Ben Johnson has been a heavy favorite for the Chicago Bears head coaching job since it first became available a few weeks ago. Insiders have reported that the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator is interested in the job, likely due to the presence of quarterback Caleb Williams. The Bears are also interested in him thanks to his outstanding success with that Lions offense over the past three years. It is a virtual guarantee the two sides will meet next month. From there, it depends on if they become comfortable with each other.
However, there is one lingering fear. One thing about the Bears is they’re never known for their patience in the search process. In the entirety of the Super Bowl era, the latest the organization has ever hired a coach was January 24th when they selected Dick Jauron in 1999, and that was only because their initial choice, Dave McGinnis, backed out. So what happens if Detroit makes a deep playoff run, perhaps even to the Super Bowl? Would the Bears be willing to wait for him even into February? Jeff Hughes of Da Bears Blog provided an answer to that question.
Ben Johnson’s people have made it clear to the Bears that he’s interested. But the process of communication with Johnson will be complicated by the (expected) deep playoff run for the Lions. Would the Bears be okay waiting for Johnson till after a Super Bowl? “Yes,” I was told, unequivocally, if he’s the guy.
They have never been patient. They want to fill key jobs as quickly as possible rather than wait for the best potential candidates despite evidence that such a strategy tends to work. San Francisco didn’t hire Kyle Shanahan until February 6th. Mike McDaniel wasn’t hired until February 6th. Kevin O’Connell wasn’t hired until February 16th. Zac Taylor wasn’t hired until February 4th. Sensing the pattern yet? It’s almost as if coaches who help their teams in a deep playoff run might be pretty good at their jobs.
Ben Johnson has already done this once, helping Detroit reach the NFC championship last year. Now, he’s the primary reason they are in contention for the #1 seed in the playoffs. One of the worst things the Bears always do is overthink it. Rather than take the reigning Coach of the Year in Bruce Arians, they got “creative” by hiring Marc Trestman. In 2022, rather than go with Dan Quinn, who’d been to a Super Bowl before, they went with Matt Eberflus. Maybe it’s time for them to try the obvious route for once.
