Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson interviewed for the Raiders head coaching vacancy on Friday, and his virtual meeting with the team apparently went well.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Johnson is firmly in the mix for the Raiders job and even called him “the” candidate to watch in Las Vegas.
“While the coaching world can invite all sorts of craziness, sources say there is one particular team to keep an eye on for Johnson: the Las Vegas Raiders,” Rapoport reported on Saturday. “He has quickly emerged as the candidate to watch for Las Vegas, as the Raiders — in a search that prominently includes limited partner Tom Brady — are willing to wait as long as it takes to secure their potential future head coach… Las Vegas is said to be enamored with Johnson, sources say.”
Rapoport talked about Johnson and the Raiders on a television segment later in the day and emphasized presence of Brady as the draw for Johnson.
”The presence of Tom Brady has loomed incredibly large,” Rapoport reported on Saturday. “Brady actually spent about an hour with his agent just talking things over, essentially recruiting Ben Johnson, giving him an idea of what Las Vegas would be like. My understanding is the organization is enamored with Ben Johnson.”
NFL Networks’ Peter Schrager said the idea of Johnson to the Silver & Black has been “picking up way more steam in league circles” in the last 48 hours and it’s starting to feel like Johnson is the team’s top target as of today.
If Brady is “recruiting” Johnson after one interview, it would be a little surprising to see the Raiders go in a different direction if Johnson decides the Las Vegas job is the one he wants.
If Mike Vrabel ends up going to the New England Patriots, the stiffest competition for Johnson might come from the Chicago Bears, who he interviewed with on Friday.
The Bears would offer Johnson a better quarterback situation than the Raiders, but it’s unclear how much of a priority Johnson is placing on the position and if he as enamored with Caleb Williams after a relatively disappointing first year in Chicago.
Officially, the head coaching candidates that have been linked to the Raiders are Johnson, Vrabel, Brian Flores, Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Todd Monken, Robert Saleh and Steve Spagnuolo.
Until Friday afternoon, Carroll and Vrabel were looking like the favorites to get the job, but if reports of Johnson’s interest are true, the Raiders might have their choice of more than one of the top candidates on the market.
That’s a scenario no one was predicting a few days ago.
x: @raidersbeat
I’m trying to maintain. I’ve never given birth, of course, being a male, but I feel like I’m back in those nights when my wife was going through hell and I was wanting it all to end well and healthy, waiting for that doctor to say “Okay, 10cm, Let’s have a baby!”
I’m not ready to pop champagne corks over any of these candidates, like I was for Harbaugh last season. When we didn’t even answer the door, we didn’t even talk to the man. So, yeah I want the best one in this year’s batch. Vrabel? Really? going right back to the Patriot way, again? I like Vrabel, he’s a good dude, he’s a lot looser than McDaniels, or the old man, but what has he done? Didn’t he have the best running back in the game? Did he ever get a QB to go with him? Johnson’s been the hot OC on campus for a couple of years, and he doesn’t seem to be looking to just make some bank. (I’m sure he will). He’s wanting to get the right setup, top to bottom. If Brady, Seymour and whoever else is involved like him, then I tend to think it’s the way to go. I’ve despised TB12 forever, to the Michigan days, and I know they have no history running an organization, but TB does know a good football mind. He’s a cheater, “if you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying” is the old school Raider way. Mr. Davis has a good heart, but we need new blood making the call. I think Carroll would be my second call, but you have to be grooming the next guy if you hire Pete.
Shout out to the international Raiders fans. At least, I’m guessing you’re from outside the States, based on your use of the metric system. I guess you could just be an American who recognizes the superiority of the metric system to our bizarro weights and measures lol.
I would have liked Vrabel. Yes, he has some “Patriots Way” taint, but he’s mostly gotten his coaching in away from that team. He won division titles with a cast off Ryan Tannehill at QB. I think he’s a very good coach.
But not the only one. Ben Johnson is someone to get excited about, as is the Tampa OC whose name I can’t recall at the moment. If Brian Flores has improved his people skills, I think he could be good. Patrick Graham should at least get an interview, IMO. Pete Carroll, I am kind of agnostic about, but he sure did great things at USC and with Seattle
Lighten up Bud it’s not that Serious.
Ben Johnson is a Coordinator;albeit a Good One but what about The G.M. Position? Sounds like Tuck Rule Tommy is now the defacto General Manager.
Johnson is know as an introvert. Isolating himself away from the team working on game plans. That’s fine for a coordinator, but that’s not the demeanor or skill set for a HC. Last OC we hired as a HC was Mcdogshit, that didn’t work out so well did it.
Pete Carroll could come in and bring the raiders back to old school raiders with defense