Having a second playoff game to prepare for is a welcomed new phenomenon for the Detroit Lions. So too is having coordinators in demand for head coaching jobs elsewhere.
Welcome to 2024, and welcome to the very busy time for Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. The duo has been requested to interview for head coaching positions by at least 10 teams combined.
Those interviews, at least some of them, will get crammed into the Lions busy game prep schedule on Friday and Saturday this week. Johnson has known interviews with the Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers on Friday after Detroit’s practice.
Johnson made it clear that his focus is on preparing the Lions to beat the Buccaneers on Sunday.
“I’ve left that to other people,” Johnson said. I know it’s still a very fluid situation and truth be told, we’ll find out more once the gameplan’s done. That’s been told to everybody I’ve been around. Nothing’s more important than the gameplan.”
It’s a good reminder of why coaches have agents. Given Johnson’s time crunch with game-planning and the interviews, he’s already cutting deeply into his family time. Johnson, 37, has a young family and is losing time with them to go through the interviewing process.
“Well, the truth is, it gets taken away from somewhere and so it gets taken away from my family a little bit,” Johnson said. “And so, it’s not the easy thing to say, but normally Fridays, get home, I can pick my daughter up from school and we’re wrestling downstairs and doing whatnot, and we’ll have to skip that this week.”
Glenn has received four known interview requests, including with the Seahawks, Titans and Commanders. He is also expected to conduct some remote interviews on Friday and Saturday, though Glenn himself didn’t confirm any that were scheduled.
How is the longtime NFL player and coach prepping while also getting his Lions defense ready for a playoff game?
“I prepare by being myself,” Glenn said on Thursday. “Listen, I’ve been playing this game for a long time, I’ve been coaching it for a while. So, the questions that they ask, there’s a good chance I’ve got them already in my head. So, like I said, I look forward to them, nothing’s confirmed yet, but when they do happen, I’m sure you guys will know.”