The New England Patriots have officially requested an interview with a Detroit Lions’ coordinator.

The New England Patriots have already begun their head coaching search. After making the quick decision to fire first-year head coach right after the last game of the season, the search will be extremely important.

Robert Kraft and company cannot afford to make another mistake like they did with Mayo. They have to find the right head coach to lead them back to success.

Many believe that Mike Vrabel is the front-runner to land the job, but there are plenty of other candidates that the Patriots could have interest in as well.

One of them is already being targeted.

According to a report from NFL insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, New England has requested to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson for their head coaching vacancy.

Johnson is viewed as arguably the best first-year head coaching candidate.

He has had a lot of success over the last few years with the Lions as their offensive coordinator and is one of the brightest young minds in the game.

If the Patriots decide to go with Johnson, they would be doing so with a goal of having him be around long-term. He could work wonders for young franchise quarterback Drake Maye and the offense.

While many expected New England to quickly lock in on Vrabel, it sounds like Kraft is going to approach things carefully. He wants to do due diligence and make sure that he’s picking the right guy to lead the team forward.

All of that being said, it will be very interesting to see what the Patriots choose to do.

Vrabel and Johnson are just two candidates that New England could have interest in.

There are quite a few other intriguing names who are available this offseason.

Fans are simply hoping to see the Patriots bring in a competent head coach. Johnson would be more than that, as would Vrabel.

Expect to hear a lot more news coming out of New England about the coaching search in the near future.