Could Tight Ends Coach Ben Johnson Be Next Lions Offensive Coordinator?
Do the Detroit Lions have their next offensive coordinator already on their coaching staff?
And no, I'm not talking about Lions running backs coach/assistant head coach Duce Staley, whose name has been bandied about recently as a candidate to replace Anthony Lynn at season's end.
Instead, I'm talking about a much less familiar name on the coaching staff in tight ends coach Ben Johnson.
Johnson has taken on a larger role in the team's weekly offensive game-planning since head coach Dan Campbell took over as the team's play-caller.
In fact, Johnson, who's in his second season as the tight ends coach in Detroit, helped ease the transition for Campbell to primary play-caller, and has served as somewhat of a pseudo pass game coordinator ever since.
"Ben’s been awesome. Ever since I got here, he’s been one the guys that you can kind of rely on as a good voice and understands kind of everything that we’re trying to do,” Jared Goff told reporters Wednesday. “Since he’s been in that role, being able to lean on him and asking these questions and having him take some ownership over some stuff has been really cool. He’s a guy who’s got a lot of experience in the quarterback room and applying himself back in his time. But, it’s been a lot of fun working with him.”
Johnson had a hand in the Lions' dramatic, walk-off victory against the Minnesota Vikings a week ago, during which Goff completed 25-of-41 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, including the game-winning throw to rookie wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Johnson, in fact, helped come up with the design for tight end Brock Wright’s touchdown early in the second quarter against the Vikings. The play called for four vertical routes out of a two-tight end and two-running back set.
Raj Mehta, USA TODAY Sports
And, according to Campbell, Johnson was the one who suggested motioning fullback Jason Cabinda out of the backfield and along with other assistants, brought up motioning guard Jonah Jackson in the same direction. It ultimately caught Minnesota’s defense off guard and allowed Goff to throw a perfect pass to Wright for the score.
That idea and many of Johnson's great ideas have stemmed from spending time in the shower. For real.
If you don't believe me, just ask Johnson himself.
“If you’re ever lacking, you just hop in there (the shower) and something about that hot water just, and if it’s not coming, you turn on the cold water and then something’s bound to come,” Johnson joked. “No, I mean, I think you’re watching tape, you’re watching other teams. You hear a lot of other coaches talk about stealing plays from other teams. I mean, I think that’s probably a regular occurrence, but you see something and it’s, ‘Okay, a play off a play, and hey, how can I make this better? How can I fit this for my guys?’ That’s normally where it stems from."
Johnson would like to move up the coaching ranks one day, and who knows, it might just come with the Lions next season as their new offensive coordinator.
"I think any coach in this league would like to climb the ladder,” Johnson commented Friday. “But, it was funny. I said to Duce earlier this year, I said, ‘Shoot, if you could tell me, I could be a tight ends coach in this league the next 20 years, sign me up.’ I love coaching those guys. I love the fact that we have a great group right now. You have T.J Hockenson, you got Brock Wright, who’s really coming on. Jason Cabinda’s come over and dabbling into that tight end room and getting better every week. It’s just fun to see, take one player, and see them grow over like the time. So, that’s where I have the most joy from, and that’s what I love the most, in terms of coaching, is those relationships and seeing guys get better on a weekly basis."
