Ben Johnson: Dan Campbell Is 'Best Leader I've Been Around'
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell could be in search of two new coordinators next season.
Both Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn are legitimate candidates to become NFL head coaches, even as soon as the upcoming 2024 season.
A hallmark of a respected coaching regime is other teams poaching members of a winning staff.
The Dan Campbell coaching tree soon could be impacting other franchises, as both coordinators have several teams requesting to have conversations about opportunities to lead their own teams.
Johnson, who remained tight-lipped about his coaching future, expressed Detroit's third-year head coach is among the best leaders he has ever been around.
“Listen, he’s the best leader I’ve been around, I think, regardless of whichever sport I’ve been a part of. It’s really impressive what he’s been able to do," Johnson said. "Being true to himself, demanding, he’s results driven. But yet, his way of delivering a message and getting it across, what to say and how to say it at the right time. It’s really unique and it’s special.
"I think it’s hard to replicate to be honest with you. More than anything, it’s about being comfortable in his own skin and trusting and empowering those around him," Johnson continued. "He’s created an environment here, as coordinators, as position coaches, as players, that we’re very comfortable and it helps us be the best that we can be at our jobs.”
Glenn noted that a coach sharing a similar vision with the general manager trickles down to the coaching staff and to the players.
At first, many pundits wondered and even criticized the Lions for pairing Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes together without having a prior working relationship.
Both were hired by the Lions with a week of each other and began the team's latest rebuilding effort.
"The number one thing I think is important is, man, just the collaborations with the GM and the owner," Glenn expressed prior to practice Thursday. "And making sure that that vision, that collective vision is the same. Once that's intact, and all three of you are saying the same thing, that feeds down to the staff, that feeds down to the players. And, man, they just share the same vision over and over again. And you talk about culture, culture is about people. You bring the right people in, you're gonna have the right culture."
