In a move that shocked the NFL world, the Chicago Bears got their act together and hired the top head coach candidate available to fill their vacancy.
In a season where nearly everything went bad, the Chicago Bears shocked the NFL world by doing something incredible. They reportedly hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to fill their head coach vacancy.
The 2024 season was a mess. After Week 9 when the offense scored just three points, the Chicago Bears fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Then, after an embarrassing end in a loss to the Lions on Thanksgiving, head coach Matt Eberflus was also shown the door.
Thomas Brown, who replaced Waldron as the OC, then got another promotion. He stepped in as the interim head coach. The results were even worse. After at least being close in games and late-game decisions costing them, the Bears were then getting blown out. They entered Week 18 with a 10-game losing streak.
The calendar changed to 2025 and suddenly things got better. The Chicago Bears beat the hated Green Bay Packers to end their losing streak. That was certainly a big highlight. The Packers have been dominating Chicago. The Bears’ win ended an 11-game losing streak.
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The Chicago Bears went into the offseason with a lot of questions. Who would become the head coach and would he be able to help Caleb Williams? What will the team do to improve the roster both in the draft and free agency?
Whatever happened, the Chicago Bears fans did not have high hopes of the franchise getting the right guy. Johnson was clearly the best candidate in this cycle. While most of the fans clearly wanted Johnson, they had no faith in the Bears getting him.
Many considered Chairman of the Bears George McCaskey, CEO Kevin Warren, and General Manager Ryan Poles as the Three Stooges. They felt that the team would sign another candidate without any cache. Even with other well-known names, they felt we would be saying “They hired who?” when all was said and done.
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Throw in the fact that Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady made a push to bring Johnson to his team, there were not many people who thought the Bears had a realistic chance at lassoing Johnson.
Well, they were all wrong! The Chicago Bears front office put everything together for this cause. Apparently, McCaskey was so upset about how the season went that he was all-in on getting the best candidate to Chicago. Hey, it only took about two decades or so of losing for him to finally get sick of it.
Low and behold, Johnson will now lead the Chicago Bears in 2025. He will be the next head coach to try to bring back winning football to Chicago. We will see who he hires as his assistants but it is great to expect to see a modern football offense come from the home team.
This could be a “Do you remember when” moment for the Bears
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This is a huge moment for the Chicago Bears. Johnson was the Lions OC for three seasons and had a top-five offense in each of them. Now he hopes to do the same with the Chicago Bears.
This hiring gives the feelings of “Where were you when” situation for fans. The same feeling they had when the Bears signed Khalil Mack and Julius Peppers. It will have a big impact. Is it a guarantee? Of course not. However, Johnson is the guy. He was the best candidate available.
Some fans will still be negative. They will point to other coaches who were not able to help their quarterbacks. The difference is that those coaches had quarterbacks thrust upon them. They might not have wanted those quarterbacks. We got that idea when Matt Nagy refused to change the offense for Justin Fields, for example.
The difference is that Williams is on the team and Johnson chose to come to Chicago. He looked at the other vacancies and felt he had his best chance will Williams and the Chicago Bears. He will do everything he can to make sure the young quarterback succeeds. Johnson chose the Bears over Brady!
Additionally, having Johnson and Poles work together could be very successful. Both are young at 38 years old. They likely have the same vision and understand the game in similar fashion. Furthermore, this is Poles’ first full coaching search. Yes, he hired Eberflus. However, there was not a real search. Ownership gave him three names to choose from and he was familiar with Eberflus so he chose him.
This time, Poles had a list he comprised and went through various interviews and made his decision. He, along with the other powers that be showed that yes, they could get together and and make a good, smart move.
This has been a great start to 2025 for the Chicago Bears. Let’s see what happens in March when the real new year hits. Will the front office continue to make good moves? We shall see.
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