Carmen Vitali
NFL Reporter
David Helman
NFL Reporter
The convention championship video games will happen Sunday in Kansas Metropolis and Philadelphia, however the Bears grabbed the NFL headlines Monday by hiring Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach.
It did not come as a shock that Chicago lastly employed a brand new head coach. That is been anticipated for the reason that membership fired Matt Eberflus the day after Thanksgiving. What got here as a little bit of a shocker was who the Bears landed — essentially the most coveted coach on this cycle.
Like all hires, solely time will inform the way it ages. However in the intervening time, it seems like an enormous day within the Windy Metropolis.
The Bears are one of the crucial iconic franchises within the NFL, and so they play in considered one of its largest and most football-obsessed markets. Extra vital to the right here and now, they’re going to be pairing final 12 months’s No. 1 total choose, Caleb Williams, with the architect of one of many league’s greatest offenses these previous few years. It is comprehensible if Bears followers are giddy in regards to the future.
To weigh in on what that might appear to be in Chicago, we requested Carmen Vitali and David Helman to evaluate varied facets of the Johnson rent.
1. How do you want Ben Johnson’s match with Caleb Williams? What would be the largest adjustment every might want to make for one another?
Vitali: From this standpoint, the hiring of Ben Johnson must be a slam dunk. Johnson has introduced out one of the best in Jared Goff in three years as his coordinator. After posting a forty five.5 QBR in his first 12 months in Detroit in 2021, a profession low for a full season, Goff’s been within the 60s three straight years, together with a career-high 68.4 this season whereas main the Lions to a franchise-record 15 wins. From being given up on by the Rams to being within the MVP dialog in 2024, what Johnson has performed for Goff’s profession can’t be overstated.
The Bears are hopeful Johnson does the identical for Williams, who is far youthful and fewer skilled than Goff was when Johnson grew to become Detroit’s OC. Will that pace up or lengthen the method? It is a honest query. Nevertheless it’s value noting that in Johnson’s three years as a coordinator, his offenses by no means completed decrease than fourth in yards per sport or fifth in factors per sport.
How Johnson adjusts to Williams’ inexperience and character would be the largest hurdle on either side. Williams had excessive reward for Johnson’s scheme this 12 months, whereas Bears gamers throughout the roster talked about how they needed a no-nonsense sort of coach who calls for accountability. Effectively, they’re about to get one. Johnson has been described to me as “intense” and “extra of a pitbull than individuals notice” by individuals who labored with him in Detroit.
How Johnson balances that depth with additionally having to be accountable for the entire group will likely be his largest adjustment. He does not simply have to fret in regards to the offense, like he did as a coordinator, he now has to resolve what the crew’s schedule is like, how they costume on street journeys, what the menu is throughout the constructing, the best way to greatest talk his imaginative and prescient to his workers, crew personnel and even the enterprise aspect of the constructing. He has to satisfy with the media and reply for not solely the offense however all three phases.
Oh, and he has to do it within the third-largest media market within the nation. All of that whereas making an attempt to develop a second-year quarterback. That is no small feat, and there’ll undoubtedly be a studying curve. Will Williams (and Chicago as a complete) have the persistence for Johnson to determine all of it out?
Helman: We do not know this for certain but, as a result of we have solely ever seen Johnson design an offense for Jared Goff. But when Johnson is nearly as good as we expect he’s, then I would hope he can tailor an assault to suit Caleb Williams — even when meaning making important modifications to what labored so nicely in Detroit.
That seems like the most important adjustment to me: adapting the offense to suit a totally completely different model of quarterback. Goff is extra of a degree guard passer, whereas Williams’ athleticism and talent to make performs out of construction is what makes him distinctive. Johnson can be sensible to intensify these talents whereas additionally reining in and correcting a few of Williams’ worse tendencies — specifically, hanging onto the ball too lengthy and never trying sufficient throws on time throughout the play design.
To Carmen’s level, I feel Williams’ largest adjustment will likely be sharing his main coach and play caller with the remainder of the crew, which was not one thing he needed to do as a rookie till Thomas Brown obtained promoted late within the season — to combined outcomes. I do assume Johnson will do a superb job of mitigating that by hiring certified coaches to fill out his workers.
2. What ought to Johnson be searching for in a defensive coordinator and who most closely fits that standards?
Helman: Johnson must be searching for expertise, point-blank, interval. Ideally, somebody who has been a head coach earlier than, in order that he does not have to fret in regards to the defensive aspect of the ball on high of every part else that is on his plate. Somebody with earlier head teaching expertise may even have recommendation on the best way to deal with sure conditions Johnson will inevitably encounter. It must be somebody who additionally does not have an ego, although — somebody who will advise Johnson with out threatening his place or undermining him. He must be somebody Johnson trusts.
Schematically, it issues lower than it ever has. Defenses are fluid it doesn’t matter what their base bundle is. One factor to contemplate is how the present roster is constructed and the way a lot flexibility you must alter it. Do you principally have guys that match the 4-3 scheme the Bears have been operating? How a lot wouldn’t it take to transform to a 3-4? And do your wants on offense get in the way in which of having the ability to accomplish a scheme overhaul on protection? These are all of the issues Johnson and his new coordinator must ask themselves.
Vitali: My eyes lit up after I learn that Dennis Allen is reportedly the favourite to develop into Chicago’s defensive coordinator, as a result of it is precisely the kind of rent that might be a grand slam for Ben Johnson.
Allen may need failed as a head coach, however he is been one of many league’s greatest defensive playcallers for roughly a decade. One in all Sean Payton’s greatest choices as Saints head coach was selling Allen to DC in 2015, which instantly introduced them legitimacy on that aspect of the ball and finally turned them into one of many NFL’s elite models. Allen is the kind of coach who can deal with each duty on the defensive aspect all through the week and on sport day. And, extra importantly, he is confirmed he can get outcomes along with having all that have.
If it winds up not being Allen, for some motive, it must be somebody like him. I would name Steve Wilks or Robert Saleh, who’ve comparable résumés.
Did the Bears make the precise transfer in hiring Ben Johnson?
3. Johnson was the most well liked candidate available on the market, regardless of not serving as a head coach beforehand, which might give him nice autonomy. Do you assume his hiring makes it kind of seemingly that GM Ryan Poles, who isn’t beneath contract past this season, stays in Chicago long run?
Vitali: Poles made this deal, they need to let him see it via. It should not be contingent on this 12 months, both. There’ll inevitably be some bumps within the street. Nearly as good of a coordinator as Johnson is, we do not but understand how he’ll fare as a head coach. There must be an extended leash for him and Poles, as nicely. The truth that Poles went out and obtained the consensus greatest candidate on this teaching cycle is all you may have requested of him. That ought to earn Poles extra belief by the group and will immediately give him rapport with Johnson. Hopefully, they’re going to work collectively to get the required personnel for Johnson’s imaginative and prescient (*cough* offensive linemen) and have a frequently blossoming working relationship.
Helman: The Bears stunned lots of people across the NFL by ponying up and providing essentially the most fascinating teaching candidate the contract he needed. Hopefully, that is not the one lesson they’ve realized.
All one of the best organizations within the NFL have a unity of goal and cohesion on their workers. You are not prone to get wherever if the top coach and common supervisor have completely different concepts, completely different motives and completely different priorities. As an example, the very last thing you’d need as a Bears fan in 2025 is Poles working to avoid wasting his job whereas Johnson is working to put a basis for the longer term.
We have seen the sort of dysfunction so many occasions in Chicago. Matt Nagy and Ryan Tempo traded as much as draft Justin Fields the 12 months they obtained fired. Mitchell Trubisky and Caleb Williams had been each drafted the identical 12 months their head coaches had been fired. That is the kind of maneuvering you’d wish to keep away from. And for that motive, here is hoping Poles has purchased himself a minimum of a couple of extra years with every part he is performed to get so far. I do not imagine the Bears’ roster is the explanation for his or her struggles, and Poles deserves credit score for that.
Can Ben Johnson get the BEST out of Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears?
4. How do you anticipate Johnson’s switch from Detroit to Chicago to influence the stability of energy within the NFC North? How quickly might you see the Bears successful this division?
Helman: I would be extra enthusiastic about Johnson’s possibilities of a fast turnaround if he had left the NFC North, as a result of this division is not shaping as much as get any simpler. The Lions are shedding some vital coaches, certain, however they’re going to nonetheless boast one of many NFL’s greatest rosters in 2025. The rosters in Minnesota and Inexperienced Bay should not solely good, however they’re coached by two of the brightest younger coaches within the league.
All three of those groups have confirmed they’ve what it takes to persistently push for the postseason, whereas all we are able to do with Johnson is guess. Something is feasible, because the Washington Commanders reminded us this season, however I would not anticipate Chicago to push for a division title till a minimum of Johnson’s third 12 months — which is strictly how issues performed out in Detroit.
Vitali: Can we simply take a beat? Each offseason Bears followers get their hopes up solely to be let down. This group hasn’t earned the good thing about the doubt. I ought to know, I grew up outdoors Chicago following it. Nearly as good of a candidate Johnson is, he is nonetheless a big gamble. Even when it does finally work out, it won’t occur straight away. Detroit went 1-6 to start out Johnson’s first season as offensive coordinator in 2022.
All three of the opposite groups within the NFC North seem arrange for sustained success, even when the Lions lose each their coordinators. Their roster is constructed in a approach the place their core is beneath crew management for a number of seasons. This does not do something instantly to the stability of energy within the NFC North. Let’s examine the Bears have a successful season earlier than we put division expectations on them, or did we be taught nothing from this previous offseason?
5. Johnson will find yourself being one of the best Bears coach since ___?
Vitali: See above. Let’s simply wait and see.
Helman: This is some excellent news: the bar isn’t very excessive.
Lovie Smith is the one Bears head coach for the reason that legendary Mike Ditka to depart city with a successful file. Chicago’s 4 hires since Smith have gone a mixed 75-118. The Bears have gained the division simply as soon as prior to now 12 years, and so they have not gained a playoff sport since 2010.
So, I am not asking for a lot. If Johnson merely delivers a successful file, he’ll mark an enchancment over the previous decade of coaches. If he wins the division or only one playoff sport, he’d be one of the best Bears coach since Lovie.
Carmen Vitali is an NFL Reporter for FOX Sports activities. Carmen had earlier stops with The Draft Community and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. She spent six seasons with the Bucs, together with 2020, which added the title of Tremendous Bowl Champion (and boat-parade participant) to her résumé. You possibly can comply with Carmen on Twitter at @CarmieV.
David Helman covers the NFL for FOX Sports activities and hosts the NFL on FOX podcast. He beforehand spent 9 seasons masking the Cowboys for the crew’s official web site. In 2018, he gained a regional Emmy for his function in producing “Dak Prescott: A Household Reunion” in regards to the quarterback’s time at Mississippi State. Comply with him on Twitter at @davidhelman_.
Need nice tales delivered proper to your inbox? Create or log in to your FOX Sports activities account, comply with leagues, groups and gamers to obtain a personalised publication day by day.
Get extra from Nationwide Soccer League Comply with your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra
