Amon-Ra St. Brown woke up to welcome news on Tuesday regarding next year's offensive coaching staff for the Detroit Lions.

On the St. Brown Brothers podcast, hosted by Amon-Ra and his brother, Chicago Bears wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, Amon-Ra said he was woken up before his alarm thanks to a call from one of his coaches, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. Amon-Ra initially set his alarm for 11 a.m. after spending one of his first offseason nights playing video games until 2 a.m. but woke up a couple of hours early to a call from Johnson, who told him he was returning to Detroit instead of potentially taking a head coaching job.

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The Lions All-Pro receiver said, after exchanging pleasantries and talking about signing a jersey for Johnson's wife, Amon-Ra asked Johnson about his plans next year, given that he'd interviewed for five head coaching positions and had an interview scheduled that day with the Washington Commanders. Amon-Ra said Johnson told him, after contemplating for a long time, that he would be returning to Detroit for a third season as offensive coordinator because he had unfinished business.

"Then there was like a little pause and I was like, 'So, what's up with you, you did the interview, like are you leaving?'" Amon-Ra told his brother. "He's like, 'You know what I'm on my way to the facility right now, I couldn't sleep,' he said he couldn't sleep last night. He was thinking about it and he said there's unfinished business, he wants to stay. He said me, Jared (Goff), Frank (Ragnow), Penei (Sewell), (Taylor) Decker. All the guys. He said his heart is in Detroit, he wants to stay."

St. Brown was one of the first people to find out the news, just after key decision makers like head coach Dan Campbell. Johnson told Amon-Ra he would be telling other players and his agent after the call was over while he was on his way to the Lions facility. Though he still wasn't 100% sure because of reports that the Commanders were going to be in Detroit that day for an interview, Amon-Ra texted Goff to share the good news.

"I was like, 'He's probably staying, but I was like 90% sure he was staying but not 100% sure,'" Amon-Ra said. "I texted Jared and I was like, 'Ben just called me, he said he's staying.'"

The news broke of his retention just over three hours later, when it was first reported by multiple national reporters and confirmed by the Free Press he wanted another crack at the Super Bowl here in Detroit.

Johnson, a finalist for Assistant Coach of the Year for the second season in a row, has been one of the hottest names in the past two coaching cycles. He had multiple interviews last offseason and was even considered the favorite to take over in Carolina before deciding to return to the Lions. His decision paid off as the Lions had one of the best seasons in franchise history, in large part because of the offense.

In 2023, the Lions were top five in the league over the regular season in total yards, rushing, passing, red zone and scoring, averaging 27.1 points per game. They scored at least 30 points in 12 of 20 games, including in two of three postseason matchups, and doubled their playoff win total from the previous 65 seasons combined.

At the end of their phone conversation, Amon-Ra said Johnson brought up Equanimeous and mentioned how his brother was rocking Honolulu Blue at the NFC championship game. Amon-Ra responded that'll be the only time Equanimeous rocks Lions threads unless he's on the team, which Johnson responded to by saying "unless he's on the team next year," according to Amon-Ra. When hearing the story, Equanimeous, who is an upcoming free agent, kept his cards close to him on his upcoming free agency when asked by Amon-Ra if you'll see him in a Lions uniform next year.

"We'll see," Equanimeous said.

Amon-Ra responded to that with a playful barb at his brother by saying, "We block around here. I don't know if you're willing to stick your nose in there."

Amon-Ra also gave some insight into Campbell's postgame speech to the team following the 34-31 loss to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game that ended their season. Campbell told the team after that this may have been their only shot at making it that far, in reference to how hard it is to win in the NFL year-to-year, which went viral after the game, and Amon-Ra provided some more detail from the locker room that was in shock after blowing a 17-point lead for the loss.

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"That feeling (Campbell) had at the end of the game was enough to motivate him and should be for the whole team for next year," Amon-Ra said. "And then he said, and everyone — I saw it on my phone after — everyone was like 'Whoa, he said that!?' He said it might've been our only shot, but he's saying it as, in the NFL it's hard to get this far, no matter who you are, what team you are. To do it next year, nothing's guaranteed, he said it's going to be twice as hard to get there next year."

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Amon-Ra St. Brown shares why Ben Johnson is staying with Detroit Lions