ESPN’s Adam Schefter echoes the idea of Ben Johnson’s interest in the Chicago Bears head coaching job
There have been plenty of rumblings over the last week regarding the mutual interest between the Chicago Bears and Ben Johnson for the team’s head coaching vacancy. Another report was added to the pile on Thursday when Adam Schefter went on The Pat McAfee Show to voice his opinion on the Johnson to Chicago connection.
“I think he has interest in the job, whereas earlier on I don’t know if that was going to be the case,” Schefter said. “I think that there is enough there that he is going to have interest in at the very least talking to them and seeing whether or not it is worth pursuing.”
This reporting and thinking from Schefter is not ground-breaking by any means, but it continues to give Chicago Bears fans hope about the possibility of Johnson becoming the next head coach of the franchise. There will certainly be competition from other teams in the Johnson sweepstakes. The New Orleans Saints and the New York Jets are two other guaranteed openings, with others sure to follow once the regular season officially wraps up next week.
Johnson took interviews last offseason for head coaching and was believed to be the guy for the Washington Commanders before he backed out of the running toward the final buzzer. Johnson should take a role this go around, with this being his third offseason as a legitimate candidate for head coaching gigs across the NFL.
Why Ben Johnson makes the most sense for the Chicago Bears
Similar to last offseason, the pool of available coaching candidates is very deep for the teams looking for a new man in charge. Along with Johnson and his fellow coordinator in Detroit, Aaron Glenn, the Chicago Bears have shown early rumored interest in three other candidates. Joe Brady of the Bills, Mike Vrabel, and Brian Flores of the Vikings are other options that the Chicago Bears front office is expected to entertain.
Despite the fantastic choices available to Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles, Johnson does truly feel like a can’t-miss candidate for them. What he has been able to do to turn around the Lions offense over the past few seasons has been an incredible feat for their franchise and presents them with an opportunity to make a run at the Super Bowl this year.
Even though other candidates in this interview cycle have held head coaching experience before, the first-year head coach route is something the Chicago Bears are familiar with. Their last two hires, Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus were first-time head coaches and despite their shortcomings, plenty of other teams across the league have had success with first-time head coaching hires of their own.
Vrabel and Flores were fine leaders at their respective stops as head coaches, but sometimes the idea of starting fresh with a first-time head coach is too intriguing of a thought to pass on. The franchise has come forward and said that an offensive mind is preferred in this hiring cycle, and veteran players have agreed with that notion.
In order for Caleb Williams and the young offensive core to succeed, they all need to be on the same page with a mind that they know will not leave the organization due to being hired away as a head coach. You see it with offensive minds across the league like Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Andy Reid that no matter who comes and goes from their staff, the offense remains the same because they are there. The Chicago Bears need that form of stability offensively, and Johnson gives them the best representation of that.
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