Dave BirkettDetroit Free Press
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Ben Johnson had a pretty good idea on the flight home from San Francisco after the Lions' NFC championship game loss to the 49ers in January that he'd be returning to the Detroit Lions for a third season as offensive coordinator this fall.
Johnson, in his first public comments since he pulled out of the running for a Washington Commanders job many assumed was his, said Thursday before the Lions' sixth organized team activity practice this spring that he spent that flight home thinking about a speech Dan Campbell gave two years earlier. It came near the end of Campbell's 3-13-1 first season, when the Lions looked nothing like the Super Bowl contenders they would go onto become.
"He had made this analogy to the team just about how we were sailing down the ocean and at that moment we were in the Arctic," Johnson said. "We were hitting the icebergs, we had the storms going on and those were dark days. But he had the foresight, he had the vision of where we were going and where we were heading. He assured us, 'Guys, I see it, I see where we’re going. The results haven’t been there yet, but the Caribbean is on the horizon, it’s coming up.'
"And I’m sitting on the plane, I’m thinking back to that and just the story of my career has been living in that Arctic for a lot of it. That was the second time I’d been to the playoffs, first time I’d experienced winning games in the playoffs. I think when it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a little bit longer. That’s really what it comes down to for me. I like the sunshine. I like what we built here, starting with ownership, the head coach, the GM, on down. We have a great group of guys in the locker room and I want to reap the rewards with them a little bit longer."
Thirty-six hours after the Lions' season ended, Johnson informed the Commanders and Seattle Seahawks he was removing his name from consideration for their vacant head coaching jobs and staying in Detroit.
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While Seattle appeared to be zeroed in on former Michigan football defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald as its next coach, the news in Washington was stunning both for its magnitude and timing.
Johnson was considered the top coaching candidate on the market after helping the Lions to a 12-5 record and their first division championship in 30 years, and Commanders officials were on their way to interview Johnson and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn for a second time when they got the news.
The Commanders pivoted and hired Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as head coach, and Johnson quickly found himself in the middle of the type of anonymous source warfare teams and individuals use to protect their reputations.
According to various reports, Johnson asked for too much money and wasn't the slam dunk candidate many made him out to be, or never was sold on a Washington team that had a new owner, new GM and the No. 2 pick in the draft because of the non-football people involved.
Johnson said Thursday there were "some false narratives going on out there" that "started towards the end of last year before I had made the decision to pull out." Late in the season, as Johnson's place solidified as the most coveted assistant on the market, reports began to circulate that he was asking for $15 million a season, an astronomical number for a first-year head coach.
"That comes with the territory," he said. "I’m good with that. That’s part of life in the NFL, so it doesn’t affect me. I do feel for the people around me. I hate that my family, whatever, reads stuff that’s not necessarily the case, but they handled it really, really well, so support staff’s there from that regard. I think I sleep well at night knowing what happened, how it happened, why it happened. I’m good there. And the people that are closest to me, they know who I am and what I’m about, so it’s all good."
Widely considered one of the most creative minds in football, Johnson oversaw an offense last year that ranked top five in the NFL in total yards, rushing, passing, scoring and red zone offense, and built a 24-7 halftime lead on the 49ers in the NFC championship game before things came to a crashing halt in a 34-31 defeat.
The Lions should be one of the top teams in the NFL again this fall, and Johnson likely will be of the top head coaching candidates, though there is no guarantee he leaves Detroit in 2025, no matter where the Lions finish in the standings.
Johnson interviewed with five teams after last season — the Commanders, Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, Los Angeles Chargers and Atlanta Falcons — and declined an interview request with the Tennessee Titans. In 2023, he turned down an in-person interview with the Carolina Panthers when he was widely considered the frontrunner for the job.
He said Thursday he has no doubt he's ready to be a head coach, but indicated he will remain picky about any job he takes.
"Something that really resonates with me is, OK, eight openings this past year. What would you set the over-under in three years, how many still have jobs?" Johnson said. "I’d say there’s a good chance five of them are out of jobs in three years. And so, when I look at it from that perspective, if I get the opportunity to go down that road, it’s about how do I get to that second contract, how do I set myself up that if the stars need to align? I’m not going to do it just to do it. I love what I’m doing right now. Love it. Love it. I love where I’m at. My family loves where we’re at. Love the people that we’re doing it with, and so I’m not willing to go down the other path yet unless I feel really good about how it’s going to unfold."
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Asked what he needs to see to know it's the right opportunity, Johnson ticked off a list of requirements: A good owner, having the ability to hire the right staff, and his vision of how he can make the job work while retaining play-calling duties.
"Listen, there’s an adjustment period for every person that takes that job, they’re learning on the fly," Johnson said. "But I think the more that you have set and feel good about, that gives you the best chance. I was actually talking to someone the other day about this was, man, the longer you’re in the coordinator chair, it does nothing but help you and prepare you more for the next step, if it ever comes down the pipe. So personally, I don’t feel like I’m hurting my opportunities or my abilities to be a head coach in the future, and I love what I’m doing right now."
Contact Dave Birkett atdbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at@davebirkett.
