Sorry, Detroit Lions fans, but you’re not the only ones who really like your offensive coordinator.
While opening up a Sunday morning mailbag and answering a few pertinent questions regarding the busy Carolina Panthers, Joe Person of The Athletic gave us a little nugget as to which direction owner David Tepper may be moving in his head coaching search. And as of now, the favorite to land the gig could be Lions play caller Ben Johnson.
“The buzz in league circles is that Tepper is enamored with Johnson, whose innovative schemes helped the Lions finish fifth in the NFL in scoring offense and total offense in his first season as offensive coordinator,” Person writes. “Johnson’s a sharp guy — with degrees from UNC in math and computer science — so you’d have to think he’s going to nail his interview this week.”
Johnson, a Charleston, S.C. native, has received high acclaim for his work in Detroit. In addition to those sparkling overall offensive ranks, the 36-year-old helped revive quarterback Jared Goff—who completed 68.3 percent of his passes for 2,937 yards, 15 touchdowns and zero interceptions over his final nine outings of the campaign.
And considering Tepper and the Panthers have struggled mightily to find an answer under center, Johnson’s 2022 may be a huge factor in this process.
