5 Detroit Lions assistants Ben Johnson or Aaron Glenn could steal from Dan Campbell
3. Tanner Engstrand, Passing Game Coordinator
Engstrand is essentially on the same career track as Johnson, first working as the Lions' tight ends coach, then moving to tight ends coach and passing game coordinator when Johnson became the offensive coordinator. This season, Engstrand's lone title has been passing game coordinator. Also like Johnson, Engstrand is a former college quarterback.
At just 41 years old, Engstrand has a wide swath of assistant coaching experience going back to 2005. Check out his resume, from the college level (a Jim Harbaugh disciple?) to the XFL to the NFL.
- University of San Diego, Graduate assistant-(2005–2006)
- San Diego, Running backs coach-(2007–2008)
- San Diego, Quarterbacks coach-(2009–2010)
- San Diego, Offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach-(2011–2012)
- San Diego (2013–2017)-Assistant head coach, offensive coordinator & quarterbacks coach
- Michigan, Offensive analyst-(2018)
- DC Defenders (XFL), Offensive coordinator & running backs coach-(2020)
- Detroit Lions, Offensive Assistant-(2021)
- Detroit Lions, Tight ends coach/passing game coordinator (2022)
- Detroit Lions, Passing game coordinator-(2023)
Engstrand is the likely No. 1 candidate to become the Lions' offensive coordinator if Johnson takes a head coaching job. There's a faint chance another new head coach hired around the league would want to poach him for their staff. It's slightly (or maybe more than slightly) more likely Johnson or Glenn would want to bring him with them on their new staff elsewhere, as the quarterbacks coach or offensive coordinator.