The Detroit Lions offensive coordinator is now going to the Chicago Bears. How many of his staff will he bring with him?
The Detroit Lions’ latest bitter end to a tremendous season will not have the same offseason outcome of offensive coordinator Ben Johnson staying with the team. After not taking a head coach job last year, Johnson is staying in the NFC North to be the Chicago Bears’ next head coach.
Johnson won’t have to search for his franchise quarterback when his keycard is activated in Chicago. Caleb Williams was the Bears’ No. 1 overall pick and had a fine season under difficult circumstances, which included the midseason firings of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus.
This hire may, and I stress may, be relevant to the Seattle Seahawks’ ongoing offensive coordinator search. It only makes sense to believe that Johnson will be bringing on some members of the Lions’ offensive coaching staff along to Chicago.
Last season, the Seahawks have interviewed Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand before ultimately hiring Ryan Grubb. With Grubb fired, the first reported interview was with Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley. For the moment, Engstrand is still Detroit’s PGC but could just as easily be promoted in-house to replace Johnson as the OC. Fraley is more of a question mark and could even be an OC option in Chicago, where Johnson would still be the playcaller.
Unlike Klint Kubiak and Grant Udinski, Fraley has not yet been given a second interview by the Seahawks, but keep in mind that the other two were already on teams whose respective seasons ended. Fraley would’ve been unavailable for another interview given the Lions were in the Divisional Round, but we’ll see if he’s one of the “Round 2” candidates for the Seahawks now that Detroit is out of the postseason.
