Ben Johnson (American football coach)

Benjamin David Johnson (born May 11, 1986) is an American football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL). His NFL coaching career began as an assistant with the Miami Dolphins in 2012, coaching quarterbacks, tight ends, and wide receivers. Johnson later joined the Lions in 2019, rising to offensive coordinator in 2022 and leading the team to two top-five offenses. He was previously a walk-on quarterback at North Carolina in the mid-2000s.

Early life and college
Johnson was born on May 11, 1986, in Charleston, South Carolina. He attended and played quarterback at A. C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, North Carolina, where he was named conference player of the year as a senior and graduated in the top five of his class. Johnson was a walk-on for the Tar Heels at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2004, where he competed as a reserve quarterback behind T. J. Yates before graduating in 2008 with degrees in mathematics and computer science.

Boston College
Inspired to get into coaching by his offensive coordinator at UNC, John Shoop, Johnson was hired as a graduate assistant for the Boston College Eagles in 2009. He was promoted to tight ends coach in 2011.

Miami Dolphins
Johnson was hired as an offensive assistant for the Miami Dolphins in February 2012. He was promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach in 2013 and served as tight ends coach in 2015 after head coach Joe Philbin was fired following a 1–3 start. Johnson was named assistant wide receivers coach in 2017 and was promoted to wide receivers coach the following season.

Detroit Lions
Johnson was hired as an offensive quality control coach for the Detroit Lions in 2019. He was promoted to tight ends coach in 2020 and was retained after Dan Campbell was named head coach in 2021. The same season, he would be promoted to pass game coordinator after Anthony Lynn was stripped of play-calling duties following an 0-8 start. Johnson was promoted again to offensive coordinator in February 2022, receiving head coaching interest by the end of the season after leading the Lions to a top five offense with eight games over 30 points, a single-season franchise record.

He remained in Detroit for the 2023 season, despite being heavily pursued by the Carolina Panthers, in which the team finished third in total offense, won the division for the first time since 1993, and won a playoff game for the first time since 1991. The Lions would later defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and would advance to the 2023 NFC Championship Game, but ultimately lost to the San Francisco 49ers. In both the NFC Divisional Round against the Bucs and the NFC Championship against the 49ers, Johnson's offense put up over thirty points and over 100 rushing yards.

On January 30, 2024 Johnson announced he would be returning to the Lions despite being considered a prime head coaching candidate for both the Washington Commanders and Seattle Seahawks.

Coaching philosophy
Johnson cited his offensive scheme as being influenced by Kevin Rogers, Darrell Bevell, Adam Gase, Clyde Christensen, and Mike Martz.