NEWSLETTER
I feel as if Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson used NFL insider Albert Breer to tell the Chicago Bears to get their act together before interviewing him for the team’s vacant head coach position.
Did it feel that way to anyone else?
Here is the clip in question, which ran right before the Lions beat the Green Bay Packers on Thursday Night Football:
.@AlbertBreer has the latest on the interest in the Lions coaching staff. pic.twitter.com/qA4ivk5MGw
— NFL on Prime Video (@NFLonPrime) December 6, 2024
And here is a transcription of Albert Breer’s words:
“Well, Ben Johnson’s certainly going to be at the top of a lot of lists. But the Lions offensive coordinator is planning on taking a very different approach to this hiring cycle than he has in the last couple. He will not chase interviews. If he takes an interview, it’s going to be with the intention of actually pursuing the job. And to that end, he has a couple of criteria. No. 1, he’ll be looking for organizational alignment — in particular between the GM and head coach. And then he’ll be looking for recognition from the organization of the things that have gone wrong, and a willingness to fix them.”
Yeah, that seems like a not-so-thinly veiled poke at a Chicago Bears franchise that has so often operated in the most chaotic way for as long as I can remember.
Ben Johnson will be the hot coaching candidate of the offseason
Not only will Detroit’s offensive coordinator be *THE* hot head coach target this offseason, but it sounds like he will act like it, too. Wouldn’t you do the same if you were running the NFL’s best offense and coming off an impressive win against the Green Bay Packers?
Does it seem like Ben Johnson is coming off a bit like a diva? Sure. I can see it. But is that such a bad thing? Is it bad to know what you want? Is it wrong to let it be known that you want a basic level of competence when you’re seeking employment elsewhere? NFL fans have seen so many quality coaching candidates go to jobs and end up wallowing in a mess that they can’t clean up on their own. Ben Johnson wants to avoid that fate. And I don’t want to blame him one bit.
DON’T SCREW IT UP: Ben Johnson is the Offensive Innovator Who Has Always Eluded Chicago
Back in November, ESPN’s Adam Schefter threw some cold water on the Bears-Ben Johnson dream by expressing doubt that the Lions OC would leave Detroit for a dysfunctional division rival. Schefty added his belief that Johnson would take a selective approach this time around. At the time, I saw Schefter’s reporting as a sign that a broken Bears organization could cause them to miss out on a top candidate. Given some time and additional reporting on the matter, it seems as if Johnson (or Johnson’s camp) is signaling to prospective employers that they should clean up their acts if their organizations want to hire him.
And, for what it’s worth, Schefter (and fellow NFL insider Ian Rapoport) dropped strong hints that Ben Johnson might be interested in the Bears gig after all. Hopefully, the team takes it as a sign to straighten up and fly right. The Kevin Warren-Ryan Poles tandem has an opportunity to make a great hire this offseason. But first, they’ll need to do some clean-up work before that happens.
