INDIANAPOLIS — It was a whirlwind two weeks for Ben Johnson, preparing for a Week 18 game that he thought could vault the Detroit Lions into the playoffs, deflatingly conducting player exit interviews when that didn’t happen, then cramming to interview for three head coaching jobs in less than a week.
At one point, Johnson and his wife, Jessica, sat down to discuss their options and decided that, “You know, we’re happy where we are.”
Johnson, the Lions’ in-demand offensive coordinator, eventually pulled his name out of the running for head coaching vacancies with the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts and Carolina Panthers, where he was considered a front runner for the job, with the understanding that, even if another head coaching opportunity never arises – and more almost certainly will next year – he was right where he needed to be for now.
“There’s only 32 of the jobs, and I was honored that I had three requests come out,” Johnson said. “Like I said, I did some due diligence on it, but I think some people — I can just speak on a personal level — some people, they really want to climb as fast as they can. I know particularly young coaches want to do that. That’s not been the case for me, per say.
“I just, I want to be around football, I want to win football games, I want to be around good people. And that really, when I finally had a chance to step back and take a deep breath and look at it, that was the most important thing.”
The Lions lost three key members of their coaching staff this offseason, with running backs coach/assistant head coach Duce Staley and defensive line coach Todd Wash making lateral moves to the Carolina Panthers for family reasons, and senior offensive assistant John Morton leaving to become pass game coordinator with his old boss, Sean Payton, and the Denver Broncos.
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But they retained all three of their coordinators in Johnson, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and special teams coordinator Dave Fipp, and that trio met with reporters Thursday at the NFL combine.
Glenn interviewed with the Colts and Arizona Cardinals this offseason, and had second interviews in both spots. Like Johnson, he said he was appreciative of the interviews but happy to be back in Detroit after he was passed over for both jobs.
“I went in it with the mindset of, ‘I’m not trying to win the interview. I’m just trying to be myself. And either you like it or you don’t. And if you like it, let’s go. And if you don’t, all good,'” Glenn said in his first public comments of the offseason. “Obviously, it was OK, because I got second interviews with these guys. But they were outstanding, they were. The fact that you can sit there and just talk about other things than Xs and Os — leadership, offense/defense philosophy, training room, training camp schedule and things like that. I thought it was outstanding.”
Glenn has interviewed for five head coaching jobs the past three offseasons. Last year, he met with the Broncos and was runner-up for the New Orleans Saints job that went to Dennis Allen, and in 2020 he interviewed with the New York Jets.
At 50 years old, he should be a top candidate in next year’s hiring cycle so long as the Lions remain competitive and their young defense improves.
“We’ll see,” Glenn said. “The thing is, man, I’m blessed to be in the position to be able to coach, in general. And I don’t take that for granted, at all. There is a number of coaches, just take Leslie Frazier for example. I don’t know what the whole situation was. But he’s not coaching this year. And even with the other coaches that I’ve talked to — when you get out, you really miss it. Same as a player. You miss being in with the competition. You miss being around the players. I think it’s the same as a coach also. Man, I’m enjoying what I’m doing.”
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Johnson, too, will be a top candidate next season. At 36, he’s considered one of the league’s bright, young offensive minds.
He admitted he had “no idea what I was getting into” with the interview process this year, and said going through the process once will help him be more ready for interviews next winter, and ultimately to succeed.
“If you have a spring, you have a summer, you have years to develop what you truly believe in, get it down on paper, the people you’d want to bring with you, which that’s always changing as you’re networking and you’re meeting more people,” Johnson said. “I think those are the things that can, rather than starting from scratch, like I did, giving it just a little leg up, if there is another go-round. Nothing’s guaranteed. And that’s OK. That’s something my wife and I thought about. If that’s the case, then we’ll be at peace with it. I haven’t lost any sleep or had any regrets doing what we did. We are, we’re very happy.”
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.