The Ben Johnson Era Is Officially Over

          About a month ago, I started writing an article about where Ben Johnson would most likely end up after the Lions season had concluded. The premise was going to be to look at all of the potential options that were in question, cross-referencing everything that Ben had mentioned he wanted in a Head Coaching position from the past two years, then make a prediction about what decision he would make. 

As of 2:33pm CST, per Adam Schefter, Ben Johnson is going to the Bears.

          Devastated. Grateful. Pessimistic. Sympathetic. All of these words, and more, describe the feelings of every Lions fan right now. Not even 48 hours after the season-ending loss to the Commanders, Ben Johnson is on his way to Chicago with "a star-studded coaching staff" around him. 

          It's hard not to be angry at the man who's been such an integral part of the offenses success over the past two years. Truthfully, I think the majority of anger is because of the situation as a whole. After going 15-2 in the regular season, triumphing over the insurmountable amount of injuries that occurred, only to lose to the Washington Commanders in their first game of the playoffs. 

          Now, Ben Johnson is leaving. Aaron Glen, their defensive coordinator, is most likely leaving. The Bears now have their head coach of the future. The Vikings, who went into 2024 with zero expectations, finished with 14 wins on their season. 14 wins that they managed to accrue without their quarterback of the future, J.J. McCarthy. The Packers looked promising last season as well and rounded out a NFC North that is legitimately the best division in football. All of which had to happen right when the Lions started to find a crumb of success. It sucks.

So, what's next for Detroit?

Option #1 - Tanner Engstrand (Most Likely Option)

          Probably the candidate that makes the most sense for the Lions, Tanner has served as the teams Passing Game Coordinator for the past two seasons under Dan Campbell. He has served as a Lions coach since 2020 and seems to be following in the same footsteps of Ben Johnson, who also served as the Lions Passing Game Coordinator before becoming the OC. 

Option #2 - Hank Fraley (My Favorite Option)

          Hear me out - when you have the best offensive line in the league and they're all telling you that Hank Fraley is not allowed to leave, you listen to them. A 10 year vet in the league, Frank has spent the past 12 years as an offensive line coach in various coaching ranks of football. He recently interviewed for the Seattle Seahawks OC position a few weeks ago and his popularity is only on the rise. Brad, go get your Andy Reid of the future!  

Option #3 - Scottie Montgomery

          The most experienced candidate, Scottie Montgomery played in the NFL for 3 seasons, before diving into College Football as a coach. After 10 years as an assistant, Scottie became the Head Coach of East Carolina University. Five years later, he found himself in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, and now he's an assistant head coach/running backs coach for the Detroit Lions. 

          Obviously, Detroit could look elsewhere to hire an Offensive Coordinator, however I like our options in Detroit. Truthfully, I don't see the organization wanting to look elsewhere for an OC at the moment either. I think the Lions may look to hire someone for their DC position that's outside the organization, however the well runs deep in Detroit for offensive play-callers. 

          Who do you think the Lions will hire/promote? Let me know on Twitter (it's not X) @cwintas, where I'm always posting about Detroit-related topics, from the comfort of my home in Texas. Yes, I know. I hate the Cowboys too. Always have, always will.