Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was consistently viewed as the favorite for the Washington Commanders’ head-coaching job until he abruptly withdrew from the process as the team was preparing for a second interview with him. Reports are beginning to surface as to why things went down the way they did.
Dueling reports began to emerge Friday that suggested each side was blaming the other for the pairing not working out. In an appearance on the “Puck & Jim” show on 950 KJR in Seattle, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said Johnson had interviewed poorly with the Commanders and probably was not the favorite for the job by that point anyway.
On Saturday, however, Jenna Laine of ESPN reported that Johnson was “turned off” by Washington ownership and that he saw them as “basketball guys” who were overconfident in their football knowledge. Laine did add that she had also heard Johnson interviewed poorly.