Dan Campbell’s team is 12-1 and leading the NFC after 14 weeks, making the Detroit Lions’ current regular season the best in the team’s history. The Lions will visit the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Week 15 after defeating the Green Bay Packers in Week 14 in a pivotal divisional game.
Despite having one of the deepest rosters in the NFL, the Lions’ coaching staff—particularly the coordinator duo of Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson—deserves a great deal of praise for Detroit’s success. Despite being plagued by injuries, Glenn’s defence has been outstanding this season, while Johnson has made a name for himself as the best offensive coordinator in sport. Together, the two have totally changed their units.
Although Johnson is possibly the best head coaching candidate available, Glenn will attract a lot of interest for head coaching opportunities this offseason. The 38-year-old has played a key role in Detroit’s rise to become one of the league’s most potent offences and in quarterback Jared Goff’s career revival.
ESPN’s Bill Barnwell advises the Dallas Cowboys to fire Mike McCarthy and give Ben Johnson a five-year, $125 million contract to be the team’s next head coach, despite the Lions’ offensive coordinator having a competitive head coaching market.
Johnson has done a flawless job as Detroit’s offensive coordinator. Many of the players that touched the ball there were regarded before they reached Johnson, even though he won’t be able to carry that powerful O-line and some of the playmakers with him. Amon-Ra St. Brown was selected in the fourth round. During his four seasons with Chicago, running back David Montgomery had an average of less than 4.0 yards per carry. Tennessee cut wide receivers Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds. Additionally, Jared Goff, who is currently a contender for MVP, was salary ballast in the Matthew Stafford trade and had effectively been benched for John Wolford in a playoff game. All of them have improved under Johnson.
The Cowboys are not allowed to purchase first-round picks or circumvent the salary cap, but they are allowed to spend as much as they want on coaches. Although Johnson’s salary would be a substantial investment and likely infuriate every other team in the league, coaches generally receive inadequate compensation. Forbes estimates that this franchise is worth over $10 billion. If this strategy works, Johnson would be a great deal. The Cowboys won’t lose out on the money if it doesn’t work.
With a record of 5-8 going into Week 15, the Cowboys have had a very terrible 2024 season and are probably not going to make the playoffs. Although many will blame the team’s 2024 woes on quarterback Dak Prescott’s season-ending hamstring injury, Dallas finished 3-5 with Prescott starting this season, thus the season was already in trouble before the veteran’s injury.
Mike McCarthy is a good regular-season coach and has won a Super Bowl, but the Cowboys need to try something new because the Pittsburgh native has only won one postseason game since 2017.
It would be a marriage made in heaven to bring in an offensive genius like Johnson to complement Prescott and Dallas’ potent offence. On the offensive end of the ball, the South Carolina native has also worked with a variety of position groups. He was the Miami Dolphins’ assistant quarterbacks and wide receivers coach from 2013 to 2017 and the Lions’ tight ends coach from 2020 to 2021 before taking over as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2022.
All things considered, the Cowboys ought to find a new coach after the season and let go of McCarthy. Ben Johnson has the potential to be one of the NFL’s top offensive head coaches and might propel Dallas back into the 2025 Super Bowl, despite the fact that there are several elite candidates available this summer.