Colton Pouncy covers the Lions for The Athletic, so BMitch and Finlay had him join the show Wednesday to try to shed some light on why Ben Johnson would’ve pulled his name out of head coaching consideration on Tuesday, with only two jobs left open – and even he was surprised.
“I was pretty surprised I'd say, just me personally. Going back to last year, when he burst onto the scene in 2022, he was gonna get some head coaching interviews and he did, but it wasn't as surprising to me last year when he decided to come back because I personally didn't feel he was ready,” Pouncy said. “He kind of came out of nowhere and there were questions about can you build out a staff and lead a group of men? It takes more than just being a good play caller to be a good head coach, you know, so those are some questions I had last year.”
Seems like even Dan Campbell thought Johnson might be gone this time, but, not to be.
“We talked to Campbell probably a couple weeks ago and he was just touting Ben’s ability to learn some of those things about being a head coach and he was asking the right questions and Campbell really sensed some growth from Ben Johnson over this last year,” Pouncy said. “It certainly seemed like he was ready for a head coaching job, and I figured that Commanders job was kind of a perfect gig for him. Look at the resources that they have in terms of draft capital – the No. 2 overall pick, you get a chance to get a franchise quarterback – and the cap space and new ownership and a GM and Adam Peters, who is pretty respected in this league. I figured that was the perfect spot for a first year head coach to come in and kind of mold that thing in his own image, so for it not to happen, it's still pretty shocking for people out here.”
On that QB tip, though, BMitch had to think having a former No. 1 pick who has a Super Bowl on his resume like Jared Goff helped a lot in Detroit, and yes, it’s viable.
“Yeah, no doubt. A lot of people like to tie Jared’s success to his offensive play-callers, but when you’re doing this with two different franchises and making pro Bowls and putting up 30 touchdowns in the season, you're probably just a pretty good player at that point,” Pouncy said. “I know he has a good relationship with Ben and those two work pretty well together, but Jared is a good player on his own.”
Goff gets to keep Johnson, and Pouncy wasn’t sure what to make of the idea that Johnson’s price tag was part of the issue – he did say ‘Ben is a pretty loyal guy’ – but there may be middle ground between truth and perception.
“I think Ben knows these opportunities may not come again in the future,” Pouncy said, “but I think he feels pretty confident in himself. He's gonna bet on himself and bet on the offense coming right back and, and doing what they did. It's always a gamble, but I think he's probably pretty secure in himself.”
And now the Commanders look elsewhere, and when it comes to coaches in general, Pouncy knows what it was like when the Lions hired Campbell and what it’s like now, when they’re coming off a division title and an NFC Championship Game where they had a two-score lead in the second half.
And yes, sometimes that ‘leader of men’ thing really is important, more so than technical skill.
“I was covering Michigan State when he was hired, but just watching from afar, I was like, I don’t know, with the kneecap press conference and all,” Pouncy said. “I think he was just a departure from what they had in Matt Patricia, the hard-nosed Belichick disciple; Campbell was all vibes and a football guy, so I understood why they went that direction, but just getting to know him over the years and kind of watching him work, he’s a lot less with meathead than people try to make him out to be. I think he's a leader of men and knows Xs and Os more than people probably think. He's a real head coach in this league and he's a guy that can lead a franchise, capture the attention of a locker room and get guys to buy in, and I think that's probably his best quality as a head coach.”