Unquestionably one of the biggest reasons for Penn State's turnaround last season was the coaching and recruiting of Larry Johnson Sr. Big LJ owned the state of Maryland taking eight of their top ten recruits. Rivals.com selected him their recruiter of the year. As a coach, Johnson has developed First Team All Americans Courtney Brown, Michael Haynes, Jimmy Kennedy, and Tamba Hali.
Beyond being a coach he has taught young boys how to become men. Most notably, he was instrumental in keeping his own son in line. Larry Johnson Jr. knew he was the best player on the team but he wasn't seeing the carries to prove it. LJ Sr. repeated told him to be patient and the opportunity would come. In his senior year Johnson was named the starting running back and rolled up a 2000 yard season. When Johnson was drafted by the Kansas City Chiefs he had to sit behing Priest Holmes for two years before he got a chance to play. Then all he did was roll up 1700 yards in nine games.
Johnson Sr. has meant a lot to the Penn State family, which is why it turns my stomach to read him say it is his goal to be a head coach someday.
I understand you can't force people to stay in the same job forever. When people like Johnson excel at what they do, opportunity is going to come knocking. It's not fair to them to expect them to stay in the nest. Penn State fans should start preparing themselves for the fact that Larry Johnson isn't going to be around much longer.