Black Shoe Diaries, a Penn State Nittany Lions community

Great article by David Jones today describing the entire process of Illinois courting Larry Johnson Sr. We're truly blessed to have such a great man on the staff. Johnson on Tuesday told the 12 defensive linemen under his direct tutelage that he would have an answer on Wednesday afternoon at 4 about whether he would be leaving. In the interim, he had told them all about the interview and the offer. "It was very quiet when I walked in the room," Johnson said of meeting his players. "I wanted to explain the process at first. Later, they said, 'Coach J, you could've just told us in the beginning!' I said no, that I wanted them to understand the process, so that as young men growing up they knew how all this works. That it wasn't a fast idea, a fast decision.' "I finally told them, 'At 1 o'clock today, I was at one position, at 1:30 I was at another. And the bottom line is that my love for you guys is really the deciding factor. I'm going to stay here and coach at Penn State University.'" The reaction? "Their eyes lit up. We hugged as grown men do. It was a great moment. Then, it was business as usual." Which for Larry Johnson, in the end, was apparently not about big business at all. But about his own business and where he's happy doing it.