5 Detroit Lions assistants Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn could steal from Dan Campbell
4. Hank Fraley, Offensive Line Coach
On Sunday, when talking about Johnson's full interview schedule, NFL Network's Tom Pelissero mentioned Fraley could follow Johnson to wherever he ends up as a head coach for 2024 and become the offensive coordinator. It was an interesting nugget, if nothing else.
The Insiders on @NFLGameDay: #49ers WR Deebo Samuel is having a full battery of tests; #Lions DC Aaron Glenn is a top HC candidate; #Detroit OC Ben Johnson also has numerous requests. pic.twitter.com/YzC17s54WX
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2024
Fraley is in his fourth season as the Lions' offensive line coach, and he was the assistant offensive line coach for two years before that. Be it at the college level (San Diego, San Jose State, UCLA) or the NFL (Minnesota Vikings and the Lions), the former NFL center has only coached offensive line to this point in his career.
Johnson will surely keep play-calling duties if he becomes a head coach. So taking Fraley with him to be his offensive coordinator would be a move made with that in mind, with additional duties as run game coordinator a natural potential tentacle for Fraley in that coordinator role.
Johnson is the widely-regarded favorite for the Washington Commanders' job. As Grant Paulsen of 106.7 The Fan in the D.C.-area noted, Fraley is from Gaithersburg, Maryland. So the easy correlation there is if Johnson gets the job in Washington, Fraley would follow him as offensive coordinator and return to where he's from (and be a coach for the franchise he rooted for growing up?).