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Glenville linebacker Cincere Johnson has spent the past three seasons building a reputation as one of the most disruptive defenders in the country. In 2025, he turned that reputation into dominance.
The 6‑foot‑3, 225‑pound senior capped his high school career by being named the ALL‑USA National Football Team Defensive Player of the Year, an honor earned through a season that will be remembered as one of the most complete defensive campaigns in Ohio high school football history.
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Johnson led a Glenville defense that powered the Tarblooders to a 12‑3 record and the OHSAA Division IV state championship, finishing the year with 185 tackles, 42 tackles for loss, 13.5 sacks and five forced fumbles according to his X account. Glenville allowed just 10.8 points per game, a testament to a unit that tightened as the season progressed and leaned heavily on its senior captain.
His postseason run was even more emphatic. In a semifinal win over Indian Valley, Johnson delivered 17 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, two forced fumbles and two pass breakups. A week later, he helped suffocate Shelby in a 45‑7 state championship victory, holding an offense that averaged 45.5 points per game to just 27 total yards.
Those performances only added to a career résumé that already placed him among Glenville’s most productive defenders. Across three varsity seasons, Johnson amassed 326 tackles, 65 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks and six forced fumbles, including a breakout junior year with 205 tackles and 41 tackles for loss.
Glenville head coach Ted Ginn Sr., who has mentored dozens of Division I and NFL players, has long been vocal about Johnson’s rare blend of instincts and physicality. Speaking to Lettermen Row in 2024, Ginn praised Johnson’s natural feel for the game and his ability to diagnose plays before they develop.
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Ginn Sr. says Johnson was the clear leader of Glenville’s dominant defense this year.
“Cincere is the quarterback (of the defense),” Ginn told richalndsource.com this year. “Cincere is smart, big and strong. But the key to him is his intelligence. It’s the intelligent part of him that keeps us going as a defense.”
Ohio State never loosened its grip on the in‑state standout, and Johnson committed there this fall over Alabama and Penn State. Johnson told BuckeyeHuddle.com that Ohio State made it clear he was its top linebacker priority, and he developed a close relationship with linebackers coach James Laurinaitis.
“I talk to those guys every day,” Johnson told BuckeyeHuddle.com. “Coach Laurinaitis, coach Patricia, just trying to learn the system… I definitely feel like a top priority”.
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Laurinaitis’ background resonated deeply with him. “He played with a lot of Glenville guys, played in the NFL, won the Butkus Award at Ohio State. He did what every kid that comes out at the linebacker position wants to do,” Johnson said.
He also spoke about the significance of becoming another Glenville star to continue his college career in Columbus. “To be part of the Glenville pipeline and join an amazing program and legacy and history and brotherhood and try and leave my mark is special,” Johnson told On3.com.
Johnson’s senior season brought him every major accolade available to an Ohio defender. In addition to his ALL‑USA National Team honor, he was named the 2025 MaxPreps Ohio High School Football Player of the Year, recognition that underscored both his production and his impact on Glenville’s third state title in four years.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY High School Sports Wire: Cincere Johnson named ALL-USA National Football Team captain
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