Ben Johnson is OUT as a choice for Commanders head coach, deciding to stay in Detroit for another year. Add in Bobby Slowik staying in Houston and the search is down to four known names, with one of those, Mike MacDonald, interviewing again with Seattle this week.
“I think they were thrown for a loop; that was their top choice, they were flying to Detroit, and thy got the news. Had to be a complete curveball for the team going out there to conduct interviews.”
JP doesn’t think staying will hurt his stock, although EB reminds the risk of injury, and noted that Johnson did this last year, too…so Ben’s name won’t be hot forever.
“If you’re a 37-year-old old offensive coordinator who has had success, you’re probably confident to run it back, especially with the players thy have coming back, and put your name out there again next year,” JP said.
“He’s been a hot candidate for the last two offseason cycles, so I guess he just feels that if he puts up another Top 5 offense, which he should, he’s okay,” Cakes said. “Maybe he’s just one of these guys who knows he’s just a great offensive coordinator and looks in the mirror and says he’s good where he is.”
Maybe a ‘better’ job like Dallas opens up next year, or…
“Maybe he’s just saying I’m not ready, which I think is kind of soft, but he might be right,” EB said. “People have reported and alluded to it that Dan Campbell is the guy who commands the room as the alpha, and Johnson isn’t the big dog – and he may not have the confidence to think he’s the big dog.”
So all that said…is it that right there, that he’s scared to be a head coach?
“I can see the unfinished business angle, wanting to run it back with Detroit, if you’ve built relationships with these players and got so close,” JP said. “It’s hard to leave.”
“It’s hard to leave a comfortable situation – we’ve had opportunities to go other places, and if it’s not ideal, you don’t want to do it,” EB shot back.
Bish wants to know what the offer was, if there was one, and Eric had one conspiracy theory:
“Maybe he took his name out of consideration because he got the sense they were going to go in another direction anyway,” EB said.
“It’s kind of a villain move by Ben Johnson, not as much as Josh McDaniels taking the Indy job and then reneging, but you could’ve let them know earlier than when they were mid-flight to Detroit,” Cakes said.
So we’re down to MacDonald, Dan Quinn, Aaron Glenn, and Anthony Weaver (for now)…and maybe Eric Bieniemy?
“That screams like a Jim Zorn move, like, no one else wanted it so we gave it to Bieniemy,” EB said. “That’s a guy who did well all of a sudden after bombing 18 interviews.”
Some of the guys think EB is in play…and you’ll have to listen above to hear it all!