Message is out about how Ben Johnson will approach head coaching interviews

It's abundantly clear Ben Johnson will not leave the Detroit Lions for just any head coaching job. He has removed himself from the process short of taking a job in each of the last two hiring cycles, when it seemed like he could have had one.

As a new head coaching hiring cycle approaches, there are already three openings and that number may at least double. Johnson will be coveted again, and about a month ago ESPN's Adam Schefter affirmed the obvious about the Lions' offensive coordinator being selective and "interviewing with intention" when it comes to head coaching jobs.

The division rival Chicago Bears officially have a head coaching opening, and Johnson could have some real interest in the job. There are some broader questions with that organization though, freshly including how the firing of Matt Eberflus was handled.

The message is out there regarding how Ben Johnson will approach head coaching jobs

During the Amazon pregame show on Thursday night, Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer talked about how Johnson will approach the coming hiring cycle and what he's looking for in a head coaching opportunity.

There are no big revelations from Breer, but there's officially no mystery at all about what Johnson is seeking if he takes a head coaching job.

"The Lions' offensive coordinator is planning on taking a very different approach to this hiring cycle than he has in the last couple", Breer said. "He will not chase interviews. If he takes an interview it's gonna be with the intention of actually pursuing the job. And to that end, he has a couple criteria. No.1 he'll he looking for organizational alignment, in particular between the GM and the head coach. Then he'll be looking for recognition from the organization of the things that have gone wrong, and a willingness to fix them."

Alignment between head coach and general manager can be achieved by a team via poaching someone from the Lions' front office to be their new GM. That new GM from Detroit's front office would know Johnson well, and he would know them well. The issue might be getting someone to leave the Lions front office for a GM job as the first domino on the path to hiring Johnson. A team that is not making a GM change could end up at a disadvantage in getting Johnson.

The two specific pieces of criteria Breer laid out that Johnson has for taking a head coaching job are obvious, and not earth-shattering to have out there. But they are out there now, as a clear message to any interested teams if they needed that confirmation.