For the second straight year, Ben Johnson is returning to the Detroit Lions. In both years he was available as a coaching option, Johnson was a strong favorite for many teams.
As the architect behind the Lions' devastating offense, Johnson was considered a near-lock to be a coach. Both years, though, Johnson instead returned to Detroit.
Some might view this as loyalty to the Lions. Perhaps Johnson wants to finish his story with the team he built.
However, a look into his interview with the Washington Commanders might shed some light on him not getting any HC jobs, per USA Today's Commanders Wire. According to Garofolo's report, Johnson not landing the Commanders job might be his fault due to his actions,
“I don’t think he (Lions OC Ben Johnson) interviewed particularly well,” Garafolo said. “Johnson withdrew, and he withdrew as Washington was coming to see him, which did not go over well at all with the Washington organization. But I believe he withdrew from two coaching searches that he wouldn’t have gotten the job anyway. So that’s the old ‘I’m not fired, I quit,’ one of those deals. So I don’t think he really bowled people over in the interview process at all.”
Well, that's not exactly an awe-inspiring review. Johnson is a talented man, a coach that crafted the most creative offense in the league from nearly nothing. The Lions are blessed to have him. However, X's and O's make up only half of a head-coaching job. Character is also important in coaching, and the Commanders were seemingly not impressed with his attitude.
Still, Lions head coach Dan Campbell has said that Johnson returned to the team the first time to learn more about being a coach. Perhaps coaching with the ultimate player's coach in Campbell will help the OC learn more about the other side of coaching.