Calls Jets' OC Tanner Engstrand an 'Excellent Communicator' and a 'Quick Thinker'

Eric Allen

When Dan Campbell was hired as the Detroit Lions head coach in 2021, he made Aaron Glenn one of first staff hires. While Glenn served as the Lions' defensive coordinator the past four seasons, Ben Johnson, a holdover from Matt Patricia's staff, started as a tight ends coach under Campell, was promoted to pass game coordinator and then promoted again to offensive coordinator in 2022. With the three men playing integral roles, the Lions authored a dramatic turnaround while improving from 3-13-1 in 2021 to a team that won 27 regular-season games and captured the NFC North title in 2023-24.

With Glenn and Johnson entering the offseason as two of the hottest names on the coaching market, the Bears officially announced Johnson as their HC on Jan. 21 and the Jets followed suit a day later when they announced they had agreed to terms with Glenn to become their head coach. Last week at the NFL Annual League Meeting in Florida, Johnson discussed Glenn and his new offensive coordinator, Tanner Engstrand.

"He's so unique in terms of a communicator," Johnson said of Glenn. "He's got such a wealth of experience because obviously high-level player when he played, has the coaching aspect down pat but also the scouting aspect of it down as well because it's very rare that you see the trifecta like that come together. He does all three at a high level. He communicates the standard -- the players will love him and yet they'll know they're getting pushed and challenged every step of the way as well. So, it's been fun to see the staff that he's put together. I think he's done a great job. I knew Steve Wilks was going to be one of the guys there on defense that he trusted and then obviously I know Tanner really well and I think the world of Tanner."

Much like Campbell, Tanner Engstrand preceded Campbell in Detroit. The Jets' new offensive coordinator, who joined Patricia's staff as an offensive assistant in 2020, stayed as an offensive quality control coach in 2021 and transitioned to tight ends coach/passing game coordinator in 2022 under Johnson.

"He was an integral part of what we were doing there," Johnson said of Engstrand. "I got to know him -- it was before Dan even took the job there in Detroit. I think Tanner came on as a quality control coach there the last year of Patricia and he had a similar trajectory as I did. He just kind of climbed the ladder the same way, starting low and then tight end position and then a passing game coordinator role. He and I have a shared experience, a shared bond that way. I leaned heavily into him the last two seasons. We had Johnny Morton, who is now in Detroit as a coordinator, the first year that I was calling it, and Tanner was the tight ends coach. And we ended up moving him to passing game coordinator, effectively taking over for Johnny Mo and he is completely ready for this next challenge. He's called plays in his past and so I think each and every game when I was calling it -- he was doing the same thing in his head."

Engstrand, who began his coaching career at San Diego as a graduate assistant under Jim Harbaugh and worked 13 years at UCSD before joining Harbaugh's University of Michigan staff in 2018, had offensive coordinator titles for the Tritons in 2011-12 and then with the XFL's DC Defenders in 2020.

"He's very similar to AG," Johnson said of Engstrand. "He's an excellent communicator; he'll do a great job in front of the room with the players. I think where Tanner is really going to excel is he's been able to really thrive in these game management spots, so he understands the situation in the game. What do we need yardage wise to get into field possession whether it's a field goal or an attempt to score a touchdown, so he's very advanced in that area. Quick thinker and like I said huge, huge impact on our process over the past couple of years."

While Engstrand will handle play-calling duties for the first time in the NFL, it will be interesting to watch how he and Johnson call games with new quarterbacks. After experiencing great success with Jared Goff in Detroit, Johnson will embark on a new path with Caleb Williams in Chicago and Engstrand will work with a talented dual threat in Justin Fields.

"You probably don't know exactly what's it's going to look like until you hit the grass here this springtime and even then, whatever you see this springtime is going to morph and evolve in training camp and going into the season as well," Johnson said. "So, I think Tanner understands there is a progression in terms of how it needs to be installed, and the foundation is going to be put in place this spring and be able to go whatever direction is necessary particularly with a different style of quarterback in New York than what we had in Detroit. It's going to be fun for me to watch him from afar, how is he going to be able to tackle that because that's a similar challenge with what I have as well with it's a different style of quarterback. So, a lot of different ways that offense we had in Detroit can evolve."