On January 21, The Chicago Bears made a potentially franchise altering decision with the hiring of the team’s 18th Head Coach in franchise history. Ben Johnson, Former Detroit Lions Offensive Coordinator and the hottest coach in this year’s head coaching cycle, was hired to a 5 year, 65 million dollar deal 2 days after he became available. Under Johnson’s offense, the Lions set a franchise record in wins and ranked 2nd in the NFL in both total offense and passing offense, something the Bears desperately need to improve on. Because of this, Ben Johnson ws the best possible hire for the Bears to make for Head Coach this offseason.
With the firing of former Head Coach Matt Eberflus and Offensive Coordinator Shane Waldron midway through the 2024 season it was clear the Bears needed a personnel change that would restructure their offense. Rookie #1 pick Caleb Williams, the Bears Quarterback showed glimpses of explosive talent and had a successful rookie season despite the team’s overall struggles. Pairing a successful young offensive mind (Johnson is only 38) with a young quarterback is the best possible move the Bears could have made, considering the success seen with other teams around the league. The Bears being able to fit the trend of hiring a young offensive mind is what will make them competitive under Johnson’s tenure, with an already talented defensive group on the other side of the ball.
The first reason Ben Johnson was the perfect hire for the Bears was due to the lack of success from Defensive minded Head Coaches recently. For example, apart from Jayden Daniels and Dan Quinn’s successful season with the Washington Commanders, there are several examples of Defense minded Head Coaches being either mediocre or being fired within the past 5 years. Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Jonathan Gannon, Formers New York Jets Head coach Robert Saleh, former Commanders Head Coach Ron Rivera, former Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores, and former Broncos coach Vic Fangio have all been fired within 2-3 years of being Head Coaches (Gannon has seen limited success in his tenure). Even Matt Eberflus, who was a strong defensive mind struggled in his time with the Bears, and seemed ill equipped to handle a talented young Quarterback making arguably the worst Offensive Coordinator hire of the year.
With the Bears missing a strong offensive mind, it showed this year, making the hiring of Ben Johnson even better.
The second reason Ben Johnson was the perfect hire for the Bears is because of the recent success of young offensive minded coaches around the NFL. For example, Los Angeles Rams Head Coach Sean McVay, San Francisco 49ers Head coach Kyle Shannahan, Minnesota Vikings Head coach Kevin O’Connell, Green Bay Packers Head Coach Matt Lafluer, and Miami Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel have seen success throughout their short time as Head Coaches. Pairing young offensive minds with young quarterbacks has also been a big part of the success of these coaches, Brock Purdy with Shannahan, Tua Tagovailoa with McDaniel, Jordan Love with Lafleur, and the revitalization of Sam Darnold under O’Connell shows the upside that results with these hirings. Johnson’s creative offensive scheme and his use of Runningbacks and Wide Receivers are something all Bears fans should be excited about, regardless of the coach’s age.
The final reason Ben Johnson was the perfect hire for the Bears is because of the coaching staff he has assembled around him. Dennis Allen was recently hired on January 28th to become Defensive coordinator for the Bears, the best possible hire available for DC on the market. Allen, former New Orleans Saints Head Coach and Defensive coordinator had multiple years of top 10 defensive units, and two top 5 defenses in 2020 and 2022. Allen will bring with him head coaching experience and will provide input to Johnson’s ideas. Johnson was also able to bring former Lions WR coach Antwaan Randle El. Randle El coached a very talented Lions WR group in which Amon Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams both had 1,000 yard receiving seasons. Another solid defense hire for the Bears was the acquisition of Al Harris as their passing game coordinator, former Dallas Cowboys Assistant Head Coach and Defensive Backs coach. Harris was one of the most respected coaches in the Cowboys organization under many solid defensive units during his time there, and brings experience as a former player to help out Johnson. These are only a few of Johnson’s hires, as positions are still being filled out on his staff, but it’s clear with the experience he has been able to bring over to the Bears it is an instant upgrade from the staff they had last season, and it puts them in a position to win.
Despite Johnson’s recent success as an offensive coordinator, many fans are skeptical of the hiring of a first time Head Coach for the Bears position. With the past two hirings of Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus failing due to being first- time Head Coaches, some Bears fans are worried. But this situation was different prior to his hiring, according to Sports Illustrated, “Johnson, through some reflection, started to prioritize alignment with a general manager, and finding ownership that was willing to see its own mistakes and blind sports … And in time the Bears were able to see Johnson beyond his potential to coach Caleb Williams, and Johnson was able to find common ground with sitting Bears GM Ryan Poles and president Kevin Warren.” Johnson clearly had the Bears as his first target, and signed the biggest coaching deal in the history of the franchise. This is also the first time Bears fans have come to the consensus that the front office made the right choice in the hiring of the coach in nearly a decade, which should make the fanbase hopeful not skeptical with this new hire.
The hiring of Ben Johnson to the Chicago Bears marks a critical turning point for their front office and could turn out to be a pivotal move for the future of the franchise. With the talent of his offenses during his time with the Lions, the potential is certainly there for the Bears to make drastic improvements over their disappointing 5-12 season last year. With much of the fanbase ecstatic over this move, it would not be a longshot if the Bears to be NFC North contenders next season.