Good News As Seahawks Coach Search: What make Lions OC Ben Johnson great..
The surprise team of the NFL playoffs so far has been the Detroit Lions, and at least some of the credit for their run to playing in the NFC Championship next week can be given to somebody on the list of Seattle Seahawks head coach candidates.
The Seahawks reportedly requested last week to interview Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as they continue their search for the successor of Pete Carroll. So on Friday’s edition of Wyman and Bob, they caught up with senior writer and insider for the official Lions website, to get insight into what makes Johnson so intriguing.
You can hear the full conversation in the podcast or in the player below. After that, let’s break down a few things we learned about Johnson from Twentyman.
1. Johnson was a Lions holdover who impressed coach Dan Campbell.
There’s not usually a lot of carryover from the previous season when a new head coach takes over an NFL team, but Johnson was a rare exception in Dan Campbell’s debut season.
Johnson was previous Detroit coach Matt Patricia’s offensive quality control coach in 2019 and then tight ends coach in 2020. When Campbell was hired in 2021, he actually kept Johnson on, promoting him first to passing game coordinator and then offensive coordinator in 2022.
“Dan identified Ben as a guy that was really smart, really trending upwards,” Twentyman said.
Are people in Detroit now concerned that Johnson may be headed elsewhere for a bigger job? Twentyman said they’re pretty understanding of the situation in the Motor City and prefer it to what they’ve known for a long time, adding that Wyman and Bob was third “on the Ben Johnson tour” Friday in terms of interviews he personally had done in markets with NFL coach vacancies.
“No, I think that’s a good thing,” Twentyman said about Johnson getting attention for head coach positions. “That’s what happens, right, when you turn things around, when you win games. Your assistant coaches get some spotlight, and I would certainly rather have that than the alternative of keeping guys who aren’t winning you football games. Ben Johnson and (Lions defensive coordinator) Aaron Glenn helped this team do things that haven’t been done here in a long time: 12 wins, the first division title in over 30 years, and the playoff win. So kudos to them. They’re very well deserving of getting the looks.”
2. A coach with big offensive ideas.
The Lions finished near the top of the league in three big offensive categories – rushing yards, passing yards and scoring – which is a pretty easy explanation for Johnson becoming a hot name in the head coach search.