Attending a Garth Brooks concert at Ford Field early into his Detroit Lions tenure helped offensive coordinator Ben Johnson decide to stay with the team this offseason.
“I was thinking at the time and soaking in the atmosphere, and it was like, ‘Holy cow, this is what a home playoff game is going to be like, and this is what I want to be a part of. This is what I want to feel. This is what I want to experience,'” Johnson explained during the latest edition of the “Twentyman in the Huddle” podcast, per Tim Twentyman of the Lions’ website. “It made me feel some type of way and I kept going back to that as part of the process and you know what, there are so many good things going on here. So many good people, coaches, players. I love the offensive staff and everyone we have on board there. I love the players. I love coming into work every day.”
Johnson said he didn’t want to “ruin a good thing” by taking a head-coaching job with a different organization this winter.
The Lions were one of the positive surprises of the 2022 NFL season, going 9-8. Per ESPN stats, Detroit finished the campaign fourth with an average of 380.0 offensive yards per game and fifth with an average of 26.6 points per contest.
Detroit quarterback Jared Goff may have resurrected his career playing under Johnson. Goff ranked seventh among eligible players with a 99.3 passer rating, fifth with a 61.1 total QBR, sixth with 4,438 passing yards and tied for fifth with 29 touchdowns through the air.
Following the season, Johnson completed interviews with the Carolina Panthers, Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts regarding their head-coach openings before he pulled his name from consideration to stay with a Lions team he first joined after the 2018 campaign.
“This is as encouraged [as I’ve been] in my four years with the direction of the Lions and where we’re headed,” Johnson added during the podcast. He also expressed faith in Lions principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp, team president Rod Wood, head coach Dan Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes.
