Allen Park — Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is sticking with the team for next season, barring unforeseen circumstances, according to a team source familiar with the negotiations.
Johnson had been a hot candidate for a handful of the league’s head coaching vacancies, interviewing with the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts. But ahead of a third interview for the Carolina Panthers’ opening, Johnson has reportedly informed teams he’s staying with the Lions, according to the NFL Network.
That’s a positive development for the Lions. The team’s offense thrived in Johnson’s first season as coordinator, climbing from scoring 19.1 points per game in 2021 to 26.6 in 2022, good for fifth in the league.
Quarterback Jared Goff also had one of his best seasons, completing 65.1% of his passes for 4,438 yards, 29 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He ended the year with a run of 324 consecutive passes without a pick, a franchise record and the fifth-longest streak by any quarterback in NFL history.
“He’s been as instrumental as any coach I’ve ever had,” Goff said the day after the regular season ended. “Our communication is as good as I’ve ever been a part of, and he does a great job with not just me, but everybody, getting everyone ready to play. I joked middle of the year that I would stop saying nice things about him, because I know where that heads. But If he does end up doing that, I’ll be thrilled for him (if he lands a head coaching position). He’s a hell of a coach and that’s why you get in this profession to do that. But selfishly, I’d love to continue to play for him.”
Johnson, a former walk-on quarterback at the University of North Carolina, initially joined the Lions as a quality control coach in 2019, under former head coach Matt Patricia. Prior to joining Detroit’s staff, Johnson spent seven seasons with the Miami Dolphins, working various jobs with the offense, including assistant quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach and tight ends coach.
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In Miami, Johnson overlapped with Dan Campbell on the team’s coaching staff. That pre-existing relationship helped led to Johnson remaining on staff after Campbell became Detroit’s coach in 2021, including a bump up to coaching the tight ends.
In the middle of the 2021 season, after Campbell removed play-calling duties from former offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn, Johnson was asked to take a larger role in coordinating the pass game. With notable improvement following the changes, and drawing rave reviews from a number of players on the roster, Johnson was promoted to offensive coordinator last offseason.
“For me, personally, it is something that you get into this thing (coaching) and don’t know what direction your career is going to go,” Johnson said shortly after the promotion. “Ultimately, you’d love to be a coordinator, be a head coach, everything, down the road, and this is just an awesome opportunity around some really good people, a great organization, some great people Dan has put together. I couldn’t ask for a better situation, to be honest with you.”
Toward the end of this past season, when it became apparent Johnson could potentially receive interest for upcoming vacancies, he repeatedly declined to comment.
“I don’t even want to talk about it,” Johnson said. “…100% of my focus is on my current job, point blank.”
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers