If Ben Johnson leaves for a head coaching job after the season, who could replace him as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator?
Ben Johnson has risen fast through the coaching ranks. He opened the 2021 season as the Detroit Lions tight ends coach, then with offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn’s reduced role after the bye Johnson became passing game coordinator.
Johnson parlayed the nice results from that late-season stretch into the permanent gig replacing Lynn as the Lions’ offensive coordinator.
The Lions started this season as the NFL’s highest-scoring offense. After a lull for a couple weeks, they have scored 25 or more points in five straight games and they are the fifth-best scoring offense in the league for the season (26.8 points per game).
In terms of yardage, the Lions are seventh in the league in passing (248.8 yards per game), 11th in rushing (127.5 yards per game) and fourth in total offense.
Despite being in his first year as a coordinator and play caller, Johnson is getting plenty of buzz as a 2023 head coaching candidate. If he would get a head coaching job, or he would take one if it was offered, are the broader questions. But he will get requested to interview for an opening or two in the upcoming hiring cycle, there’s no doubt about that.
Not to say the odds are great that Johnson leaves the Lions for a head coaching job after this season. But what if he does?
Here are some candidates to replace Ben Johnson if he gets a head coaching job in 2023.