Bears HC Ben Johnson misses out on an award he had a strong case for, but avoids a curse that’s doomed other head coaches
Ben Johnson not winning Coach of the Year might not be a bad thing.
The first season under head coach Ben Johnson was a magical run for the Chicago Bears, a franchise long deserving of a winner and it’s something Johnson brought out from Day 1 with a team he referred to as a “sleeping giant.”
The Bears went on to have an 11-6 season that included an NFC North title during Johnson’s first year at the helm that ended short of expectations in the NFC’s Divisional Round. While the outcome inside the building was unideal, Johnson and his staff proved the Bears are back and aren’t going anywhere.
“I got the best coach in the world, let’s put it that way,” Bears quarterback Caleb Williams said. “We have the best coaching staff in the world. So, you put the talent with the coaches and the people that care, you can strive for anything, you can reach anything, you can go after any goal. And when you go out there on that football field, your belief is at an all-time high between players, between coaches, and you have outcomes like this.”
Rightfully, Johnson was one of the five finalists for the AP Coach of the Year award along with Mike Vrabel, Mike McDonald, Kyle Shanahan, and Liam Coen. And the Coach of the Year award winner as finally been revealed.
Ben Johnson avoids Coach of the Year curse with Mike Vrabel taking home the award
New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was announced as the Coach of the Year, beating out the other four candidates and now will prepare for Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl LX. Here are the final voting results:
Mike Vrabel: 19
Liam Coen: 16
Mike Macdonald: 8
Kyle Shanahan: 6
Ben Johnson: 1
While Johnson didn’t win the award in a close race, he did avoid the Coach of the Year curse. Just look at some of the recent Coach of the Year winners.
| Coach | Team | Award Year | Future Outcome |
| Kevin O’Connell | Vikings | 2024 | Still with team |
| Kevin Stefanksi | Browns | 2023 | Fired after 2025 season |
| Brian Daboll | Giants | 2022 | Fired in 2025 season |
| Mike Vrabel | Titans | 2021 | Fired after 2023 season |
| Kevin Stefanksi | Browns | 2020 | Fired after 2025 season |
| John Harbaugh | Ravens | 2019 | Fired after 2025 season |
| Matt Nagy | Bears | 2018 | Fired after 2021 season |
| Sean McVay | Rams | 2017 | Still with team |
| Bruce Arians | Cardinals | 2016 | Left team after 2017 |
| Ron Rivera | Panthers | 2015 | Fired in 2019 season |
That’s seven instances that a Coach of the Year winner was eventually fired by that organization, technically six coaches considering Stefanski won the award twice. It’s really not good company to be mentioned around when you look at this list.
Coach of the year is always a weird award anyways. Bill Belichick only won the award three times, Andy Reid has only won it once, Sean Payton only won it once, and great coaches such as Pete Carroll and Mike Tomlin never won it. Lately, it’s seemed more like a curse than an honor.
But, let’s not act like Vrabel didn’t deserve it this year. He faced a similar situation as Johnson taking over a fourth-place team with a second-year quarterback. Unlike Johnson, Vrabel led his team to a Super Bowl berth with his quarterback, Drake Maye, finishing as a finalist for the MVP award.
If Johnson can build off the 2025 success and get the Bears back in contention for a Super Bowl berth in 2026, he should easily be one of the favorites for this award again. And it seems inevitable that he will eventually win it with the Bears, and hopefully win a more prized trophy one day.
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