Bears strike quick while fending off Raiders and Jaguars to land the top coaching candidate in the NFL coaching cycle
A connection that's been rumored for months is now official and another domino falls in the NFL coaching cycle.The Chicago Bears have made things official to hire former Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.Johnson was widely considered to be the top coaching candidate in this year's cycle and the […]
A connection that's been rumored for months is now official and another domino falls in the NFL coaching cycle.
The Chicago Bears have made things official to hire former Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, according to NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.
Johnson was widely considered to be the top coaching candidate in this year's cycle and the Bears moved quick to hire him following the Lions' divisional round playoff loss, fending off the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Chicago fans were all over this one. Before the news broke fans pointed out on social media that a private jet that flew from Dallas to Chicago during Mike McCarthy's interview was flying from Chicago to Michigan, just outside Detroit.
Pelissero added that Johnson is set to fly to Chicago soon, likely on that plane, to sign the contract with his new team.
The Bears process to find their next head coach was an extensive one with the Bears interviewing 17 different candidates for the role. In the end, Chicago took a non-traditional approach to land on the name that started it all.
The Bears never had an in-person interview with Johnson. Only a virtual interview on January 11th and some back channel discussions with people close to him. Nothing says you can't do that, but clearly sitting down in-person didn't matter to the Bears.
Landing Johnson didn't come without competition, which is what made this such a sudden move for Chicago. The Raiders and Jaguars were set to bring Johnson in for a second interview for their vacant positions but the Bears moved quick to make sure they didn't lose their guy.
Johnson will now be in charge of leading his own team for the first time in his career and most importantly, leading the development of franchise quarterback Caleb Williams.
A few days ago Williams was watching Johnson's offense in Detroit decimate a top ranked Minnesota Vikings' defense in route to securing the NFC's #1 seed. He certainly came away impressed from what he saw from his new head coach.
"It was fascinating to watch because he had wrinkles for counters and things like that throughout the game," Williams said via The Athletic. "I think he's obviously done really well. So it would be cool to see how that all goes down."
Last month, Johnson had nothing but great things to say about his new quarterback prior to facing the Bears for the second time in 2024.
“There is no question the guy is talented. I remember standing on the sideline last game and you can hear the ball whistle by you," Johnson explained. "He's got quite a fastball and has some creativity to him.”
Johnson and Williams will now make for an intriguing HC/QB duo going into the future for the Bears' franchise.
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