This off season has been unlike any other off season that Larry Johnson has ever known.
After 18 years in Happy Valley where he wore blue every day, Johnson now sits in the offices at Ohio State, where wearing blue is not only banned, but you're not even allowed to write in blue ink because of the rival up north.
While he notes in Buckeye Extra that some things have changed, he uses an analogy to explain that he's the same coach and person, just doing it at a different location.
“I might have changed lots, but I didn’t change cars. There’s no question it’s different, because 18 years at one place — my staying at Penn State was because I was real loyal to my players. That’s why I stayed all those years. It was just that at this time, this juncture, it was time to separate.”
One area where Johnson and his message haven't had to change, is on the recruiting trail.
“Recruiting is recruiting; you’re just doing it for a different school. The product we sold at Penn State is the same product here: great students and student-athletes, quality players, quality people. That makes it easy to transition, because you’re recruiting the same kind of players.”
In the article, one coach talks about how weird it is to see Johnson walk into their school wearing a new color scheme, and how his approach to recruiting impacts high school kids. Read the whole piece here.