The Detroit Lions' season ended Sunday night with a 34-31 loss in the NFC Championship Game. With that, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are free to be hired for the remaining two head coaching jobs should they be wanted.
According to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero on Monday morning, Johnson will have an interview with the Seattle Seahawks later in the day on Monday in Detroit. On Tuesday, as Pelissero reported last week, the Washington Commanders will send a contingent to Detroit to interview Johnson and Glenn.
The Commanders and Seahawks of course have the only two remaining head coaching vacancies, and along with Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald Johnson and Glenn look like the top candidates to fill those jobs before this week is out.
From @gmfb: A busy 48 hours ahead for #Lions OC Ben Johnson and #Ravens DC Mike Macdonald, who are scheduled to interview for both remaining head coaching vacancies. @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/LShvJfGXp4
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 29, 2024
"That may be it for head coaching interviews in this cycle,” Pelissero said. All those guys are now eligible to be hired immediately here. So a good chance these searches are wrapped up by the end of the week, perhaps even in the next 48 hours here.”
Will both Detroit Lions coordinators get a head coaching job?
Johnson has been the standing favorite for the Commanders' job, to the point it's hard to find a reporter who didn't convey its inevitability as soon as the Lions' season was over (which of course it now is). But the Seahawks are staying in the game as a possibility for the Lions' offensive coordinator, and it's notable they will talk to him in-person before the Commanders do.
Glenn is not a candidate for the job in Seattle. They never requested an interview with him, so if he gets a head coaching job this year it's going to be Washington. The odds he stays in Detroit for another year feel pretty good right now.
If Johnson is usurped by someone in the Commanders' coaching search, it feels like it will be Macdonald more than anyone else they are set to talk to. If Johnson is indeed (and still?) Washington's No. 1 guy, they don't have to wait to hire him anymore.
There's still a chance the Lions keep both of their coordinators as this hiring cycle comes to an end. But Johnson is more likely to be gone now, as a final candidate for both remaining openings.