Phil Perry provides intel on the Patriots’ interview with Ben Johnson for their head coaching job on Friday.
Pats needed answer to this key question during Ben Johnson interview originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The New England Patriots announced on Friday that they had completed an interview for their head-coaching vacancy with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
We wrote earlier this week that Johnson was at a disadvantage when compared to Mike Vrabel — the other top candidate interviewed by the Patriots this week — for a variety of reasons. The primary one? He’s an unknown commodity as the leader of a coaching staff.
After speaking to multiple league sources, one question that arose when it came to projecting Johnson as a head coach was this: How exactly would he manage his time as a play-calling head coach?
Johnson is considered by those who know him to be a brilliant offensive mind.
“As good as there is as a coach,” said one former colleague. “Demanding. Hard to work for. Smart as [expletive].”
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Johnson’s track record as offensive coordinator in Detroit speaks for itself. He can afford to be picky when it comes to his next landing spot, and he has been. He was reportedly close to taking the Washington head job last year before opting back in with the Lions for another season. They’re now in possession of both a historically efficient offense and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
The Patriots job is one he would covet, thanks in part to the presence of 22-year-old quarterback Drake Maye. And the Patriots have interest in him, making him their fourth interview this week after speaking with Vrabel, Pep Hamilton, and Byron Leftwich.
The team’s interview with Johnson had to, by rule, occur via videoconference and was limited to three hours in length. Did they get a good sense of Johnson’s philosophies as a head coach? Did they like the sound of his projected list of assistants? And did they come to understand how he would divvy up the many responsibilities associated with the job if Johnson is going to continue to call plays?
Johnson has a reputation as an extremely diligent worker and someone who isn’t afraid to add more to his plate if something under his purview isn’t up to his standards. He expects a lot from his players and the coaches on the offensive side of things in Detroit. But how well will he delegate in a new, more all-encompassing role? As he strives for the perfect game plan offensively week-to-week, when will he make time for the countless knocks on his door as the go-to person for final calls on the wider day-to-day football operation?
The questions of how Johnson will handle the media in New England matter. He’s viewed by some as an introvert relative to some of his fellow coaches. He might prefer to operate behind the scenes and tinker with his scheme than stand behind a microphone. As head coach of the Patriots, he’d be dealing with a rabid and restless fanbase in a media market that covers the team relentlessly. It’s not as though he’s seen as incapable of doing that part of his next job. He’ll just have to work at it.
But if there truly was room for the Krafts to be “blown away” on Friday, the answers to those questions as to how he’ll allocate a deep-but-limited energy supply, and upon whom he’ll lean most to share the workload — getting to the core of how he’ll make this transition from running an offense to running a team — may have been Johnson’s path.
