Several weeks into the 2024 season, it looked like the Jacksonville Jaguars were ready to move on from Doug Pederson. At the time, the hottest name to replace him was Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, but he ultimately took the Chicago Bears job. This led the Jags to pivot to Liam Coen, and while it's too early to tell, they might've ended up getting the better of the two, based on remarks Lions offensive lineman Graham Glasgow recently made.
Glasgow made an apperance on Costa and Jansen with Heather on 97.1 The Ticket and called Johnson uppity, pointing out that he has more energy than his predecessor, John Morton. Here's the skinny.
"I think it's gone pretty smoothly. They're completely different," Glasgow responded when asked how the transition from Johnson to Morton is going (11:10 mark). "I feel like, in the way they go about things, I think that John is a little more laid back than Ben was. Ben was a little more uppity. I wouldn't say he was, I feel like they have the same amount of energy, but it seems like Ben was more high-energy because he was always getting after it."
Glasgow continued, "But things seem to be going well, everyone seems to be picking things up pretty good. I'm happy to see where we're at."
Here's the thing: uppity means arrogant or snobbish, and if you listen to the conversation, it doesn't sound like Glasgow was trying to call Johnson that. Instead, he was trying to say that his former offensive coordinator had more energy. Perhaps he meant to call him upbeat.
On the off chance that Glasgow did mean it when he described Johnson as uppity, though, the Jags might've dodged a bullet.
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Either Graham Glasgow misspoke or the Jags should be glad they missed out on Ben Johnson
Following the ousting of Doug Pederson, the Jacksonville Jaguars made a strong attempt to land Ben Johnson, and why not? He was one of the hottest offensive minds in the NFL, playing a massive role in helping the Detroit Lions reach the NFC Championship for the first time in the modern NFL era. Similarly, he got the most out of players such as quarterback Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, and running back Jahmyr Gibbs.
Heck, there were even reports that the Jags' interest in Johnson was reprocated. He even interviewed for their opening but ended up bolting for the Chicago Bears. At the time, Dan Graziano of ESPN raised the possibility that the presence of then-general manager Trent Baalke might've been a turnoff for Johnson. This isn't far-fetched when you take into account that Coen originally shunned them, and it wasn't until Baalke got the boot that he accepted the gig.
This was probably a blessing in disguise, as the Jaguars appear to be head over heels with Coen. So far, he's wasted no time bringing in an element of physicality the team was missing during the Pederson era. On top of that, he's putting a renewed emphasis on winning the battle in the trenches to establish the running game.
The bottom line is that Ben Johnson may or may not be uppity, but the Jags won't be complaining about hiring Liam Coen anytime soon.