Chicago was always the place Ben Johnson wanted to land and he embraces the challenge of competing against the rest of the NFC North
Ben Johnson is no stranger to how difficult it is to coach in the NFC North. It's a tough environment to work with featuring strong organizations and spiteful rivalries.For six seasons, Johnson served as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator and experienced the highs and lows of working in the NFC North including a 15-2 season […]
Ben Johnson is no stranger to how difficult it is to coach in the NFC North. It's a tough environment to work with featuring strong organizations and spiteful rivalries.
For six seasons, Johnson served as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator and experienced the highs and lows of working in the NFC North including a 15-2 season in 2024 where the Lions claimed the number one seed in the entire conference.
The NFC North was far and away the best division in football. Along with the Lions, two other teams in the division posted double-digit win seasons and made an appearance in the postseason. The other team finished 5-12 and Johnson will now be tasked with building that team up to the level of the other three teams in the North.
As the Chicago Bears' new head coach, Johnson understands what challenges come with that title and yet, he made it crystal clear with his decisions over the last three years there is no organization he would rather be with.
"This is exactly where I wanted to raise my family, my kids, I know we're going to have so much fun living up here in Chicago," Johnson said. "This roster that Ryan [Poles'] already built, it is stocked, it's loaded."
While the roster was indeed loaded for Johnson's arrival as a first-time head coach, rookie quarterback Caleb Williams was always the biggest draw for any candidate.
Johnson had two opportunities to see his new franchise quarterback in person during the 2024 season when the Lions faced the Bears and each time he came away impressed from what he saw. And the idea of being the coach tasked with developing such a talent added to the appeal of coaching the Bears.
"There's no doubt Caleb played a large component into my decision," Johnson said. "He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up and down rookie year. This offense will be calibrated with him in mind, we're going to build this thing. This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there. No, we're ripping this thing down to the studs, and we're going to build it up with him first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next. I really look forward to challenging him and pushing him to continue to grow and develop."
As for the offense itself led by Johnson and Williams, the unit won't be a carbon-copy of the historic top-ranked unit Johnson led in Detroit.
Johnson will have new players and new coaches to adapt to in Chicago in order to create a scheme that works best for his new players in the locker room. The most notable difference in talent will come from the offensive line.
With the Lions, Detroit boasted one of the league's best protection units that allowed 33 sacks during the 2024 season. Compare that to Chicago's unit, which allowed 68 total sacks on their rookie quarterback, nine shy of setting a new NFL record.
Johnson noted he's already held conversations with the team's general manager about that unit specifically and how they plan on improving it, which could be done by replacing 3-4 of the starters from the season prior.
"We need to get better play from going forward," Johnson explained. "We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done, but we I'm looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach the building to help develop the young talent that we already have on the roster, and we will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well. But, I was certainly blessed the last few years with the men that I worked with, and that was something I would love to replicate here as well."
In terms of the rest of the roster, Johnson is right. This team on paper is loaded and the 5-12 record in 2024 didn't do the players justice. It's Johnson's job to get this team where it needs to be in order to earn the results many expect with this roster.
"I felt like this place was a sleeping giant, to be honest with you," Johnson added. "I was personally more concerned about the Chicago Bears than anybody else in this division. Now, there's a number of reasons why that did not unfold, right, which that's why I'm here. I'll get to the bottom of that, and you'll see if we can't get that corrected and cleaned up. But I was very encouraged with what was already on the roster right here. This division, as hard as it is, I'm really excited about competing here."
Based on his first press conference as the team's head coach, it's hard not to be encouraged about the future of this team. He sounded like a guy who has a clear plan in place for rebuilding this team and has the support of the entire Bears' organization to get that accomplished as soon as possible.
