The Chicago Bears will have a new head coach early next year. Nobody can say for sure who it will be. The team must conduct the search process thoroughly and meet with potential candidates. However, most would agree that Ben Johnson is the hottest name on the market. The Detroit Lions offensive coordinator has been prolific during his three seasons running the show, posting a top-five offense every year. He has Jared Goff playing even better football than during his days with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay.
What makes this more interesting is that multiple insiders have reported that Johnson was interested in the Bears’ head coaching job this past year. Obviously, Matt Eberflus was retained at the time, but another opportunity is at hand. By all accounts, Johnson is still interested. The question is, why? It appears he may have a healthy interest in quarterback Caleb Williams since his agent runs the training facility where the quarterback has worked for years. This intrigue was confirmed when Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun-Times caught up with Johnson.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was standing on the sideline on Thanksgiving and heard the way the football zipped out of Bears quarterback Caleb Williams’ right hand.
“You could hear the ball whistle by you,” he said Thursday before Lions practice. “He’s got quite a fastball, and has some creativity to him to extend plays and is accurate down the field as well.
“I haven’t really dove in, and can’t tell you much more beyond that, but he’s been impressive from afar.”
It’s pretty clear he is impressed by Williams’ capability. That by itself should be excellent bait to lure the young assistant to Chicago. This is before you get into the considerable money he’d be paid and the prospects of what would happen if he turns the Bears into a winner. Everything depends on what Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles want to do. Until something changes, those two are leading the search for the next coach. Reports continue to reinforce that they are leaning towards hiring an offensive coach they can pair with Williams.
If that holds true, Ben Johnson is the obvious choice. Others like Joe Brady, Liam Coen, Kliff Kingsbury, and Todd Monken should also be interviewed. They’ve all had tremendous success. However, Johnson has been the most consistently prolific over the longest period of time. He is ready for his shot. Far more than Matt Nagy was in 2018. Nobody knows for sure if he will become a good head coach. At the end of the day, it will be a roll of the dice. Still, hiring him feels like the most logical thing to do for Chicago.
