to sweat out the possibility of losing their offensive
coordinator, Ben Johnson, NFL media reported last night. That
Johnson who had drawn in tourist from
the Cults, the Texans and the Cardinals. I believe maybe
the Panthers one of those teams in the reason North Carolina
native, I can't remember the
three teams but there were three teams.
He is informed, the Lions, he's staying put, he was scheduled
to meet with the Panthers today. Now, this could be
a factor of, he really didn't think he was gonna get a job.
This cycle, right? Or
or I cuz
look and this is another one of those predictive narratives
that people in our business just kind of lazily throw out
there.
Well he sure to be a hot candidate again next year. Are
you sure? Yeah. Byron. Leftwich was a hot candidate last year.
You ain't won this year. We're going to talk about him coming
up
so the world changes quickly in the NFL, every season is
different. When the window is open,
you better try to get through it because that window may be
slammed shut a year from now, it may be your only Chance.
And,
you know, Chris,
I didn't know a whole lot about Ben Johnson's background,
Ben Johnson's 36,
Ben Johnson's been a coordinator. All of one year,
he replaced, Anthony, Lynn, who was fired. After one, you would
Dan Campbell. He's a holdover from that Patricia's staff.
He's a guy who didn't get fired along with everyone else. When
Dan Campbell took over
and this gets back to a conversation, I've had with
many people over the years and it really is amazing to me and
I don't know what owners are thinking
and maybe they're just influenced by people in
the media who just assume hot coordinator equals
definite head coach.
Well, what do we know about Ben Johnson's leadership skills?
What do we know about whether or not? He's going to be
a successful head coach? Is he ready? Should he wait
right? The fair-haired young
coordinator doesn't always become successful head coach.
The problem is, you really don't know until they go do
the job, but I'd like to think there's some way
to glean whether or not this person come take over a room
and provide the leadership necessary to be successful. And
You know, I'm thinking in Faneuil hack it while I say
that. But I also remember, when Matt LaFleur got the job with
the
Packers thinking, man they're going to eat him alive in that
locker room with Aaron Rodgers and all his passive aggressive
nonsense. And the floor is not going to last. He's not gonna
be able to run that team and he's done a great job. So
I mean, the bottom line is
Ben Jonson ship. May come in, we'll find out if and when it
does whether he can be a successful head coach. But for
now he's tapping out, my concern would be there's no
guarantee. You're gonna be able to tap back in know that you're
right? There's not I Mean to
me, it does have the feel of kind of how you started
the conversation off here with this subject, right? That he kind
of, you know, reading between the tea leaves there and just,
you know, feeling the temperature of the water.
I think he started to realize
probably that he was not going to get one of those jobs which
I understand, you know, again, I don't think Carolina
or the Broncos for that matter. Those two specifically
are looking for the new upstart guy, I'm right. I mean, they
kind of just got burned by that so that solutely right there at
the door and then it gets
Into Houston, you know, the Cults that conversation there.
Okay maybe there's some logic it seems you know again I don't
know Houston Houston looks like they're looking for somebody
a little more you know proven as well
but with Ben Johnson and I think you said it right there
are still questions as he really ready to do that yet.
I don't think that's going to make owners still warm and cozy
or GM's that are in the hiring process,
his offense is awesome.
You know all we can look at it from you know, the last year.
And a half or so and go. Whoa, they've done some great things,
they are an offense, going back to the Pratt past conversation
with with Justin Herbert and the Chargers, where he would be
perfect. I mean again, let's
not only like awesome offense on both sides as far as running
and throwing but creativity like we showed in our pregame
right before the Packers the ability to tie plays together.
Hey there's this play. Hey there's this play.
Hey, this place looks like the pie you just saw You times all
with something else he does. He's great at that and then has
a few wrinkles off of that as well
along as well as well as being
aggressive. I mean Jared Goff. Look at what he's done with
Jared Goff I Know Dan Campbell deserve some of this credit to
but this is by far Jared Goff best year of his career.
I don't even care what the stats say he might have had
better your stats wise with the Rams
but like we talked about it was, you know,
all about well we got to make it easy for Jared and let him
throw it to the guy in the flat and hope he can run for
something. They
they built Jared Goff into like no Jarrod. You got to throw
this in here. Look at these throws were showing right here.
These are things. We did not see from him in a consistent
basis from golf so he's obviously got some skill
will see but you're right there's probably a few more
answers. Our questions that need to be answered for her
owners and GM's. You are in this hiring process,
it's entirely possible. He'll be a superstar and I think we
see owners, take calculated risks all the time that they
want to catch that star on the way up, because once it's fully
risen,
somebody else will be employing
that star head coach but at what a fascinating exercise it
is and I've been meaning to write about this because
Like, just the whole question of who does and doesn't get
Second Chances, and what you can do to sanitize your resume
to get that second chance. Like okay, I failed as a head coach,
but I went back and I was a coordinator
and we had a couple of good years so now I get a chance to
be a head coach again. Well why is that person going to be
different the second time around? Yeah. Just because they
went back to the job. They did. Well enough to get them a head
coaching opportunity in the first place where
as you've got former head coaches out there,
who did well, who,
And and look,
we employ one of them and Jason Garrett.
His exactly. Right. If you look at your right, if you look at
Jason guards resume, it's way better than people want to give
it credit for, that's for sure.
And and and I don't, this isn't, this isn't help our guy
get a job, okay. Bill O'Brien.
Yes. You're talking about him as an offensive coordinator.
Why the hell are they talking about? Bill O'Brien is a head
coaching candidate, huh? Right. Right
welder. Did the Texans better than well does? In
a dysfunctional organization as we've learned right,
he still did. Well,
what what about? What about Marvin Lewis? Marvin Lewis
through his hat back into the ring and everybody ignored it.
He did well in eight dysfunctional organization,
with Andy Dalton, we see what Andy Dalton's been since he
left the Bangles. Yeah, he hasn't
been the guy that he was with the Bengals
and he's still young enough that he still should be pretty
good, right? And he's not when he's not with Marvin Lewis and
the Bengals of the and a, how are we throwing Mike Zimmer?
I mean Mike Zimmer. Her was good enough that at least you
consider giving him an interview you at least bring
him in. He could be the exact opposite. They're looking for
in Arizona,
right? Yeah, you want somebody to come in and kick some ass
and take some names and get calamari point in the right
direction. He's at least a guy you bring in and talk to him
and pick his brain a little bit, or at least
see what he's learned through the downfall of his time. In
Minnesota, people are capable of changing and growing even in
their 60s, man. So Frank Wright would be another one. I Role in
that conversation, you know reich's reich's getting
an interview with the card, right. Getting an industrial partners
that came up last night.
So
but but if but if rights getting one. Yes, right. These
other names that we mentioned. Like how is this happening? How
does this dance card get put together? Who is it out there?
That's deciding. These are the names. This is just follow
the leader. Like,
one named lands on an interview list. So all the other owners
decide, I better interview that person to well. Yeah, and well
and nobody.
But and everybody ignores, you know, these folks who are
hiding in plain sight that did aren't even getting the time of
day. It's just weird. And I'm not saying they should be hired
when I'm saying is,
why aren't you bringing him in to talk to him?
Marvin. Yeah, was meeting
him here. He wants. He wants another opportunity. Why
wouldn't you talk to Marvin Lewis? Why wouldn't you talk to
Bill O'Brien? Why wouldn't you talk to Jason Garrett? Why
wouldn't you talk to Mike Zimmer? I'm sure there's
others, I'm not thinking of, and I apologize to those folks
if I'm not
Making of them but coaches, who did? Well,
who didn't go back into the mill of, I'm going to go be
an NFL coordinator and do the thing. I did that. Got me
the job in the first place,
and hope, they forget that I didn't do a very good job as
a head coach because I went back and did a good enough job as
a coordinator that they thought. Well, this guy's doing a good
job as a coordinator, and he's got a head coaching experience,
even if it wasn't
great and we're going to hire him as a head coach again.
Yeah, I'm I mean you, you said a lot of awesome things there.
I agree with you and I do. I mean, hey Jim Caldwell. I mean,
Maybe I'll throw him in there, too. Like what? What the hell.
Yes, they got to go. We got to coach the dysfunctional lions
and what overachieved every year. He was coaching there and
then he never gets a chance because they go. Well, they
didn't advance in the playoffs. I'm going to be like
that. How did they make the playoffs? That's what I wanted
to ask, right? I mean, been to a Super Bowl with the Colts
women. No!
Not for a few injuries on their football team. They're going to
beat the Saints and a great onside kick. So, I don't
understand it either. I think a little bit Mike. It's a really
deep conversation that really would probably
Got full segment, but
it's a little bit of,
you know, perception and media hype.
It's also the mob, the mob plays a part in this.
You know, it's the the Soviet the mafia. Well,
no, not them, not exactly. Don Corleone on the Don Corleone
assholes on Twitter and Instagram and everybody else.
We're just all the in it to ruin people's lives. I just
want to be. Yeah. Well yeah, they want people to
professionally swim
with the The fishes and Luca Brasi. Okay,
actually kill them right, sleep. So sleep. Yeah, not
swim. Yeah, swim is fine. Yeah, he's m, is a normal activity
for the fishes sleeping with the fishes, but and then also,
I think also
the coaching tree you come from like
it. Ben Johnson was
with Shanahan this year and had those results. I think
everybody goes. Whoa, let's hire him, right? And that, that
I think has to do with it. But it's Dan Campbell, and they
seem like a bunch of crazy meat heads up there. So, let me
just Evaluate that one more year, right? I mean, I think
it's a little bit of all that and yeah, for whatever reason
I do think
owners and GM's,
they they take the temperature of the, the social media mob
that we're talking about a little bit because they know if
it's something that's unpopular
that, that group, was just going to wait for one bad thing
and go, well, you hired, Jason Garrett,
he never went to the Super Bowl ever.
Like, you guys are so stupid. What were you thinking?
And it's just that also plays a factor in this and it is
a fascinating psychological experiment, to your point. And
Ben Johnson stays the course, he'll be a head coach sooner
rather than later.
If he stays the course and once he gets the opportunity will
find out whether or not you can do it. There's a chapter in
Playmakers. By the way that focuses on this concept of
the NFL owners, getting caught up in what basically is
a realization of the Peter Principle, that satirical
concept that was devised in the 60s that basically, we all rise
to the level of our own incompetence because we keep
getting promoted when we do a job. Well,
so we get promoted to a job. Well, you get promoted. You
keep getting promoted until you get to a job. You can't do.
Then you don't get promoted anymore and in the NFL when it
happens, you get fired, right? But the skill set is so
fundamentally different for head coaches,
and as, as an owner, you've got
you basically got three tracks,
right? General tracks
coordinator, who's never been a coach before.
Guy who's been a head coach before whether he's gone back
to be a coordinator or he's done other things or college
coach. Those are the three tracks
and we're not seeing a whole lot of college coach run this
year. Except for Jim Harbaugh, I think Matt rule may have set
that back a little
agree, Meyer Kingsbury, right? Frankly. Yeah.
Urban Meyer. Exactly. Yeah.
But it seems more again this year, it's the rising
coordinator except for the teams that have been burned by
the rising coordinator and
you just, you know, it's funny how Ow. We see teams, do that
ping pong, that pendulum swing, the exact opposite, the exact
opposite and we look at what happened to
the Broncos. They've had three straight
first time head coaches, who were previously coordinators, and
the other teams don't learn these lessons vicariously. It's
just, it's fascinating to me. And what also is fascinating is
all happening in a compressed time frame. You fire your coach
either during the season or immediately after. And then
it's go, go, go, go, go! We got to go find a head coach. And
I think some of these folks, just kind of get to the point where
there Tired of the process. It's too much. I'm Gonna Fly
here. I don't want to fly there. I don't want to do this.
It's
a long day. I've had enough. I've had enough. Let's just
hire somebody and be done with it. Yeah, I don't disagree.
It's a tiring process. I think, for
not only, you know, the, the candidates that are up for it
year after year, and swing and miss, and don't get that
opportunity.
The other thing, that's a pain in the ass has
its it drives the head coaches crazy
because they're always like, when is he leaving? Is he
saying? Who am I going to make the next guy? And every year,
oh, wait. Wait, who were we're preparing for this game, but
you're preparing for an interview
and it just it goes on year after year to where it exhausts.
It exhausted a team. I'm sure that's a little bit. How Andy
Reid feels and and Kansas City. Yeah. He's like, what the hell
and you know, Eric be enemies should be a head coach already
but every year during the playoffs I got a deal with.
Hey, he's going here, he might get hired. I got to think about
a replacement and tell that guy, hey, I might need you to
replace you if he goes, what if he doesn't, hey you, you know,
I'll try to find another spot for you.
So it stresses organizations out, it's a stressful process
altogether. There is no
exact formula to figuring out, who's getting hired and
whatever else. It's a lot connection based as we know
that's the biggest thing,
who's in the G, who's an agent's to, who's yeah, a DEA
agent, who was the owner listening to, and being advised
by, you know, who's the GM? Where's he been before? What
are his relationships? And prior
history and that's how a lot of the times a lot of these. These
connections get made and
it should be an interesting Chi. Recycle nonetheless, it
seems like it's going to be here at the early get-go.
There's a small handful of agents who are basically
the king makers when it comes to coaches, right? Yams. And
that's not good either and you'd like to think the owners
are smart enough to see through that as well.
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