For a second straight season, one of the hottest up-and-coming head coaches in the league is turning down offers. The Detroit Lions' second-year offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is deciding to stay with where he has now called home for the last five seasons, where he originally started as an offensive quality control coach before making his way up to calling offensive plays.
He has made Detroit happy with his decision.
After the Lions' comeback loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship on Sunday, most had presumed that he would soon be named as one of the new head coaches for one of the two remaining vacancies within the league: the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks. That never came to be, and those two teams, after Tuesday, may have been left to moving on to Plan B.
The 37-year-old follows a youthful trend amongst the league currently that is making many of these young, coveted coordinators across the NFL possibly leave for open head coaching jobs much sooner than they are perhaps ready for. But then again, that's debatable.
Los Angeles Rams' head coach Sean McVay took the job at 30 years old and has already won a Super Bowl and still holds the job. Also, prior to the latest 2024 hires, eight of the 10 youngest head coaches in the league were all hired within the last five years.
It's unsure what exactly led to Johnson's turning down a second opportunity to head a team for the second consecutive year, but there do seem to be some obvious reasons, even if they are all conjecture.
Unfinished business with the Lions
The fans know it, the Lions team knows it, and Johnson most likely knows just how close the 2023 Lions team was to doing something magical. After jumping out to a 24-7 lead in the half of the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers, it felt like the Lions were finally about to break through and make it to their first-ever Super Bowl. But then all too familiar bad luck came back to bite them in many shapes and forms, sending them packing back to Detroit.
This year's Lions team outdid any sort of expectations that were placed on them, starting with winning their first division title since 1993. A lot of their success can be attributed to Johnson and the offense, who had the Lions ranked 3rd in total offense, 5th in rushing and scoring offense (27.1 points per game), 3rd in red zone offense, 2nd in passing yards per game (258.9), 5th in passing touchdowns (30), 5th in rushing yards per game (135.9), and 3rd in rushing touchdowns per game, per Fox Sports Stats.
Knowing that Johnson and the rest of the Lions' staff and roster were able to produce those sorts of eye-popping numbers this season, improving even from their 2022 season, has to be enticing to come back to, to say the least.
Major pieces return for Lions in 2024
Perhaps maybe the most enticing thing for Johnson, however, was all the talent the Lions will have returning in 2024. Most teams undergo a major change from season to season due to players retiring, being cut, or hitting free agency and moving on to a new team. There are likely to be few of those for Detroit in 2024.
Sticking with the offense specifically, the Lions return key pieces to the offensive line in left tackle Taylor Decker, right tackle Penei Sewell, and center Frank Ragnow, along with running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, wide receivers Jameson Williams and Amon-Ra St. Brown, tight end Sam LaPorta, and quarterback Jared Goff.
Can you really blame Johnson for wanting to stay with that kind of production returning? Even if it will be hard to make a return to the NFC title game. Plus, who knows what they may attempt to do through free agency and the draft.
With that said, next year most likely will be the last year for Johnson in Detroit. Goff's contract expires at the end of the season, and depending on the situation and what a new deal could look like, he could be out of Detroit. But, if a new deal is deemed doable that accompanies the team's long-term goals, the rest of the team is intact through 2026, per spotrac.
More experience
Last but not least, it never hurts to gain more experience and improve one's craft. That was one of the reasons Johnson decided to return this past season, hoping to further learn under head coach Dan Campbell and even others on staff before he takes the leap to become a head coach. Most forget that this was only Johnson's second year as an offensive coordinator. Some would argue that he should strike while the iron is hot, fearing the Lions and their offense could falter next year, thus costing himself a head coaching job. Johnson seems too confident, talented, and overall calculated to fail. He's betting on himself.
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