Former Lion Just Made Threat of Coaches Leaving Even More Serious
The Detroit Lions season came to a surprising end on Saturday night with a 45-31 loss to the Washington Commanders. As a result, their coaching staff will experience significant changes sooner than fans and the organization thought it would.
Both offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn are top head coaching candidates this cycle. However, if the Lions had advanced in the playoffs instead of losing, both Johnson and Glenn would have likely had to wait till after the Super Bowl to get hired. Nonetheless, now that Detroit has been eliminated, both coordinators are free to accept head coaching offers.
That said, many people within the NFL expect one or both coordinators to land a job this next week. On Sunday, Adam Schefter reported that the Las Vegas Raiders are interviewing the Lions' former director of player personnel, Lance Newmark. Given the connections Newmark has to both Johnson and Glenn, this interview could point to one of their landing spots.
Raiders are interviewing former Lions executive and current Commanders assistant GM Lance Newmark today for their general manager job, per sources.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 19, 2025
Newmark spent 26 seasons in Detroit before joining Washington last year, and is said to have a strong relationship with both Ben… pic.twitter.com/yfwGg7L9w6
Raiders Interviewing Former Lions Director of Player Personnel Lance Newmark for GM Opening
Newmark's interview has been more closely linked with Johnson to the Raiders than it has Glenn. Largely due to reports that Johnson prioritizes alignment with the general manager and prefers to work with someone he knows and trusts.
Newmark fits the criteria well, given his 26 seasons with the Lions. Although he was the Commanders' assistant GM, he and Johnson spent two seasons together building up the Lions' dominant offense. Therefore, they likely share the same perspective on how to build a winning team.
While some of the same logic could be applied to Glenn to the Raiders, he never made it clear that he would prefer to bring in his own GM. That is why most people believe that this is the Raiders' attempt to appease Johnson and get him to become their next head coach.
Even though Lions fans don't want to lose Johnson, many have already come to accept that it will happen. Still, Lions fans would much rather have Johnson go to the AFC than become the head coach of an NFC rival like the Chicago Bears.
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