The next Ben Johnson may already be on the Lions coaching staff right now, why you should be excited

One of Detroit Lions fans' biggest fears came true this offseason when offensive coordinator Ben Johnson took the head coaching job for the Chicago Bears. 

While in Detroit, Johnson was the coordinator for one of the best offenses in football for multiple years. Some expect the Lions to come collapsing down, but that's a ridiculous idea. Dan Campbell has shown that he can be a great playcaller. 

In 2021, when the Lions fired Anthony Lynn, Campbell took over the play call for the final nine games of the year. The offense immediately improved, and the team won only three games of the season during that time. 

Campbell was getting some ideas for special plays during that time from the tight ends coach, Ben Johnson. When Johnson took over as the OC, he got help implementing the Lions' new playbook from current OC John Morton. From there, he had a team full of coaches who were in charge of the specials, and he credited that team this past season. 

"I think we’ve got some really good young coaches that are going to be ready to be position coaches sooner rather than later, and I’m saying all that because when I see a play like the one we had in the game last week not only come to life and get executed like it did, but get the publicity that it did, really (Lions Assistant Wide Receivers Coach) Seth Ryan, (Lions Assistant Offensive Line Coach) Steve Oliver and (Lions Assistant Quarterbacks Coach) J.T. Barrett, they’ve been in charge of our specials for not just this year, but for the last few years, and there’s a reason why we have probably a little higher success rate for those special plays, and they’re a big reason why. They have a ton of creativity, they bring a lot of ideas to the table." 

The guy to really pay attention to on that list is the first guy Johnson mentioned, Seth Ryan. The son of former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan has shown to be an underrated member of the Lions' coaching staff since he joined the crew in 2021. 

He has been the assistant receivers coach for a while, but this year he took over the assistant tight ends coach job, and that puts him on the same road that Johnson took. He went from receivers coach to tight ends coach and contributed to play calls in Detroit and Miami.  

At the NFL Combine, John Morton talked about how the Lions offense will be big on collaboration and taking on ideas from the rest of the staff. Ryan has already shown himself to be a guy who can contribute. Look for him to continue that. Don't be surprised if you hear his name this year. 

Assistant offensive line coach Steve Oliver was among those names that Johnson mentioned, and he's still here as well. There will come a day when an NFL team poaches offensive line coach Hank Fraley away. Look for Oliver to walk right into his role.