The Washington Commanders still need a new head coach. One of their previous targets was Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The skilled Johnson became a hot name after Detroit’s offense erupted this past season. However, Johnson decided not to go and become a head coach somewhere. Instead, he stayed on Dan Campbell’s coaching staff and remained the Lions OC.
So why did that happen? Johnson certainly appeared poised to be a frontrunner for the Washington Commanders job. He decided to stay elsewhere for a reason.
ESPN’s Jenna Laine reported some intriguing developments that occurred while Johnson was in the mix for the job. According to Laine, Johnson became “turned off” by certain aspects of the Commanders and their brass.
“Was told that Ben Johnson was ‘turned off’ by Commanders ownership,” Laine said. She continued: “That they’re ‘basketball guys’ and felt they were a little too confident in their football opinions. And I also heard that he ‘didn’t interview well.’ He said, he said, but clearly not a good fit for both sides.”
Some questioned the news after it was revealed. Johnson notably interviewed for the Washington job twice. If they asked him to come around again, then did he really interview poorly? That was one example of an anti opinion to the report, but for the most part, it appears like a decent hypothesis.
Nonetheless, Washington has to fill that vacancy. It just won’t come from Ben Johnson.
The NFL world reacted to the news.
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022