5 first-time head coaches the Seahawks should consider in 2024

3. Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator

Johnson would be another young head coach as he is only 37 years old. He has only been an offensive coordinator for two years but those two seasons have been impressive. He has also helped make Jared Goff into a very good quarterback when many doubted that could ever happen when Goff was with the Los Angeles Rams.

The Lions rank sixth in points per game (27.2) in 2023 and they were fifth (26.6) last year. The season before Johnson arrived in Detroit, the Lions were 25th in scoring (19.1). Detroit still had Jared Goff at quarterback in 2021, so the biggest reason for the improvement in the offense was the direction of the unit. The Lions has also jumped from last in the league in third-down conversions in 2021 (34.7) to 11th in 2023 (42.3).

Even though Johnson is only 37 years old, he has been coaching in some form in the league since 2012. He coached quarterbacks, wide receivers, and tight ends at various points with the Miami Dolphins between 2012 and 2018. He joined the Lions in 2020 as the tight ends coach.

Johnson knows how to run a versatile offense, too. The Lions are fourth in yards per play (5.9), they are fifth in passing yards per game (263.0), and fifth in rushing yards per game (136.6). Just imagine what Ben Johnson could do with the Seahawks receivers and running backs such as Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet.