There weren’t many NFL media types connecting Ben Johnson to the Raiders a week ago, but the coaching search in Las Vegas apparently turned upside down after Friday’s interview.
Some believe Johnson was just taking the interview with the Raiders out of respect for Tom Brady, and that might have been the case. But three days after meeting with the team, all signs in Vegas are pointing to Johnson being the candidate most likely to be offered the job.
What made Johnson’s newfound appreciation for the Raiders even more intriguing was a report this week that he wasn’t even planning to accept an interview with team prior to Brady tracking him down through his connections in the league.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer, Johnson’s original plan was to only interview with three teams and the Raiders didn’t make the cut.
“Johnson’s initial plan was to take three interviews, with the Bears, Jacksonville Jaguars and Patriots. But Brady’s sell job, through intermediaries, made the difference,” Breer reported on Monday.
Breer also said the expectation was that Brady won’t be involved in the day-to-day operations in Las Vegas, but there’s no question he has been the strongest voice in the organization during the first week of the team’s coaching search.
“To be clear, I don’t think it’s Brady’s intention to be there day to day,” Breer continued. “His family being in Florida full-time will likely prevent that for the time being. But I also don’t think he’s going to put his name on anything that he doesn’t feel like he can fully put his name behind. It’s been well established that Brady wasn’t wild about the way things operated with Antonio Pierce, which is one reason why Pierce isn’t there anymore.”
For now, it looks like Brady is going to continue with his broadcasting job at FOX, but there is a growing sentiment around the league that he isn’t going to be able to continue his broadcast career while being a hands-on owner of an NFL team.
It will be interesting to see how that plays out.
On Saturday, Brady will have the pleasure of being in the broadcast booth for an NFC Divisional Round playoff game that will feature the coordinator he has been heavily recruiting for the last week.
Nothing to see here, folks… right?
x: @raidersbeat