Ben Johnson's offense was so good in 2023, he was seen by many as a top candidate to land a head coaching job in 2024.
He flirted with the idea, taking interviews before ultimately pulling out to return to Detroit. Now wasn't the time.
On Thursday, Johnson explained his reasoning.
"You know, right after the championship game, I got on the plane and was just thinking about something that coach (Dan Campbell) had said," Johnson told reporters. "So 2021 and (the) early part of 2022, he had made this analogy to the team just about how we were sailing down the ocean, and at that moment we were in the Arctic. We were hitting the icebergs. We had the storms going on. Those were dark days, but he had the foresight, he had the vision of where we were going and where we were heading.
"He assured us, 'Guys, I see it, I see where we're going. The results haven't been there yet, but the Caribbean is on the horizon. It's coming up.' You know, and then I'm sitting on the plane, I'm thinking back to that. Just the story of my career has been living in that Arctic for a lot of it; that was the second time I've been to the playoffs, the first time I'd experienced winning games in the playoffs. I think when it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a little bit longer. That's really what it comes down to for me.
"I like the sunshine. I like what we've built here, starting with ownership, the head coach, the GM on down. We have a great group of guys in the locker room and I want to reap the rewards with them a little bit longer."
It takes a certain level of maturity to acknowledge that sometimes, the grass isn't greener. Johnson had this moment of clarity in the midst of toying with leaving Detroit, a once-barren wasteland that has miraculously sprouted fields of lush greenery seemingly overnight. As Johnson explained, the process took longer than that, but why leave just as the flowers are blooming?
And why pack up just to land in another fallow pasture?
"Listen, there's a lot of things that go into it, a lot of reasons and dynamics that play a part," Johnson continued during his Thursday news conference. "Something that really resonates with me is, OK, eight openings this past year. What would you set the over-under (at) in three years? How many still have jobs? I'd put the over-under at 4.5, I would say. I'd say there's a good chance five of them are out of jobs in three years, you know? And so when I look at it from that perspective, if I get the opportunity to go down that road, it's about how do I get to that second contract? How do I set myself up?
"The stars need to align. I'm not going to do it just to do it. I love what I'm doing right now. Love it. I love where I'm at. My family loves where we're at. Love the people that we're doing it with. So I'm not willing to go down the other path yet, unless I feel really good about how it's gonna unfold."
If not overly aspirational, Johnson's logic is at least sound. Many coaches have left a great situation for a poor one, only to be kicked to the curb after a few years (or less) when they can't engineer rapid change. And after fighting through the difficult times of seasons past, Johnson feels as if he doesn't want to leave before truly reaping the rewards of his work and the efforts of so many others.
Detroit has followed suit, spending lavishly to lock up key actors in Johnson's offense. Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Penei Sewell all received lucrative extensions in 2024, setting the course for years of prosperity if everything goes according to plan.
And if the results match the expectations, Johnson knows his candidacy for promotion elsewhere will only improve. In the meantime, he's content with continuing to sharpen his skillset as a coordinator of one of the NFL's most explosive offenses. And he's hoping it produces even greater results before the time comes to jump to the big chair.
"The longer you're in the coordinator chair, it does nothing but help you and prepare you more for the next step if it ever comes down the pipe," Johnson said. "Personally, I don't feel like I'm hurting my opportunities or my abilities to be a coordinator in the future, and I love what I'm doing right now."
Detroit loves him, too -- for both what he's done, and his decision to stay with the Lions instead of pursuing a more significant role with another team. As Campbell said Thursday, "it's a good vibe right now."
Let the good vibes roll.
