It was announced last Thursday that former Ohio State assistant coach Terry Johnson is departing from the program after four seasons as he is headed West Lafayette (IN) to assume the same position at Purdue.

RELATED: Ohio State assistant Terry Johnson headed to Purdue

Johnson joined the staff when Ohio State hired Chris Holtmann and has been a vital part of program both within the team aspect and the recruiting phase of things since coming along.

While assistant coaches Ryan Pedon and Jake Diebler do a lot of work on the recruiting trail for the Buckeyes, Johnson's departure will certainly still somewhat make a difference for Ohio State when it comes to relationships with recruits.

I spoke to a handful of both Ohio State signees and commits this week to talk with them about their relationship with Coach Johnson and what they first felt when they heard the news on Thursday.

2021 Signee Malaki Branham: "Man, Coach Terry was my guy," said Branham. "He was the first of a couple coaches that recruited me to Ohio State and he was a lot like Pedon and Diebler."

2021 Signee Kalen Etzler: "He was definitely very encouraging and he consistently checked in with me and made sure I was okay," said Etzler. "It's sad to see him go, but that is just the business aspect I guess."

2022 Commit Roddy Gayle Jr.: "I was in contact with Coach Diebler most of the time but I was fortunate enough to meet the entire staff before Coach Johnson went to Purdue," said Gayle. "From the zoom calls and stuff Coach Johnson seemed like a good guy. It sucks to see him leave, but I wish him nothing but success."

2022 Commit Bowen Hardman: "I think that it's awesome for coach," said Hardman. "I think no matter what if an opportunity comes to you that you can't pass up, you have to take it. I'm happy for coach and his family and wish them the best of luck."

While both Gayle and Hardman told me that they spoke with Diebler and Pedon a little more often than Coach Johnson, he still seemed to be in contact with all of the recruits at some point in time.

It will be interesting to see how Coach Johnson's relationship to Ohio State's current commits and other recruits they are currently looking at will transfer over to a program within the same conference.

While I don't think this decision will affect any of the current commits to Ohio State, it could certainly translate to Purdue taking interest in some prospects which the Buckeyes have been recruiting in the classes of 2022 and 2023.