Playoffs or head coach interviews? For NFL's top candidates, complicated answer is both

ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Ben Johnson heard the question and…danced.

The crafty Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, one of the hottest prospects on the NFL coaching market for the third year in a row, wouldn’t take the bait when asked what it would take to get him to accept one of the vacant head coaching gigs across the league.

“I see what you’re doing right now, and I’m not taking it,” Johnson replied to a reporter during a midweek news conference.

Last week, during the Lions' bye week, the 38-year-old engaged in virtual interviews with the Las Vegas Raiders, Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars.

This week, he’s apparently consumed in preparations for Detroit’s divisional playoff matchup on Saturday night. He was not about to use the podium to send any smoke signals to potential employers as six head coaching jobs across the league remain vacant.

“I’m going to stay focused on the main thing right here, and that’s going to be the Washington Commanders right here and now. That’s what we’re about. Told the head coach (Dan Campbell) when we came in – he asked me how it went (last) weekend. ‘It went great,’ and that’s the end of it. The focus right here and now, for the players, for the coaching staff, for everybody in this building, is about this game, this week.”

As it should be. Yet Johnson and another hot candidate from the Lions’ staff, defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, are among a handful of top assistant coaches in the league who are proceeding with their job of chasing Super Bowl glory while managing the possibility of landing their next job.

Glenn, who interviewed with the Bears, Jaguars, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets during the bye week, hardly sounded as though he was sweating the process. He’s also been on the market before, which aided in the preparation. He and Johnson know what to expect.

Said Johnson: “This go-around, I’ve been a lot more prepared for the types of questions that they’ve been asking. I’ve also changed my frame of mind a little bit, and instead of worrying solely about the offense and what we’re doing right here, I’ve been able to have offseasons and summers to think about, big-picture view, what a program would look like where I’m running it.”

The Lions coordinators, like Kansas City Chiefs counterparts Steve Spagnuolo and Matt Nagy, had the benefit of the bye week. It aligns with NFL policy that dictated the virtual interviews had to be completed by last weekend.

Yet with eight teams left in the playoffs as the divisional-round games commence on Saturday, several other candidates from playoff teams are seemingly squeezed much more as they prepare for critical games while conducting interviews.

It has fueled debate as the NFL in recent years has instituted measures to slow down the process. Yet it also underscores such a need. The top prospects for promotions typically come from successful teams. The openings are with the 18 teams that didn’t make the playoffs – and they are trying to get a jump on the competition.

If you’re one of the candidates who has spent a career lifetime to position for one of the rare NFL jobs, you’d obviously want to best present yourself in the process – although it would also be a disservice to short-change the existing team trying to leave no stone uncovered in trying to advance in the playoffs.

Both offensive coordinators angling for the AFC showdown on Sunday between the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills – Todd Monken and Joe Brady, respectively – had interviews lined up as the game approached. Ditto for their Philadelphia Eagles counterpart, Kellen Moore, who interviewed virtually with the Dallas Cowboys on Friday.

None of those coaches were permitted to interview last week as they ramped up for playoff openers. Now, as their teams advanced, it’s a tighter squeeze.

“The way the system is set up is unfortunate, but it is what it is,” Monken told reporters in Baltimore. “I’m excited to play the Bills. That’s where my mind’s at.”

Still, it’s fair to wonder if the interviews take away energy and focus from the coaches who should be committed to helping the teams win this weekend – which might even strengthen cases for a promotion.

That’s why the thought of freezing head coach hirings until after the Super Bowl is often brought up in conversation – without much traction. It’s a bit much to expect a team that ended its season after Week 18 (or fired its coach in midseason, in some cases) to wait for weeks to hire a new coach. Remember, two weeks after Super Bowl 59, the NFL scouting combine begins to ignite the run-up to the draft.

“I don’t know if there’s an easy way, or they’d already be doing it,” Monken said.

No, there’s no easy solution.

Kliff Kingsbury, the Commanders offensive coordinator, has an approach that works for him. Kingsbury, requested for interviews by at least two teams, has tabled any interviews until the Commanders are eliminated from the playoffs – or finish the campaign in Super Bowl 59. By not interviewing, though, he’s perhaps risking the chance to make the right impression on a team for the next job.

Still, it’s more understandable when considering that after a playoff-opening victory at Tampa Bay on Sunday night, the Commanders have just six days to prepared for the divisional matchup at Detroit.

If a team wants to consider Kingsbury, it will have to wait.

Then again, Kingsbury can afford his approach. He’s still drawing a hefty paycheck from the Arizona Cardinals, who hired him as coach in 2019 and fired him after the 2022 season.

Glenn, meanwhile, is taking the process in stride in another sense. He is keeping an eye out for the next potential opportunity, but with a big task at hand on his current job is determined to minimize distractions.

“The one thing that I get out of all these interview is, man, I’m going to be myself,” Glenn said. “Either you’ll like it or you don’t. If you don’t, all good. I keep telling you guys, I have a great job here. If it’s an opportunity I think that’s best for me and my family, then we’ll take a look at it. I had a really good time over the bye week looking at those. But now, man, we’re all locked in, ready to go and play this game against Washington.”

In other words, that other competition is on the back burner.

Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Jarrett Bell on X @JarrettBell.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NFL coach candidates must strike delicate balance with playoff duties