DETROIT – There is an air of inevitability and uncertainty surrounding the Detroit Lions and their future. It’s hard to shake, especially in weeks like these.

One of the unintended consequences of winning — not to mention turning around one of the league’s worst franchises in a short amount of time — is that everyone wants to know how you did it. Their methods are studied and checked. Your success will be repeated. Your people will be poached at some point.

The Lions are dealing with that right now. Their star coordinators – Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn – are two of the most sought-after coaches in the league as teams search for their next leaders. This could be the year the stars align and the Lions lose both. Your boss believes they are ready.

“Their work speaks for itself,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of his coordinators. “It has nothing to do with me. These two guys are smart, they are real grinders, they are strategic, they know how to teach, communicate, motivate, and so their work speaks for itself. Both guys are more than worthy of being head coaches. You are ready. You ask the right questions. I tried to give them everything I think they need to be a head coach and I believe both of these guys are more than ready.”

Johnson has four interviews scheduled this week – all virtual. He will speak with the Chicago Bears, Las Vegas Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars and New England Patriots. Glenn, meanwhile, will interview with the Bears, Raiders, Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets.

It was a matter of time before we reached this point. Both Johnson and Glenn have spent this season and previous seasons having their names associated with specific jobs. Since the Lions have achieved unprecedented success in the regular season (a franchise record 15 wins), it makes sense that teams would be lining up to interview their coordinators if they can’t have Campbell. Both have done an excellent job leading their respective units.

This season was Glenn’s best work yet as Detroit’s defensive coordinator. In his first three seasons, Glenn’s defense ranked 31st, 28th and 23rd in points allowed. At one point, its defense had 17 players on injured reserve — including six starters and even more key reserves. And yet his unit finished the regular season seventh in points allowed (20.1). He did a remarkable job keeping things afloat, taking out players like Jamal Adams and Kwon Alexander with just a few days of preparation just to help them get through. And unlike previous years, Glenn did it all without giving up his preferred style of play – strong man coverage and a high blitz rate – due to a lack of talent. He saved his best until last with a masterful game plan to hold the Minnesota Vikings to just nine points, securing a division title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC.

And yet, Glenn feels he will be even better as a coach in a leadership role than as a coordinator. He’s a former Pro Bowl cornerback who knows what it’s like to play in this league and can speak from experience to the men in his locker room. He was an NFL scout and can see the game from that perspective. He played for Bill Parcels and Sean Payton and has connections throughout the league that could help him put together a strong coaching staff. He is cut from the same cloth as Campbell in his values ​​and ability to command a room. He believes you have to have a certain way of playing for him, which in many ways is Detroit’s secret sauce.

Glenn wants a job. The people who know him best believe it’s only a matter of time.

“Aaron Glenn is – he’s the best coach you could possibly find, he’s an even better person,” Campbell said of Glenn this week. “Look, if no one wants him, I’ll take him back. I can tell you that now. The thought of going through another cycle and not being anyone’s head coach is ridiculous. I mean, this guy is as good as it gets and he can do anything. He knows how to run a game, he understands offense, defense, special teams, he knows how to communicate, he understands player discipline and he’s motivating, he’s inspiring. …I don’t want to lose him, but I’m also a fan of the guy because I just think he’s a great coach.”

“I can’t believe he’s not already a head coach,” Lions senior defensive assistant Jim O’Neil said last month. “He is one of the best leaders I know. His relationships with the players and how they react to him, how organized he is, how he can think like a player and a coach.

“For me, because I knew him the first couple of years as a coach and then I wanted to see where he was now and his understanding of the offense, special situations, the D-line and the running game, how to attack protections, obviously he knows dealing with all the coverage, knowing how to practice his technique and still get in front of a microphone or get in front of guys and motivate them – I just have no doubt, it’s clear that he will be successful if he understands the opportunity .”

In the NFL, you often see two types of head coaches – the leader of men and the offensive guru. If Glenn is the former, Johnson is the latter.

Johnson is what many teams are looking for, especially those with talented young quarterbacks. He fits the mold of the next great head coach with playing ability, but his resume doesn’t suggest that. He is not from the Kyle Shanahan tribe. He won’t get a job because he’s friends with Sean McVay. Johnson, a former quarterback and math major at North Carolina, rose from the college ranks to the NFL. He was an assistant quarterbacks coach with the Miami Dolphins when Campbell was the Dolphins’ tight ends coach, and later interim head coach. Johnson remained in Miami under Adam Gase when Campbell was not retained before being unemployed in 2018 when Brian Flores took over.

He was debating whether or not this coaching thing was for him. It took him nine months to find a job before he accepted an offensive quality control job with the Lions under Matt Patricia, earning a salary of $40,000. When Patricia was fired and Campbell was hired, one of his first moves was to keep Johnson—his old friend from Miami. It was Johnson that Campbell hired to help run his offense in the second half of 2021 and beyond after his first OC, Anthony Lynn, was fired. Detroit’s offense hasn’t ranked outside the top five since.

Many have tried to convince him to lead their franchise but failed. But you see, Johnson is a bit of an old soul. Most coaches would jump at the first opportunity that comes their way. Johnson appreciates what he has.

He loves working for Campbell – a coach who allows him to be himself. He told reporters in May that his decision to return to Detroit for another season was made on the flight home from the Lions’ NFC Championship loss to the 49ers, around this time a year ago. The plane was traveling back to Detroit after the team’s best season in decades. Shortly after his arrival, Johnson was scheduled to meet with leaders of the Washington Commanders. It was a job he probably would have had if he had wanted it. At that moment, however, Johnson couldn’t help but think back to the beginning.

“Right after the championship game, we got on the plane and I was just thinking about something coach said,” Johnson recalled. “He had given the team this analogy about how we were sailing along the ocean and at that moment we were in the Arctic. We encountered icebergs, there were storms, those were dark days. He had the foresight, he had the vision of where we were going and where we wanted to go. He assured us, “Guys, I see it.” I see where we are going. The results aren’t in yet, but the Caribbean is on the horizon. It’s just around the corner.’

“I sit on the plane and think back to it. The story of my career is that I lived in the Arctic most of the time. This was the second time I was in the playoffs, the first time I experienced winning games in the playoffs. I think basically I would have liked the sun to shine a little longer. That’s exactly what matters to me. I liked the sunshine.”

Johnson stayed when many thought he would leave. That year, his third as a Lions OC, his offense led the league in points per game. It scored 30 or more points 10 times this season, 40 or more six times and 50 or more twice. He does a little bit of everything, in multiple looks and with some of the best weapons in the league. He finds his players’ strengths and puts them in a position to be successful. He works with quarterback Jared Goff to give the offense answers to the test. He is a loner when it comes to offensive systems. A rarity in a copycat league.

Johnson said he feels more prepared for the future this year because he stayed in Detroit. He said he has an obligation to the people in the building to be where he is and doesn’t want to let his thoughts wander too much beyond the here and now.

But the desire to lead your own team still exists.

“I think there’s a burning desire in every man to find out what he’s made of, to push the boundaries and see if he’s got what it takes,” Johnson said. “So, yeah, there’s a fire there. When that happens, I don’t know when it will be, but there will definitely be a fire there.”

Who knows what the 2025 Detroit Lions will ultimately look like? Perhaps both coordinators leave and start their head coaching careers elsewhere, leaving Campbell to hire their replacements. Maybe both Glenn and Johnson will be back and we’ll write a similar story next year.

No matter what happens after this season, Glenn, Johnson, special teams coordinator Dave Fipp and Campbell are still here, working together to try to win a Super Bowl for the franchise that employs them. To do this in this city, with this team, with the original crew that got this thing started would be a truly special accomplishment. It’s rare for a staff to remain intact as long as it did in Detroit. It’s even rarer to find one as close as this one.

Until then, everything else can wait.

“This is a special team and a special staff and it has been that way since the beginning,” Campbell said when asked if he particularly enjoyed this season. “It really was. And I definitely do. I’m lucky. I am blessed. I’m grateful that I have the coordinators, including Fipp, all three guys are superstars. And I know – hey, when it’s over, it’s over.

“But we’ll make the best of it until we get there.”

(Top photo of Aaron Glenn and Ben Johnson: Lon Horwedel, David Reginek / Imagn Images)