DL Lavon Johnson ready to be leader, impact in second stint with Maryland football

Ahmed Ghafir
1 hour ago
3 min read

After spending his first two seasons of college football in College Park, defensive lineman Lavon Johnson first opted to enter the transfer portal in Dec. 2024, then withdrawing roughly 48 hours later. Yet a change of heart during spring ball led the 6-foot-2, 310 pound interior lineman to re-enter the transfer portal, initially committing to UNC before flipping to Texas the following day.

Yet that season at the University of Texas didn’t materialize as he hoped after pointing to his former coaches for “not holding his word on things,” instead totaling just one TFL and five total tackles across seven appearances in 2025. That led Johnson to re-enter the transfer portal on New Year’s Day, but after the whirlwind through his first round, Johnson had a clear focus where he wanted to be.

“The day I entered, I kind of just knew I wanted to be back here at Maryland. I had different schools reach out to me but I just wanted to play for coach Locks,” Johnson told IBG.

What made the process tougher the second time around was Johnson re-entering the portal without an agent as Virginia Tech and USF were among the schools who tried to get him on campus, but the rising senior knew that wasn’t something that would materialize after pointing to a reunion as, “something in my heart I knew I needed to do.”

“My teammates here at Maryland, I just missed being around the guys. I know it’s a different team now, but when I left, we had a tight brotherhood,” Johnson said. “I had good relationships with my teammates that were here in the [defensive] line room which [were] Jordan Phillips, Tommy Akingbesote, Quashon Fuller. We just had a really good connection. My main thing was football. I just wanted to be back at Maryland. It just felt like coming back home was the best situation.”

Now doing so with a nearly entirely new room, those relationships have materialized in a similar fashion this offseason as Johnson and some of his teammates took offseason trips together, like down in Miami, FL. Other moments, like the ‘brother’s keeper’ that sophomore safety Messiah Delhomme pointed to last week, have helped to create that bond in what could be Maryland’s deepest room in two decades.

“That really helps out the connection that we’re going to need to be successful this season,” Johnson said.

Johnson also returned to Maryland as one of four transfer portal signings this offseason alongside Derrick LeBlanc out of UCF and the Parker brothers from Washington, a big reason why head coach Mike Locksley pointed to the depth in the trenches as a source of confidence ahead of 2026. Yet after playing under Brian Williams, now at Jacksonville State, Johnson also returned to Maryland with a change to adjust to with Ted Monachino preparing for his second season as defensive coordinator, yet the veteran sees similarities between the two.

“I think they’re both aggressive and that’s what I like about both coordinators. Coach [Brian Williams] was pretty aggressive and coach Monachino, he’s really aggressive with his playcalling. It’s nothing really much different schematic wise. I just like how aggressive coach Monachino is and he really allows us to get after it,” Johnson said.

While the depth along the interior defensive line can prove to be a strength for Maryland, it’s the makeup of a unit that Johnson knows “we’re going to need this season to hold up and be a dominant defensive line.” With a pass rush adjusting to the absence of Zahir Mathis, Johnson has watched the rest of Maryland’s edge rushers step up through fall camp.

“I saw them be dominant in the pass rush and just be dominant at the point of attack. Those guys get after it every day in practice. I’m very proud of those guys and how they’ve approached fall camp because they’ve been playing with physicality, they’ve been playing with speed, good communication throughout the front seven. And that’s what we need to be successful – great communication even when we’re tired.”

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