Collegian Photo By: David Walker Larry Johnson watches the team practice before the Blue and White scrimmage Saturday afteroon.

Collegian Photo By: David Walker
Larry Johnson watches the team practice before the Blue and White scrimmage Saturday afteroon.

The salary of a recent offseason addition to the Ohio State football coaching staff has been announced, and it’s considerably more than the man he replaced earned.

Larry Johnson, who was officially named the assistant coach and defensive line coach of the Buckeyes Jan. 15, is set to earn a base salary of $400,000, OSU athletics spokesman Jerry Emig told The Lantern in an email Thursday. Johnson’s predecessor, Mike Vrabel — who announced via Twitter he was leaving Columbus for a job with the NFL’s Houston Texans Jan. 9 — earned $291,004 this past season, according to the USA TODAY coaches database.

The release of Johnson’s salary comes after repeated requests by The Lantern, beginning the day OSU named Johnson to coach Urban Meyer’s staff.

The figure was released to The Lantern the same day OSU named Chris Ash as co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach. Emig said in an email Thursday afternoon Ash is set to earn $520,000 as part of the Buckeyes’ coaching staff.

Johnson comes to OSU after 18 years at Penn State, including spending the last 14 seasons overseeing the entire Nittany Lion defensive line. He coached six defensive linemen at Penn State who were first-round NFL Draft selections, most recently Jared Odrick in 2010. He also coached seven first-team All-Americans during his time at State College, Pa., including former 2000 No. 1 overall NFL Draft pick Courtney Brown.

A request for Johnson’s salary while at Penn State by The Lantern was denied, as “the information is not public information under the current version of Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law,” a Penn State spokesman said in an email Wednesday.

OSU is set to kickoff its 2014 season Aug. 30 at M&T Bank Stadium  in Baltimore against Navy.