Larry Black, now in his third season as the Rockets’ defensive line coach, has been making a big impact for the Rockets both on the field and on the recruiting trails. He was ranked as the No. 2 recruiter in the Mid-American Conference for the 2021 recruiting class. He has also helped groom a defensive line that is brimming with talent.
Ten letterwinners return in 2021, including defensive end Desjuan Johnson and edge rusher Jamal Hines. Johnson earned second-team All-MAC honors in 2020 and is on the 2021 watch lists for two national defensive player of the year awards, the Bednarik Award and the Outland Trophy. Hines has earned All-MAC honors in each of the past two seasons. Seniors Nate Givhan and David Hood, along with junior Terrance Taylor, are among the other top linemen returning in 2021.
This past summer, Black was selected to join the NFL Bill Walsh Minority Coaching Fellowship. The program’s objective is to use NFL teams’ training camps, offseason workout programs and minicamps to give talented coaches opportunities to observe, participate and gain experience with an NFL program, with the ultimate objective of gaining a full-time NFL coaching position.
In 2019, Black took over as the defensive line coach, helping guide Hines to a breakthrough season in which he led Rocket down linemen with 52 tackles and recorded 8.5 tackles for loss, earning third-team All-MAC honors.
Black, who previously served as a graduate assistant at Toledo for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, spent 2018 as a graduate assistant with College Football Playoff participant Notre Dame.
Black spent the 2018 season working with the Fighting Irish defensive line under assistant coach Mike Elston. Under their tutelage, senior defensive lineman Jerry Tillery was named an All-American by multiple outlets, recording 13.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, and three forced fumbles. Tillery was selected in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft by the LA Chargers. Notre Dame ranked 13th in the country in scoring defense, allowing just 18.2 points per game.
During Black’s previous stint at Toledo, he helped coach first-team All-MAC defensive lineman John Stepec, and he also assisted in the development of current NFL players Olasunkanmi Adeniyi and Treyvon Hester. He was a part of a staff that coached the Rockets to a MAC Championship in 2017, aiding a defense that held MAC opponents to 21 points or fewer in six of its seven league games. Toledo went 9-4 in Black’s first season, during which Hester and Stepec earned all-conference honors.
Black played collegiately at Indiana, making 43 career starts for the Hoosiers. He was named a freshman All-American by the Sporting News in 2009 and was also selected to the All-Big Ten team that year. He signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2013.
Black earned a bachelor’s degree in recreation and leisure from Indiana in 2012. A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Black graduated from Wyoming High School in 2008. He and his wife Kaylin have a son, Ace (3), and one-year-old twins Axel and Amaya.
Larry Black’s Coaching Experience
2019-21 Toledo – Defensive Line
2018 Notre Dame – Graduate Assistant
2016-17 Toledo – Graduate Assistant
2015 Carthage – Defensive Line
