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Researching Lions OC Ben Johnson

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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The amazing performances put on by the Detroit offense through the first three weeks of the 2022 NFL Season are starting to draw some attention and interest to young Lions OC Ben Johnson.

Among those praising Johnson for his work…

Not bad...

To be clear, Johnson is way younger than what I normally like as a head coaching candidate (just 36) but he’s been coaching at the NFL level for as many years (since 2012) as others like Ken Dorsey and has risen through the ranks at a reasonably steady pace.

As illustrated above, Johnson is garnering high praise from numerous circles. The Athletic’s offensive analyst Ted Nguyen recently wrote a piece about how the Lions offense saw a weakness in the widespread use of defensive guru Vic Fangio’s concepts and figured out how to attack it. That approach certainly looks to be working so far.

Throw in too that if you look back at his resumé, you’ll find some pretty hefty connections to the Carolinas.

Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Johnson attended high school in Asheville, North Carolina. Upon graduating, he became a walk on quarterback for the UNC Tarheels behind both TJ Yates and current Panthers receiver coach Joe Dailey. Yates would later play for the Miami Dolphins, along with former Panther QB Matt Moore, when Johnson was an assistant there. Also while at UNC, Johnson was a teammate to Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, Cameron Thomas, former (temporary) Panther Hilee Taylor and Connor Barth among others.

Looking at his college coaches, quarterback coach John Shoop had previously served on the offensive staff of the Panthers from their inaugural season through 1998. Retired former Colts coach - and Ron Rivera friend - Chuck Pagano was the Tarheels DC for one of his seasons there. Longtime NFL OL Coach (and also Rivera associate) Hal Hunter was on board for a bit as well. Hunter later coached in Cleveland alongside current Panthers ST coach Chris Tabor (Pep Hamilton was the OC at the time).

Mind you, Tabor’s not the only Panthers staffer with a connection of sorts to Johnson.

Others are, in fact a little more direct...

Let's start with original Panthers head coach Dom Capers who was a defensive assistant last season in Detroit. Among current Panther staffers besides the aforementioned Dailey, quarterback coach Sean Ryan and DL coach Paul Pasqualoni each spent time on the Lions staff with him.

Johnson even has a shirttail connection with Panthers assistant GM Dan Morgan via former Morgan colleague Joe Schoen who was in the Dolphins personnel department (as was former Panthers college scouting director Eric Stokes) for a few seasons while Johnson and now Lions head coach Dan Campbell were on the coaching staff. Said staff also included current RB coach Jeff Nixon and former Panthers player Mike Wahle.

For what some might find the most "fun" connection though, you’ve gotta go back to Johnson’s very first coaching gig..

From 2009 to 2011, Johnson was a graduate assistant and later tight ends coach for a college football program in the Northeastern US.

Specifically, Boston College.

Those three years just happened to coincide with the college career of a certain former Panther who’s best known for playing linebacker.

Yeah…that guy.

Substantive? Maybe not, but interesting / amusing.

Well...to me, aanyway, but what does it all really add up to?

Bottom Line: Unless and until Matt Rhule is fired, not a whole lot. Likewise, even if Johnson has more Carolinas connections than Kevin Bacon, he still has to finish out this season well and garner more significant head coaching interest. Mind you, there’s already some buzz around him, but not necessarily enough to make Johnson a major player on the coaching scene just yet.

That said, having researched his path to now, I definitely find him intriguing as a possibility. Johnson is getting praise for the kind of work you want to see in the guy running your team: knowledge of league trends, offensive innovation, the ability to properly evaluate and use the players you have and even maximize the positive traits of some lesser guys (Jared Goff for example, who’s looked better since Johnson started working with him) and more. Factor in also that with our current offensive line personnel stacked toward the run game, having them run plays designed by Johnson could be...interesting 😃

Still, for the moment it’s only a “keep in the back of your mind” sort of thing.

In the crazy world of the NFL though, weirder things have happened.

Edited by Mr. Scot
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Mage Grand Master

Mage

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8 minutes ago, jumpman910 said:

Jeff okudah going from a top 3 drafted cb who looked like a bust to what he's doing now after injury is damn near shocking. 

Just gotta be patient.  There are positions where it takes years for a guy to develop and CB is one of them.  Andrew Thomas is another guy who looked like a bust but is starting to look like an elite tackle

Okudah always had the talent.  IIRC, the issue was he was not a good fit with Matt Patricia.

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trueblade Grand Master

trueblade

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Just now, Panthering said:

I'd throw Eagles OC Shane Steichen in the mix too as a candidate. I like teams who tailor their gameplan to their rosters strengths. 

I'd look at the Jets Mike LaFleur as well. He had Flacco playing well and even had an UDFA Mike White putting up numbers last year.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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5 minutes ago, Panthering said:

I'd throw Eagles OC Shane Steichen in the mix too as a candidate. I like teams who tailor their gameplan to their rosters strengths. 

 

3 minutes ago, trueblade said:

I'd look at the Jets Mike LaFleur as well. He had Flacco playing well and even had an UDFA Mike White putting up numbers last year.

Im very interested in the Panthers finally having an offensive coach.

Thing on that front though is that unless he totally sh-ts the bed, you're likely to see both AGM Dan Morgan and former Panther Greg Olsen on board the hype train for Bills OC Ken Dorsey.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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I'd throw this in...

Panther fans have been looking for a way to get Luke Kuechly involved in coaching for years now (general indications are he's not that interested in working with Matt Rhule and company).

There's no evidence to suggest that Johnson and Kuechly are best friends or anything, but they're likely at least acquainted from their time at BC. And both would seem to be highly intelligent.

So maybe, just maybe, Johnson could have a better shot at getting Luke aboard that train than Rhule does.

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