Ben Johnson makes Detroit Lions early offseason winners: 'One of the best offensive minds'

Two days after their season ended in heartbreak, the Detroit Lions' offseason got off to a rousing start.

Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson pulled out of the running for the NFL's final two coaching vacancies Tuesday to return for a third season as the team's play caller.

Johnson was considered among the top head coaching candidates on the market after leading one of the NFL's best offenses the past two seasons. The Lions finished top-five in the NFL in total, rushing, passing, scoring and red zone offense this season, and won a division title and advanced to the NFC championship game for the first time in 32 years.

A favorite for the Washington Commanders job, Johnson informed both the Commanders and Seattle Seahawks of his intentions Tuesday, a person familiar with his decision told the Free Press.

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ESPN reported that Commanders officials were en route to Detroit to interview both Johnson and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn on Tuesday when they got word of Johnson's decision. Glenn still is scheduled for a second interview.

Johnson's asking price, in the neighborhood of $15 million annually, "spooked" some interested teams, ESPN reported, while Johnson's desire to win a Super Bowl and the Lions' proximity to doing so were central to his decision Tuesday, a source said.

The Lions blew a 17-point halftime lead and lost to the San Francisco 49ers, 34-31, in Sunday's NFC championship game. They will enter next season as a Super Bowl favorite, in part because of an offense that returns its top two running backs, at least three starters on the offensive line, a Pro Bowl receiver and tight end, quarterback Jared Goff and has Johnson calling plays.

"Ben’s one of the brightest people I’ve ever been around, especially in terms of football and whatever he decides to do he’s going to be really successful at it cause he’s a great offensive mind but he’s also a great person and a great leader," Lions center Frank Ragnow said Monday. "But also you look around this locker room and you look around these guys and at the end of the day in this league, all these coaches will say it, they always say it all the time, it’s about players not plays. And I think we got a great group here that will be able to handle whatever happens, whether he stays or goes. I think everybody’ll figure it out."

Considered one of the most creative offensive minds in the NFL, Johnson came to Detroit as a quality control coach under Matt Patricia in 2019. He took over as tight ends coach the following season, and stayed on in that role when Dan Campbell took over as head coach in 2021.

Campbell, who worked with Johnson with the Miami Dolphins in 2012-15, promoted Johnson to pass game coordinator midway through their first season together in Detroit after stripping Anthony Lynn of play-calling duties, and named Johnson coordinator the following spring.

With Johnson as coordinator, the Lions have averaged 26.9 points per game in the regular season the past two years, third-best in the NFL behind the 49ers and Dallas Cowboys.

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Lions quarterback David Blough, who was traded from the Cleveland Browns to the Lions the same week Johnson was hired in 2019, said Johnson's genius is born out of his attention to detail.

Blough and Johnson first met when they shared an Uber to the Lions' Allen Park practice facility shortly after Johnson was hired, and Johnson spent that fall working closely with Blough and the Lions' practice squad receivers, walking them through the week's gameplan the night before every game.

"We were learning (the offense) together and kind of in lock-step," Blough told the Free Press this month." Of course he had been around NFL offenses for seven years and I kind of was just learning this west coast for the first time, and so we were learning it together and he was leading a skill walkthrough with Tom Kennedy and Chris Lacy and Travis Fulgham and these guys, and I just remember how detailed he was in his preparation for that thing.

"You might have thought at the time, I’m the third quarterback behind (Matthew) Stafford and (Jeff) Driskel, what’s the importance of this meeting on a Saturday night before the game for some eight weeks, somebody who’s not going to play? And then sure enough I’m thrown out there and thank God I had those meetings with one of the best offensive minds in the world."

Blough completed 54% of his passes in five late-season starts in 2019 when Stafford was out with an injury.

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Johnson interviewed with five teams this season — the Panthers, Commanders, Seahawks, Los Angeles Chargers and Atlanta Falcons — and declined an interview request with the Tennessee Titans.

Last year, Johnson declined an in-person interview with the Carolina Panthers because he said he had "unfinished business" in Detroit.

Glenn interviewed with four teams this season — the Falcons, Chargers and Titans, who already have filled their head coaching spots, and Commanders.

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ben Johnson return as OC makes Detroit Lions early offseason winners