Entering this season, the hot name on the Detroit Lions coaching staff was defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Now it's offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
"Don’t even want to talk about it," Johnson said Thursday.
In the meantime, others will. They already are. The 36-year-old Johnson, in his first season as Lions offensive coordinator and play-caller, is rising quickly up the ranks of potential future head coaches and "generating far more heat and recognition that anyone would have expected a few months ago," NFL insider Jason La Canfora reported this week in the Washington Post.
Johnson has devised a top-10 offense this season in just about every major category, from yards per game to yards per play to points per game. The Lions have a top-10 rushing attack for the first time since Barry Sanders was running the ball and Jared Goff is playing the best football of his career since he helped the Rams reach the Super Bowl.
Per La Canfora, "The more people study Johnson’s approach and schematics — and the more they hear how his players talk about him — the more buzz grows that he has the makings of a head coach himself, quite possibly in 2023."
"The future will take care of itself," Johnson said. "I can’t worry about that right now. I’m only worried about us as an offense continuing to get better and score points and helping us win games."
Johnson was elevated from tight ends coach to passing game coordinator midway through last season by Dan Campbell, who had taken over play-calling duties from then-offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn. Campbell fired Lynn at the end of the season and named Johnson offensive coordinator in the offseason, then gave him the freedom to call plays. Johnson has proven Campbell right.
When the Lions put up 25 points against a stout Bills defense in a close loss to a Super Bowl favorite on Thanksgiving, it was Johnson's "national coming-out party," La Canfora said.
One longtime NFL exec told La Canfora he "likes everything about" Johnson and is "buying him as a future head coach.” Another exec called Johnson "special" for overcoming numerous offensive injuries this season while elevating the play of Goff.
“The way they run the football, what he’s done for Goff, not many coordinators are doing what he’s doing," said the exec. "You look at the film and the way his players respond to him. That’s how you evaluate a coach. That’s coaching.”
Johnson said Thursday he hasn't "had a chance to reflect" on the last 12 months, "but it's certainly been a whirlwind." Things might get even crazier in the months ahead as head coaching vacancies pop up around the NFL and teams begin to knock on his door. But that won't take Johnson's focus from the task at hand, even as he nears the pinnacle of his profession.
Asked if he would have to find time to prepare for potential head coaching interviews, Johnson said, "100 percent of my focus is on my current job, point blank. Point blank. All I care about is beating the Jacksonville Jaguars (on Sunday)."
"As I’ve always done, just trying to do the best job at whatever I’m asked to do," Johnson said.
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