General manager Brad Holmes of the Detroit Lions stressed that he is happy for former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The man calling plays for arguably the greatest offense in Lions history, Johnson accepted the job to become the Chicago Bears head coach this offseason.
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But as happy as he is about Johnson’s success, Holmes suggested while appearing on The Green Light with Chris Long podcast on Thursday that he was surprised Johnson landed with a division rival.
“I was thinking Chicago would’ve probably been the last destination — or I was probably hoping that, probably,” Holmes told Long. “But no, I really didn’t know that was happening until — actually, until he accepted the job, and we had a little talk briefly before he left.
“I was happy for him, man. I mean, he is a hell of a coach, man, and they have a really good one up there.
“But yeah, it’s just a little like, man, why Chicago?”
Veteran quarterback Jared Goff flourished again under Johnson, posting three consecutive 4,400 passing yards seasons from 2022-24. During that same time, the Lions finished in the top five in offensive yards and points scored every season.
The last time the Lions were top five in both of those key categories three years in a row was 1952-54.
Johnson will try to have the same impact with second-year quarterback Caleb Williams and the Bears this season.
Brad Holmes’ Lions Replacing Both Coordinators Entering 2025 NFL Season
With the Lions offense accomplishing things it hadn’t in 70 years under Johnson, it’s hard to overstate how important the offensive coordinator was in Detroit.
Johnson was an assistant that Lions head coach Dan Campbell was extremely familiar too because of their working history. Johnson served under Campbell in Detroit for four seasons.
From 2012-15, the two coaches were together on the Miami Dolphins staff. During the 2015 season, Campbell became the Dolphins interim head coach. Johnson served as Miami’s assistant quarterbacks coach and replaced Campbell as tight ends coach too.
Campbell lost the trustworthy offensive play caller this offseason at the same time his reliable defensive coordinator, Aaron Glenn, left to become the New York Jets head coach.
Lions Replacing Ben Johnson With John Morton
As painful as it will be for Holmes to see Johnson coaching the Bears this fall, the general manager still sounded excited about his team’s offense.
John Morton will replace Johnson as the team’s offensive coordinator. It’s his first offensive coordinator position since 2017 with the Jets.
Holmes doesn’t anticipate major offensive changes, though, because Campbell is still running things as head coach.
“It’s going to be some new wrinkles. But I think, in terms of the change to the looks, that really comes from Dan, in terms of he’s looking to evolve it regardless, whether Ben was still here or not,” said Holmes.
“I will say, just because John Morton and Ben were there both in ’22 with Dan overseeing the whole thing, I don’t see a lot of wholesale change. But there’s going to be some evolution there, just because that’s how Dan is—just regardless.”
Morton served as passing game coordinator under Sean Payton for the Denver Broncos the past two seasons. Morton was a senior offensive assistant on Campbell’s staff in Detroit during 2022.
