Ben Johnson promoting Press Taylor could spark a domino effect—and it might help the Bears pull off a Dan Campbell–style move
More coaches, and a player, could be moving up the ladder on Ben Johnson’s staff.
The Chicago Bears made the safe call on Sunday by promoting passing game coordinator Press Taylor into the offensive coordinator role to replace Declan Doyle on head coach Ben Johnson’s staff going into the 2026 season.
Taylor has previous offensive coordinator experience after serving in the role for three seasons from 2022-2024 with the Jacksonville Jaguars and is the brother of Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.
It’s a controversial move hiring from within but it helps keep synergy with the rest of the staff and the domino effect could lead to other internal promotions.
Press Taylor’s promotion can help move one assistant up the ladder on the coaching staff
The obvious in-house candidate to take over Taylor’s former role as the passing game coordinator is quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett. He’s already well on his way to earning an offensive coordinator role of his own down the road and was recently linked to the Ohio State offensive coordinator position.
Everyone knows the former Buckeye standout is a rising name in the coaching ranks and it would be a short-term promotion before he inevitably gets poached for a higher role.
“J.T. is a guy I’ve known from the moment he decided to hang up the cleats and pick up a whistle instead,” Johnson said, via The Athletic. “He has gotten better, and it’s because he loves the game. It’s because he wants to do a great job. I think he’s going to continue to ascend here in this league. Whatever he wants to become, whether that’s a play caller, or whether that’s eventually a head coach, whatever that is, I think he’s capable of all those things.”
For the time being, Barrett can continue working and ascending on Johnson’s staff. He already has a close relationship with quarterback Caleb Williams and his eager to add more work to his plate that comes with taking Taylor’s old spot as the passing game coordinator.
“I think J.T. is somewhat similar to Ben in that there’s a certain intensity to him,” Taylor explained. “He takes his work very seriously. He’s very mature and serious in his approach. He wants to do a great job. He’s hungry to learn. It feels like there’s no ego.”
A promotion for J.T. Barrett opens the door for Case Keenum to return in a different role
Promoting Barrett should be an easy decision for Johnson to make after already promoting Taylor, but doing so opens another door to fill on the staff when it comes to the quarterbacks coach. Once again, an obvious in-house candidate makes sense, but not one already on the coaching staff. Instead, Johnson could steal a move from Dan Campbell by turning a veteran player into a coach.
It’s something Campbell has already done a few times with the Detroit Lions with Kelvin Sheppard and Shaun Dion-Hamilton. He could do it again this offseason with Dan Skipper. As for Johnson, the Bears could do a similar move with quarterback Case Keenum after playing one season in Chicago.
“He’s been an integral part of what we’ve done,” Johnson said of Keenum. “He’s been tremendous in terms of Caleb’s growth. That was really the thought process of bringing him in, a guy with skins on the wall. He’s played in big games himself at a high level. He’s won big games. He’s lost big games. His experience has been something that all these young players can really lean into. I think Case’s message this week has been very profound for not just the offense, but the entire team.
The vision we had bringing him in, it’s been pretty incredible. I give Ryan (Poles) a lot of credit for that. As we’re talking about, in the springtime, how do we best help our young quarterback grow and develop, Case’s name came up pretty quickly in that process and it’s just been a phenomenal fit.”
After playing out his one-year deal with the Bears, Keenum is slated to be an unrestricted free agent and this could be a big decision for the 37-year-old. Is it time to hand up the cleats and pick up the whistle? It’s an incredibly difficult decision for Keenum, but coaching is easily in his DNA.
“He’s a pendulum in a lot of ways, which I think the coaching staff is as well,” Johnson added. “Where, when things get a little bit too high, you can swing it back just keep everyone grounded. The same thing when things aren’t quite going your way and you’re facing a little bit of adversity, it’s the right things to say to make sure we can pull ourselves out of that hole. I don’t know if coaching is in his future or not, but I think he’d be a helluva coach one day if he chooses to go that path.”
If Keenum’s up for it, it’d be another no-brainer decision for Johnson to continue elevating his coaching staff from within going into his second season.
Chicago Bears News
Ben Johnson plays it safe filling the Bears OC role, and one crucial piece of the offense immediately benefits from the move
The Chicago Bears promoted from within to fill the vacant offensive coordinator role.
