Nobody was more upset at the decision by Ben Johnson to join the Chicago Bears than Las Vegas Raiders fans. For the better part of two weeks, they were led to believe by many local and national insiders that the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator was infatuated with new part-owner Tom Brady. The Hall of Fame quarterback’s pitch to Johnson was a game-changer and certain to bring him to Vegas. Then, 24 hours after playoff loss to Washington, the 38-year-old coach signed a five-year deal with the Bears.
Unsurprisingly, Raiders fans felt they’d been duped. They railed against Johnson for getting their hopes up, believing he led them on. It didn’t help that his agent, Rick Smith, admitted he’d used Las Vegas primarily for leverage in contract negotiations. Sure enough, the coping began shortly after. It reached a new level when Hondo Carpenter, who writes about the Raiders for Sports Illustrated, insisted that a league executive told him the organization had dodged a bullet.
Johnson has Josh McDaniels written all over him.
“I got a message from an AFC executive last night, after the news broke that [Johnson] was going to the Bears, who said he believed the Raiders had ‘dodged a bullet.’ Not because of character, not because of his ability to coach, but because Ben is very introverted. He is very much an offensive genius. That’s factual. But remember when Josh McDaniels came [to the Raiders], people used the word ‘savant.’”
“I can attest to you that Josh McDaniels, the man, is a good man,” Hondo continued. “Raiders players liked him away from the building and nobody wished him ill will. But Josh was not a leader of men that the head coach has to be. He’s more introverted, more quiet, more to himself. A lot like Ben Johnson… and this person who knows Josh very well and knows Ben Johnson very well… felt the Raiders dodged a bullet and called him Josh McDaniels 2.0.”
Comparing Ben Johnson to Josh McDaniels feels lazy.
Everybody knows the story by now. McDaniels is widely regarded as one of the biggest offensive masterminds of the past two decades. He helped the New England Patriots win three Super Bowls between 2014 and 2018 while cementing Tom Brady as the greatest quarterback ever. However, his two stints as a head coach were disastrous. In both cases, it got so bad in Denver and Las Vegas that he was fired before his second seasons were even over. Since then, every sharp offensive who gets head coaching buzz is compared to him.
Meanwhile, you have a former head coach, Rex Ryan, who is calling Ben Johnson the next Bill Walsh. He says this because his own son, Seth, had worked under the Bears head coach in Detroit for four years. Walsh, too, was considered an intellectual and introvert. That didn’t stop him from winning three Super Bowls as a head coach. The truth is nobody has any clue what type of coach Johnson will be. He and McDaniels might have similar backgrounds, but they are not the same people. Las Vegas may believe they lucked out by getting Pete Carroll instead. Time will tell.
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Just a word of caution. Many, many, many people who speak are idiots (see:the internet).
If someone doesn’t interject themselves in every conversation, might not be an “introvert, but someone who KNOWS, that much is stupid and doesn’t want to waste time with interacting with idiots.
Communicating in an organization depends on clarity, not slapping someone’s back.
@Sallie
Is the “life of a party” the same as a. loan? Otherwise, sounds good.
Raiders think Tom Brady is going to save them. Like the Bears in pre ious years, they tried the Antonio Pierce/Luke Getsy thing, but unlike the Bears, they stocked their team with coaches they could try, if they needed to fire Getsy. (They did).
But they used Brady to get an interview with Johnson. Hiring a. unprepared employee is almost as bad as being hired by an unprepared employer.
It’s not either introvert or extrovert. You can be both or neither. I am an ambivert. My HC Ben could also be one.
For instance, an ambivert can spend hours, days, weeks, and even months working on a project without much social interaction and being totally fulfilled by him/herself and not be a recluse. That same person can give a speech, lecture, interview, and be the life of the party.
@Dr. Melhus, Amen! We heard the “expert” talking heads say that a deal with the Raiders is imminent just days ahead of Johnson signing with Bears. No one was saying how it’s a bad idea because he’s “introverted”. By the way, did anyone see anything introverted about Ben when he spoke? We saw a guy who confidently spoke of his plan from the playbook, to the accountability standards. Josh McDaniels is a failed HC because he was propped up by Tom Brady. Any other narrative is false until shown otherwise. His reserved public demeanor wasn’t the reason he failed. Nothing… Read more »