Here’s what I like most about Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator:

He wasn’t afraid to bet on himself.

A year ago, Johnson voluntarily backed out of several NFL head-coaching searches, opting to return for a second season in charge of the Lions’ offense.

Who does that?

Most football coaches – heck, most people – would rather pounce with a sizzling iron in hand. The Lions had the fourth-best offense in the NFL in 2022. Just think of the self-confidence it'd take to double down on the Detroit Lions being just as good, if not better, the next season.

But hey, guess what? The Lions are better. Their offense ranks third in the NFL this season.

I see you, Ben Johnson. A lot of people see you.

Out of all the up-and-coming candidates in this NFL hiring cycle – with the Tennessee Titans working alongside other needy NFL teams – Johnson stands out as the most impressive.

He’s a clear No. 1 atop my wish list for the Titans. He’s a clear No. 1 atop a lot of teams’ lists. The past year has only driven up his demand and, probably, his asking price. There will be competition for his services, and what Johnson has perhaps earned from 2022 to 2023 is the ability to pick where he’d most like to go. That's a rarity for someone who has never been an NFL head coach before, but, in his case, he has earned it.

Johnson, 37, has separated himself from other offensive-minded 30-somethings in this hiring cycle.

Other young candidates on the Titans’ list tend to be viewed as a Kyle Shanahan guy (Bobby Slowik) or a Sean McVay guy (Brian Callahan, Thomas Brown) or an Andy Reid guy (Mike Kafka) or even a favorite of the Harbaugh family (Mike Macdonald). Nothing wrong with a great pedigree.

It’s just you'd rather have the trendsetter. In three or four years, I believe NFL coaches are going to be getting jobs because they are viewed as “a Ben Johnson guy.”

Because Johnson's offensive style is more his own. He blends different approaches into an offense that’s fluid, versatile and deviously disguised to confuse defenses. Calls and formations get swapped out each week. It looks a certain way, but then it’s something else.

"One of the first slides we talk about with our identity is we want everything to look the same — we want the same things to look different and different things to look the same," Johnson told the Detroit News prior to this season. "... Whatever we think they're practicing, we want to use that against them."

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Johnson’s quarterback has been Jared Goff, who was once cast off by McVay and the Rams. This season, Johnson's top four pass-catchers statistically were Amon-Ra St. Brown (a fourth-round pick who has immensely overachieved), rookie tight end Sam LaPorta and two receivers – Josh Reynolds and Kalif Raymond – who were once cast off from the Titans.

The bones are solid on the offensive line, but these Lions didn't overwhelm with offensive skill talent. Like, say, the San Francisco 49ers or Miami Dolphins or Kansas City Chiefs.

You hang with those outfits offensively for two seasons in a row – in Detroit – and that’s coaching.

Would the Titans be able to land Johnson?

It’s assumed, given general manager Ran Carthon’s ties to San Francisco, that the Titans’ secretive “vision” post-Vrabel is a desire to emulate the 49ers’ model with Shanahan.

If the Titans’ search plays out in that fashion, that'd point toward another promising young offensive coordinator in Slowik.

But my understanding is Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk has been looking more at the Lions' recent success, envisioning an in-house structure and partnership more like what has been built in Detroit around Dan Campbell as coach. Johnson could make a lot of sense for Tennessee.

When Johnson was asked last February about his reason for returning to Detroit, he told the Lions’ official website, “It’s really simple for me. It starts with this place and these people.” Then he named the team’s owner and president in addition to Campbell and general manager Brad Holmes.

Now that is an answer that’d make the Titans’ ownership swoon.

How many offensive coordinators are out there naming team executives in response to questions?

It’s about the same number that’d turn down interest in head-coaching jobs to be willing to go back and gamble on another season in Detroit.

Reach Tennessean sports columnist Gentry Estes at gestes@tennessean.com and on the X platform (formerly known as Twitter) @Gentry_Estes.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: On Tennessee Titans' list of coach candidates, Ben Johnson stands out