Pros, Cons To Patriots Hiring Ben Johnson As Next Head Coach
The New England Patriots are about to do something they haven’t done in a very, very, very long time: conduct a head-coaching search.
The Patriots wasted no time moving on from Jerod Mayo, firing the first-year head coach after an abysmal 4-13 season. Now, for the first time since hiring Bill Belichick, the Patriots will undergo a coaching search.
The early favorite is clear: All signs point to former Tennessee Titans head coach and Patriots Hall of Famer Mike Vrabel being the frontrunner. In some ways, though, isn’t that the same thought process — prioritizing a familiar face — what got the Patriots in this mess to begin?
Going outside the “family” so to speak might be the Patriots’ best option at this point. Many believe Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is a can’t-miss head coach prospect.
The Patriots will probably have him on their short list, and potentially hiring the 38-year-old would have positives and negatives.
Here’s a quick look at the pros and cons of potentially hiring Johnson as Mayo’s replacement.
PROS
Brings the offense into the 21st century
With all due respect to Alex Van Pelt, the Patriots simply haven’t had one of those fancy, modern-day NFL offenses out of the Shanahan or McVay trees. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but given the direction in which the league is headed, few are as innnovative on offense as Johnson. It might be the best way to maximize the talents of Drake Maye, who looks like the real deal after one season as an NFL quarterback.
No risk in losing your primary offensive play-caller
If the Patriots hire a defensive-minded head coach, like Vrabel, that coach will then have to find an offensive coordinator. If the head coach hits that hire out of the park, that’s a double-edged sword. It could help the offense in the short run, but when you see how many teams are lining up to get interviews with a hot-shot OC like Johnson, it underscores the “risk” of having too much success.
It’s something different
What’s wild is the Patriots haven’t hired a head coach who hadn’t previously spent time in New England since Pete Carroll. Even Bill Parcells spent a year with the Patriots in the 1980s before taking over. Bill Belichick was a familiar face, and obviously so was Mayo. If Vrabel got the gig, that trend would continue. Given how things have fallen apart recently, an entirely new voice might be a benefit.
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CONS
No head-coaching experience
The Patriots just went from Belichick, the greatest coach of all time, to Mayo, a glorified assistant with no experience in the big chair. It wouldn’t be shocking, and it would quite frankly be hard to blame the Patriots if they decided to give the keys to someone with experience as a head coach. Rebuilding the culture and those sorts of intangibles are imperative with how the Pats face-planted in 2024.
As Kraft said at a press conference Monday, I don’t want to go through this again next year, and we need to do what we can to fix it.”
What can he do without weapons? Can he build something?
The Lions have been a top-10 offense since Johnson took over to start the 2022 season. Johnson gets credit for that, and he helped turn Jared Goff into a borderline MVP candidate. What the Patriots — and other teams — must decide is just how much credit Johnson gets for that. The Lions have had one of the NFL’s top offensive lines for just about all of Dan Campbell’s tenure, and the Lions have hit on just about every offensive draft pick. Amon-Ra St. Brown is one of the NFL’s best wideouts. Outside of Maye, the Patriots don’t have anything resembling that sort of arsenal or offensive foundation. Can Johnson help turn that around from Day 1, or is he the product of his environment? That might be the biggest question to answer at this point.