Aaron Glenn's return to Detroit Lions is great news, just like Ben Johnson's

Aaron Glenn will get his chance one day. Or at least he should. The sound of his voice carries the authority of a head coach. He talks like one, too.

To get over the final hurdle, though — the Detroit Lions' defensive coordinator was reportedly a top three finalist for the Washington Commanders' head coaching vacancy — he’ll need a bit more than glowing reviews from players.

He’ll need numbers.

Right now, he doesn’t have them. Not the shiny ones anyway.

Oh, he has a top-tier run defense and numbers that show overall late-season improvement and turnover production. But points or yards allowed?

His numbers are still too far back in the pack, well into the bottom third for points allowed. Still, those numbers improved as the season moved along and, most notably, improved from a season ago.

But if he can get the Lions’ defense into the top 10 next season — or even the top 12 — prospective employers will be able to tell their fanbases: Look what he did with the Lions!

Ben Johnson has those numbers with the offense. And he has a mega-server of clips of clever and artful plays all stored up online. That résumé and those play-calling highlights got Johnson eight interviews this hiring cycle; they probably would’ve have gotten him a head coaching job if the situation were right for him, whatever that entailed.

Johnson is, by metric and by eye test, a terrific offensive coordinator, and in a league that loves young, creative playcallers, he’ll get another chance to lead his own team (assuming the Lions’ offense doesn’t crater in its third season under him).

It should also be noted that it’s easier to call plays when the big fellas up front are among the best in the league, and when a couple of All-Pros are catching passes, and when a likely future Pro Bowl pick is taking handoffs from Jared Goff.

And as for Goff?

Yeah, Johnson helped him, but then Goff helped Johnson, too. This is how it goes in the NFL. Coaches are important. The scheme matters, particularly as it fits with the personnel.

But no coach wins without players. Look over at New England, or Seattle, or here in Detroit, where Dan Campbell won three games with a thin roster two years ago and 12 with young talent everywhere this past season.

Campbell obviously got better as a coach, just as most of us get better at our jobs from Year 1 to Year 3. But he got within three points of a Super Bowl appearance because the roster got better — a lot better.

Most of that improvement came on offense. Does Johnson deserve credit? Absolutely. So does Brad Holmes, the general manager who has drafted three All-Pros (Sam LaPorta, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell) for Johnson to work with. (A fourth All-Pro pick, Frank Ragnow, already was on the roster.)

Glenn doesn’t have an All-Pro, technically — linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin got a nod, but as a special-teams player. Maybe Glenn will have one soon in Aidan Hutchinson, who made his first Pro Bowl in 2023. And though he would never say a word about the talent imbalance from one side of the field to the other, the tilt is easy to see.

In other words, who can say exactly what kind of defensive coordinator Glenn is? Well, other than Campbell, who said this when asked about Glenn early last week:

“Well, I mean where do I begin? I mean, let me start with what he did and what he does. I mean the amount of hours that he grinds on tape to prepare his players, his coaches, but himself for what he thinks is going to come and for where he feels like the game is going to go and what he feels like he needs to call in that time relative to what he believes that coordinator’s going to call is — there’s nobody that works harder. There’s nobody. And he’s got great vision for putting a plan together.”

Wait, he wasn’t finished.

“He understands football very well and when you start talking about his leadership, he’s one of these guys – he’s special,” Campbell said. “He’s special. He’s got it. His ability to communicate, to relate, to push, to grind, to love, demand, he’s got it all ... I’m fortunate that he’s on staff with me.”

Campbell feels that way even though “(Glenn is) better looking than me.”

He chuckled as he said this, of course — self-deprecation is a nice quality for a head coach, too. Glenn has that one as well. Remember, there are reasons he got so many interviews despite the lack of sparkling numbers.

General managers can see when a defense gets better. They can see the talent limitations and the coaching decisions to try to overcome those limitations.

For the Lions, that meant sending more blitzes, especially from the secondary, where an emerging safety and a rookie nickel back showed the skill to get home in a hurry. Beyond Glenn’s connections to his players, what Campbell admires most are his plans — his willingness to try different things, to mix them up.

Until Glenn’s defense climbs to where the offense is — or at least near there — then Johnson will garner most of the "coordinator "head-coach-in-waiting" headlines on this team. And rightly so: It’s a production business.

Production is easier with talent, though, and it’s up to Holmes and Campbell to give Glenn a bit more of it. Again, Glenn would never say anything about it publicly. You coach the players you have. And Glenn has done just that.

Next season, he’ll be back to do it again. Campbell’s famously an offensive guy and recently talked about how much more time he spends on that side of the ball during game-week prep, which means Glenn is left more to his own devices.

This is just fine with Campbell. As he said of his defensive coordinator:

“Where do I begin?”

Contact Shawn Windsor: 313-222-6487 or swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Aaron Glenn's return is a big deal for the Detroit Lions. No, really.