Patriots reportedly request interview with Ben Johnson for head-coaching vacancy
FOXBORO -- The New England Patriots are wasting no time in their head-coaching search, reportedly requesting an interview with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
After firing Jerod Mayo on Sunday, the Patriots made their request to interview Johnson on Monday, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB. Johnson will take the interview too, according to Breer.
With the Lions on their postseason bye week, Johnson can interview with teams virtually this week. In addition to the Patriots, the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars have asked to speak to the Detroit OC.
While he has no head-coaching experience, Johnson would pair nicely with New England quarterback Drake Maye after he helped turn the Lions into a Super Bowl contender over the last three seasons.
Who is Ben Johnson?
The 38-year-old Johnson is one of the top head-coaching candidates out there this offseason, viewed as one of the brightest offensive minds in the game. He's been Detroit's OC for the last three years, and the Lions had a Top 5 offense in 2022 and a Top 3 offense in 2023. This season, Detroit led the NFL at 33.2 points per game and ranked second at 409-5 yards per game.
The Lions are the No. 1 seed in the NFC and get a week off, so Johnson is free to interview with teams.
While Maye turned heads with an impressive rookie season after he replaced Jacoby Brissett in Week 5, it didn't result in many wins for the 4-13 Patriots. New England's 30 touchdowns in 2024 were tied for the second-fewest in the NFL. The Patriots averaged just 17.0 points per game, which was the third-worst in the league behind the Cleveland Browns (15.2 ppg) and the New York Giants (16.1 ppg).
Johnson was a walk-on at North Carolina from 2004-07, and got into coaching shortly after his college career ended. He got his start locally as a graduate assistant at Boston College, before serving as tight ends coach for the Eagles in 2011.
He then made the move to the NFL, serving as an offensive assistant with the Miami Dolphins in 2012. He served a number of roles with the Dolphins -- including assistant quarterbacks coach, tight ends coach, and wide receivers coach -- before he made his way to Detroit in 2019. He was promoted to the Lions passing game coordinator in 2021, before being named their offensive coordinator for the 2022 season.
Former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel -- who won three Super Bowls as a player in New England -- is viewed as the favorite to land the Patriots job, but the New England brass should absolutely pick Johnson's brain about the future of the franchise.