Ben Johnson As A Candidate

[Fletch59]

 SO, Ben Johnson has a lot of chatter on him yet again as Panthers' coach.   And though I've detailed a few reasons already as to why he's likely to say no to Carolina again, let's do that again. Johnson has been pretty innovative as an OC and sits in year two still in top five in points and yards.  He's reportedly asking for $15 million a year to make the jump, which we'll talk about in a bit. Here's what I had to say of him this time last year, and he remains a hot prospect. He has a tie to UNC, and North Carolina; I personally don't care about any of that.  He's now 37, would be 38 by the time next season rolls around, he lost a lieutenant in Duce Staley (notably, Carolina also has Lions DL coach Todd Wash around), and Carolina also snagged DJ Chark off them; there was some wonder whether losing mercurial RB Jamaal Williams would hurt them, it didn't. The Lions improved to 3rd in yards as of today, have improved in rush yards (3rd, from 11th) thanks in part to additions of David Montgomery and blue chip prospect Jahmyr Gibbs; he's continuing to get the absolute most out of Jared Goff. 
For Johnson, it remains a bit of an odd one.  He turned Carolina down last year. The ownership situation remains iffy.  Who knows what the GM situation is?    With Carolina paying huge for last year's staff, which has already partly gone, there's a lot of uncertainty there.   Hence, the money demand. Which it's odd that, Carolina's already floated through media that they still want Johnson again (they wanted him the most last year, too), and that they've noted so (again), and that Johnson himself is almost negotiating for the job; if not for Carolina's, for someone else's, as if Carolina will pay huge for the job, why should other candidates get rock bottom? The team has outwardly also suggested that Carolina would ideally prefer to keep an offensive coach top of the pile and arrange-marriage that with Ejiro Evero staying.   Suggesting that they haven't learned a damn thing and they're going to power through it.  But, Evero absolutely does make sense to keep; the shame of that is in part that it suggests Evero has no real shot at the head job, you assume. But Johnson and Evero do kinda mesh.   Johnson as an understudy of a good leader like Dan Campbell has value, and Campbell has been good at pulling in fresh assistants. I don't know.  And Detroit seems ready for a long playoff run, so it won't be easy. 

Source: http://absolutepanthers.blogspot.com/fe ... ts/default