For nine days, the headlines around the Raiders were dominated by stories on Ben Johnson and his reported interest in becoming the next head coach in Las Vegas.
Initially, the Raiders weren’t believed to have much of a chance at getting Johnson, but that reportedly changed after an interview process where Johnson and Brady were said to have hit it off.
Then, as quickly as the momentum Johnson and the Raiders started, it died on January 20 when the former Lions OC announced he was going to the Chicago Bears.
There were vague reports on how the situation between Johnson and the Raiders fell apart, but Johnson’s agent came out a week after his client signed with the Bears and essentially said there was never serious interest on Johnson’s part in becoming the next head coach in Vegas.
According to Johnson’s agent, Rick Smith, who appeared on the 2nd City Gridiron podcast, the Raiders were never the front runners to get Johnson, but he was happy to have the bad information out there.
“Initial gut reaction day one on the Raiders was ‘No go. Okay?” Smith said. “Tom Brady absolutely has an extremely compelling case that gets you to listen. The whole thing ‘Ben to the Raiders… great sources’ and all the other stuff, that was never right.”
From there, Smith confirmed the Raiders were essentially contract leverage to use against the Bears.
“Sometimes, going back to my job, things go viral that you’re like ‘I got to put a break on this’ and sometimes things go viral like ‘No, this is good. I like this’ and that viral thing [about the Raiders] was ‘I like this. Let’s just leave that out there,'” Smith continued.
All things considered, Smith probably did what most agents would have done, but taking a public victory lap probably didn’t sit well in Las Vegas or among those who were reporting that Johnson had genuine interest in the job.
And now there a few more details coming to the surface about how the interview process began between Johnson and the decision-makers in Las Vegas.
According to Sports Illustrated insider Albert Breer, it sounds like Johnson was aggravated the Raiders reached out to him in the first place.
“When [Ben] Johnson and his camp planning things out, going back to November and December, they didn’t want to go through a full tour of interviews. The whole idea for them was to assess the openings and then decide which jobs [they] could legitimately see [themselves] taking,” Breer said this week on The Breer Report.
“There were a number of jobs they decided they wouldn’t see themselves taking and so they communicated to those teams quietly, ‘Don’t even put in request in, we don’t want to embarrass you, we don’t want to look like jerks, so we’ll respectfully decline [and] you won’t have to do anything officially, but we’re saying no to you and everyone will go on their merry way,'” Breer continued.
But according to Breer, ownership in Las Vegas wasn’t interested in taking ‘no’ for an answer, and didn’t care about the possibility of being embarrassed.
“The Raiders were one of those teams and despite all of that, the Raiders still put a request in. Johnson’s camp wasn’t happy about it,” Breer continued. “They wind up calling the Raiders and the Raiders basically said we’re going to get you on the phone with Tom Brady. So Tom Brady calls Ben Johnson’s camp… [and] Brady more or less promised to them we’re going to do what it takes to make this a first-class operation…”
Johnson had every right to proceed with interviews as he chose but combined with his reversal on the Washington Commanders a year ago, there’s a chance he might be a little more complicated as an individual than what has been advertised.
For what it’s worth, Sports Illustrated insider Hondo Carpenter said an AFC executive told him the Raiders “dodged a bullet” when they didn’t get Johnson, and even compared him to Josh McDaniels.
“I got a message from an AFC executive last night, after the news broke that [Johnson] was going to the Bears, who said he believed the Raiders had ‘dodged a bullet,’” Carpenter said on his Las Vegas Raiders Insider podcast. “Not because of character, not because of his ability to coach, but because Ben is very introverted. He is very much an offensive genius. That’s factual. But remember when Josh McDaniels came [to the Raiders], people used the word ‘savant.’”
“I can attest to you that Josh McDaniels, the man, is a good man,” Hondo continued. “Raiders players liked him away from the building and nobody wished him ill will. But Josh was not a leader of mean that the head coach as to be. He’s more introverted, more quiet, more to himself. A lot like Ben Johnson… and this person who knows Josh very well and knows Ben Johnson very well… felt the Raiders dodged a bullet and called him Josh McDaniels 2.0.”
Ben Johnson will find out real quick what it means to fail. He is on a “dumpster fire” team, with a Diva quarterback with minimal talent.
Why are we still seeing articles about this loser!
Thank you even his agent said they used the raiders for leverage this coach is not going to be a good head coach plus we didn’t want someone again without head coaching experience Ben Johnson is a offensive coordinator at best
EXACTLY,they must be running out of things to report
First of all, I love our coaching and wouldn’t trade it for theirs even if they sent a ton of money along with it. I’m done with Ben Johnson BS.
That being said, this whole thing is contradictory int itself. They “weren’t pleased with the Raiders request”? Then why the F did you call them back and talk at length about the plans? Sounds to me like someone is being jackasses, and the jackasses surely look like Ben Johnson’s camp. Not only did you call back and entertain the whole idea, you must have been the ones who put out the whole “massive contract offer” BS because Mark Davis says there never was an offer made to him, and that offer only benefits BJ and his agent’s whole game plan of leverage.
I really don’t like Ben Johnson now.
Nobody was calling McDaniels a “savant”. He was a complete loser when he went to Denver and a complete loser who agreed to become the Colts HC only to back out the next day. McDaniels had shown exactly what he will be remembered for. So long before he came to the Raiders McDaniels had shown he wasn’t a leader. Ben hasn’t shown anything but being a offensive genius. It sounds like if Mark would’ve actually made an offer it wasn’t going to be enough since Telesco, McDaniels and Gruden had wasted the once good nucleus and took them apart one piece at a time. No Raider fan should be mad at Johnson since he took the offer that suited him. He was the best HC/OC candidate available since Kyle Shanahan.
Fans are tired of the raiders being the losers that they are. Mark Davis doesn’t have a clue on how to run a football team. They haven’t done anything since 1983 . I know a team is not going to win a Superbowl every year but 40 Years . Come on 40 Years . That’s on the Davis family Sell and get out. 40 Years 40 Years 40 Years 40 Years. That’s crazy 40 Years of being everyone doormat.
Well put. I’ve been a fan since the early 70’s. I used to bleed Silver n Black, but 40+ years of incompetence made me realize, years ago, that I may never see them win a SB again. As bad as they’ve been I’m somewhat amazed that they even have younger generation fans??!!
Explain the chiefs situation. Except for the last few years when were they relevant ?? How about the Steelers and mighty 49ers ?? Can’t always be on top and it’s only a matter of time before Mark Davis gets it going in the right direction !! With the exception of a quick turnaround the first couple years when Al Davis first took over it took him 17 years to win the big prize !!
The raiders did their due diligence. Yes, the Johnson camp didn’t want to speak with the raiders. But the raiders would have been doing a disservice to themselves without at least checking to see if what Tom Brady had to offer would make them reconsider.With that being said, I believe it was the Johnson camp that put the rumor out in the first place that the raiders were a legitimate contender. Who else would have benefited from that type of news? Going forward. I believe the Raiders did dodge a bullet. I think not getting Johnson and then pivoting to Pete Carroll was the best thing for the Raiders Organization. With Pete Carroll you have a proven head coach not a first time head coach which is really a crap shot.On top of that, you then get an OC in Chip Kelly that is one of the best in the game. So all in all although Johnsons camp may have gotten more money by using the Raiders as leverage his agent is wrong for publically bragging about it and that can’t sit well with other front offices that he may have to deal with with other client’s. Time will tell how it all plays out, but if you told me from the beginning the of all of this that things would end up as they are. I would have signed up for that in a heart heart beat.
Based on the job he did in Detroit, Johnson had his pick on where he wanted to be the HC. That said, it remains to be seen if he is HC material. That he used other teams for leverage is just smart business. It was reported that Telesco was fired to accommodate Johnson, but the truth is he was fired so that Brady’s buddy, whom, I believe, doesn’t have GM experience could get the gig.
The picture is crystal clean. Brady is running the show, here!