Ben Johnson has reportedly emerged as one of the Las Vegas Raiders’ favorite head coach candidates.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has a bunch of suitors this NFL head coach cycle, but one team has reportedly been extra swooned by him. Per NFL Network, the Las Vegas Raiders are “enamored” by Johnson.
“He has quickly emerged as the candidate to watch for Las Vegas, as the Raiders — in a search that prominently includes limited partner Tom Brady — are willing to wait as long as it takes to secure their potential future head coach,” Ian Rapoport wrote on Saturday.
Johnson has already completed interviews with the the Raiders and New England Patriots on Friday. He is reportedly scheduled to interview with the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars on Saturday, as well.
Per Rapoport, Brady has had a big hand in getting Johnson to consider the Raiders.
“Yet thanks in part to the involvement of Brady, who sources say personally vouched for Johnson and implored him to take the interview through his agent, Johnson spoke with them. Essentially, Brady recruited Johnson to interview,” Rapoport wrote.
Johnson is largely responsible for turning the Lions offense into a top-five unit for each of the past three seasons. They ranked fifth in scoring in both 2022 and 2023. This year the Lions set a franchise record with 564 points and a league-leading 33.2 points per game.
This is the third year Johnson has been considered one of the top head coach candidates available, but he has been very selective in which teams he interviews with and positions he seriously considers. However, he said earlier this season that becoming a head coach is still a primary goal of his.
“There’s a burning desire in every man to find what he’s made out of, push the limits and see if he’s got what it takes,” Johnson said in December. “So, yeah, there’s a fire there. Now, when that time is, I don’t know when that’ll be, but there’s certainly a fire there.”
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