For a second straight offseason, Ben Johnson exited the coaching carousel to keep his offensive coordinator post in Detroit. After being viewed as the leader for the Panthers’ HC job in 2023, Johnson had been in position as the frontrunner to replace Ron Rivera with the Commanders.
Shortly after the NFC championship game, Commanders brass received word — while en route to Detroit to interview Johnson and Lions DC Aaron Glenn — the two-year Detroit play-caller was once again bowing out of a coaching pursuit. Johnson is not believed to have received a raise this time around; his Lions deal still runs through 2025. But the selective candidate will undoubtedly gauge the HC openings come 2025.
“I’m not gonna do it just to do it,” Johnson said (via ESPN.com’s Eric Woodyard) of taking a coaching job. “I love what I’m doing right now. Love it. I love where I’m at. My family loves where we’re at. Love the people that we’re doing it with, so I’m not willing to go down the other path yet, unless I feel really good about how it’s gonna unfold.”
Johnson said (via The Athletic’s Colton Pouncy) he is eyeing a job that will allow for success en route to a second contract. Some candidates do not have the luxury of being as selective as Johnson has been, but the Matt Patricia Lions hire has been trending upward — just as the Lions have — in recent years.
As the Lions have climbed into a Super Bowl-contending position, moving closer to the NFL’s biggest stage than they had at any point in franchise history, Johnson has represented a central reason for the team’s ascent. Detroit’s offense has ranked in the top five in points and yardage in each of Johnson’s first two seasons at the controls, and Jared Goff‘s career has turned around to the point he is again back near the top of the QB salary hierarchy.
The Goff-Johnson partnership led to the Lions quarterback signing a four-year, $212MM extension. For at least one more season, Goff will work alongside the coveted assistant. Johnson, 38, will have a chance to impress once again. The young coordinator stepping off the route toward Washington surprised many, and the Commanders — who ended up submitting an offer to Mike Macdonald, ahead of his signing a six-year Seahawks contract — eventually hired Dan Quinn as a second-chance candidate.
It took Josh McDaniels a bit of time to re-emerge as an attractive HC candidate after he backed out of a Colts agreement. Johnson did not go that far down the road with the Commanders and Panthers, but his selective path could conceivably turn teams off. Though, another strong season from the Detroit offense will probably put the next batch of HC-needy teams in pursuit. Offensive play-callers remain the most popular hires in this NFL period.
“The longer you’re in the coordinator chair, it does nothing but help you and prepare you more for the next step if it ever comes down the pipe,” Johnson said. “Personally, I don’t feel like I’m hurting my opportunities or my abilities to be a head coach in the future, and I love what I’m doing right now.”
“I didn’t wanna work for David Tepper.”
More power to him. Seems like these guys generally jump at it, the first chance they get. This guy is thoughtful about his choices- Which is probly gonna make him even more attractive to other teams.
I agree completely. I would wager that, aside from modern impatience on behalf of ownership and/or fans, the biggest reason for today’s short lived head coaching tenured is the lack of extensive experience of these candidates at a coordinator position. The longer you do that, the more you get to test holes in your scheme against different opponents, test its adaptability with different players, and you get to handle a wider variety of leadership scenarios with a wider variety of players.
It can only help to be more experienced long term-and, even though certain opportunities may pass you by, one thing that will hurt you more than waiting too long is having a bad run where better experience could have made a difference.
Not only that, but a chance to really understand all that goes into the job. I heard Brian Callahan talking to Robert Mays about how Zach Taylor made a point of really giving him a look at all that goes into the HC role, which made him feel much more prepared when he took the Titans job. Given how his relationship with Campbell seems, I’m sure Johnson will have a pretty clear eyed view of the responsibility when he does take it on.
Agreed.
The big HC contract is a good reason to jump right in. But many coordinators are great at their jobs but not so great HCs. Kudos to Johnson for staying in a good spot, and having the ability to pick and choose who his next employer will be. Even being a successful coordinator is an accomplishment in itself.
It’s all well and good for Johnson. However, you can’t be wishy washy and call off an interview when a team is on a jet to come to you. That isn’t a good look. Commenters may cheer him for saying that Johnson recognizes the responsibility that coaching entails. However, apparently agreeing to interview and then ditching is irresponsible and should turn some teams off.
I can agree with that. Ultimately Mr. Johnson has to do what’s right for him, and I support him making that call (which seems to be the right one so far), but you do have a point about courtesy. That said, I suppose the silver lining is that he didn’t waste more of their time and gave the decision up front. You should be courteous, and you’re right in how it sets a reputation standard for your behavior, but on the other hand, the teams do know that they’re essentially wooing these candidates to come and work for them. It’s not guaranteed.
But, yes, it definitely is much better to be cognizant of courtesy and other peoples’ time, even if you still need to do what’s right for you. I support Johnson understanding that more experience is good and that his current situation is good, plus the potential to accomplish more in that role at the end of the day. I do agree that the timing could have been better, but if Johnson truly didn’t reach that conclusion until then, well, it’s unfortunate for his suitors, but it’s also better for them to know now instead of two years from now.
One problem is that good teams don’t normally fire their head coach, so any vacancy that needs to be filled is probably a bottom feeder team or one with a meddling owner. Hard to jump ship on a great team to coach a bunch of clowns or work for one.Just my fairly obvious opinion.
On the flip side, the Lions have been a clown show for eons. But Dan & the GM took on the challenge and have been great. Gotta try at some point to turn around a team.
Unfortunately it often requires the death of an owner who has been entrenched for decades to put an end to the clown show.
Since Ben was hired by Patricia, he knows exactly what a bad team culture and environment looks like. He’s also seen what is different about Holmes & Campbell. He’s presumably looking for find a GM he’s very well aligned with before making the move.