Thursday’s Bears-Lions game kicks off the annual slate of Thanksgiving Day games, and both teams can be thankful they have their starting quarterbacks for the foreseeable future in Caleb Williams and Jared Goff.
And in the spirit of the holiday, the game will also feature a rich cornucopia of future NFL coaches, general managers and coordinators. No less than a dozen men from the combined teams are expected to go on and lead their own groups in the coming seasons.
Let’s start with Detroit, where coach Dan Campbell may lose both coordinators for coaching jobs at the end of the Lions’ postseason run. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is widely regarded around the league as one of the top coaching prospects again this cycle. He has coordinated an offense that has been in the top five in points and yards in each of the last three seasons, and the Lions currently have the highest-scoring offense in all of football.
Johnson has interviewed the past two years, including six interviews last year, but decided both times to return to Detroit. He could also do the same this winter, as sources have indicated that Johnson will not accept any offers. He plans to be selective if he makes the jump, valuing organizational stability over a paycheck.
Defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn interviewed for jobs with the Chargers, Commanders, Falcons and Titans last cycle before returning to Detroit. He is coordinating the second-best scoring defense in the league heading into the game against the Bears.
The Lions have allowed fewer than seven points in consecutive games, including zero points in the second half of three consecutive games. Detroit hasn’t allowed a touchdown in 10 straight quarters. And that’s even more impressive considering the plethora of defensive injuries Glenn has dealt with, from Aidan Hutchinson to Derrick Barnes, Emmanuel Moseley and Ifatu Melifonwu, among several others.
If Campbell loses both of his coordinators, he has internal options to replace them. Assistant head coach and running backs coach Scottie Montgomery is in prime position to be promoted in Detroit or accept a setup job elsewhere. Passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand and offensive line coach Hank Fraley are also highly respected around the league. And former veteran NFL quarterback Mark Brunell has served as the Lions’ quarterbacks coach since he began coaching in the NFL when Campbell took over in Detroit.
On defense, running game coordinator and defensive line coach Terrell Williams joined the Lions coaching staff last year after spending several seasons in Tennessee. He served as Mike Vrabel’s assistant head coach with the Titans last year.
Detroit’s front office is loaded with talent under general manager Brad Holmes, who could take home the Executive of the Year award this season. Sources expect assistant general manager Ray Agnew to land general manager interviews in this next cycle after following Holmes from Los Angeles to Detroit to build the first 10-win teams in Lions history.
Former Chiefs and Browns general manager John Dorsey has been a top personnel executive in Detroit since 2021. A team looking to hire a veteran general manager could turn to the Motor City to find Dorsey. And Lions chief operating officer Mike Disner brings a unique mix of football and business to a potential general manager interview, which is what led the Carolina Panthers to ask to interview him for their open position last cycle.
Keeping things in the front office, the Bears could soon have one of their products leading an NFL team. Chicago assistant GM Ian Cunningham is the only person in the entire league to have interviewed for multiple GM jobs in consecutive years (he left the Cardinals job two cycles ago) and should be one of the top candidates for positions again this year. And senior director of player personnel Jeff King interviewed last year for the Chargers’ general manager job.
While it’s unclear if Matt Eberflus will have a fourth year in Chicago, he has talent on his coaching staff that could and should get looks around the league in the coming months.
Defensive coordinator Eric Washington is highly respected around the league. Eberflus has been calling the defensive plays this season, but Washington has coordinated a defense that is eighth in the league in scoring. Washington previously served as Panthers DC and was an assistant head coach in Buffalo last year.
The Bears offense has clearly been elevated with the installation of Thomas Brown as interim offensive coordinator. Brown has helped Chicago increase its big-play percentage and third-down success rate since replacing the fired Shane Waldron two games ago. Brown, a finalist for the Titans’ coaching job last year, could get the OC and coaching job this cycle.
And quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph joined the Bears staff last year after several seasons with the Seahawks. Joseph previously participated in the NFL’s accelerator program.
Brown and Joseph are both black men. This year marked the first time since 1988 that the NFL did not have a single black offensive coordinator in a permanent position leaguewide.
Talent on and off the field will be plentiful on Thursday afternoon, and the NFL could feast on it in this upcoming recruiting cycle.
