Ben Johnson seems have a higher view of himself than Seahawks ever did

The Seattle Seahawks could have done the easy thing and completely transitioned from Pete Carroll's way this offseason. After relieving the defensive-minded head coach of his duties, the team could have set about hiring an offensive-minded head coach and reset the culture and roster. Instead, Seattle chose who they thought would be the best candidate available.

As it turned out, that was not Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Not that Johnson will spin it that way. After being interviewed by the Seahawks and the Washington Commanders, Johnson withdrew his name from consideration. This was only after Seattle was obviously not enamored with Johnson.

There were rumors that Johnson did not interview well. No one knows what was said in the interviews other than the teams and Johnson, but if his recent comments are any indication, he might have come across as someone who might see himself as more important than the team. General manager John Schneider was going to want to work with someone who would answer to him, and Johnson might have acted as if he was not happy with that.

Seattle Seahawks made the right choice between Mike Macdonald and Ben Johnson

Since 2010, the Seahawks' GM had not had a final roster say, and instead, Pete Carroll, former head coach and Vice President of Football Operations, controlled the roster. If there was a hint that a prospective head coach was not going to be happy with not having control over roster decisions, Seattle likely discarded the consideration of the coach. Johnson might not have had an issue with this, but again, his recent comments imply otherwise.

During a press conference with Detroit media, Johnson was asked about his decision to withdraw his name from the Seahawks and Commanders' coaching hunts. He said, "When it boils down to it, I wanted the sunshine a bit longer...The stars need to align. I'm not going to (take a head coaching job) just to do it...I'm not willing to go down the other path yet unless I feel really good about how it's going to unfold."

Johnson makes it sound as if he was the one making the decision over whether he was hired or not as if he was such a fantastic candidate a team could not say no to him. In reality, a team will decide who to hire based on how the organization wants to proceed in the future. The team will then hire the coach they see as the best fit for the organization's vision.

The truth seems clear that while the Seahawks wanted to speak with Johnson because they had the opportunity to do so, Seattle very much wanted to hire Mike Macdonald as the new head coach. Seattle did not rush to hire a coach, and instead, the team waited until Macdonald's former team's season was done. Once the Baltimore Ravens lost in the playoffs, Seattle spoke with Macdonald immediately.

Maybe Be Johnson will be a great head coach one day, though he might be the next Josh McDaniels. Mike Macdonald was the correct hire for what John Schneider and the front office wanted. Seattle likely made the better choice between Macdonald and Johnson.

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