Had things gone a little bit differently, new Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson might be in Los Angeles right now preparing for a Super Bowl.
Cincinnati Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Wednesday he tried to hire Johnson “many, many, many times” for his Bengals staff but Johnson kept getting promoted to a job he could not match.
“Dan knows that,” Taylor said of Lions coach Dan Campbell. “Always just trying to find a place for him on staff whether it’s on defense, special teams. It doesn’t matter, just he’s one of those guys you want on your staff cause he’s a brilliant — I can’t even say young anymore, he’s not that young anymore, but back when we worked together we were both pretty young. He’s outstanding. He’s a guy that he’s just really sharp.”
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The Lions officially promoted Johnson, 35, to offensive coordinator Wednesday, a move that was months in the making.
Johnson spent the final nine games of last season as the Lions’ de facto pass game coordinator, helping design the offense after Campbell stripped Anthony Lynn of play-calling duties.
With Campbell calling plays and Johnson more heavily involved in the offense, the Lions won their only three games of the season and made major strides in the pass game. They averaged more than four points more per game over the final nine games of the season than during their 0-8 start, and Jared Goff saw his passer rating rise by nearly 20 points.
“He’s got a mathematics background. He’s much smarter than I was in school,” Taylor said. “He sees things differently. He does a great job with the analytics side of things as well. He’s just one of the really, truthfully, one of the sharpest football coaches in this league and he’s only going to continue to learn from his experiences. I think Dan knows that, and that’s probably why he promoted him, because he knows he’s got one of the best young coaches in the league right there on his staff. Why not promote him and help him call his offense?”
Johnson worked on the same Miami Dolphins staff with Campbell and Taylor in 2012-15.
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Taylor left Miami after the 2015 season to become Bengals offensive coordinator, and Adam Gase retained Johnson as assistant wide receivers coach when he was hired as Dolphins coach.
Johnson, who started in Miami in 2012 as an offensive assistant, also served as assistant quarterbacks coach with the Dolphins and took over as tight ends coach when Campbell was promoted to interim head coach four games into the 2015 season.
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Matt Patricia brought Johnson to Detroit as a quality control assistant in 2019, when Taylor took over as Bengals head coach. The Lions promoted Johnson to tight ends coach one season later, and Campbell kept him on staff last year and gave him more responsibility midseason.
“Really happy for Ben and I think that’s a great move by Dan,” Taylor said. “He’s going to do outstanding things in this league. He’s going to continue to grow with his experiences comes along, like we all have. But again, I cant say enough positive things about Ben Johnson and the role he’s going to have there in Detroit.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.