gets fired and LJSr gets promoted to head coach has been stated a few times on this topic.

That doesn’t make any logical sense and almost never happens.
When does a head coach bring in an assistant, and when the head coach is fired for being ineffective 2 years later, one of his assistants gets promoted?

If Zook is to get fired in two years…odds are highly likely LJSr would be out the door with him, or at best stay in his current position.

“Sorry Ron, but the team stunk these last two years….BUT…the defense was really good, and the recruiting has been FANTASTIC…so we’re going to replace you with LJSr.”

DOUBTFUL.

by NittanyBadger on Jan 11, 2009 12:56 PM EST up reply actions 0 recs