The Chicago Bears are hiring Ben Johnson as the franchise’s next head coach, and when he runs out of the tunnel for the first time at Soldier Field in 2025, it will be the realization of an opportunity he’s long coveted.
According to Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer, Johnson returning to Detroit for the 2023 and 2024 seasons is at least partially due to the fact that the opportunity to coach the Bears hadn’t presented itself.
The Bears job intrigued Ben Johnson at the end of the 2023 season but didn’t come open. This year it did, and after a lot of research and meetings, Johnson has accepted the job, sources confirm. https://t.co/2HxshCWI1F
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) January 20, 2025
Why Ben Johnson likely chose the Chicago Bears
It’s easy to see why Johnson may have preferred the Bears all along over the past two hiring cycles, given that the franchise has Caleb Williams in place at quarterback with a young and ascending cast of offensive weapons around him.
Likewise, from his tenure with the Lions, Johnson is intimately familiar with the NFC North and what it takes to thrive in the division.
Johnson had received overtures from several teams over the past two years, including taking interviews with Washington last winter, and being tied in recent weeks to the Las Vegas Raiders, as their potential next hire. However, obviously, the opportunity to coach Williams and the Bears was too alluring to pass up for the 38-year-old.
As a rookie, Williams completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns to six interceptions, amid a disappointing 5-12 season that the Bears are hoping is by far the former No. 1 overall pick’s floor.
This past season, the Lions scored a league-high 564 points, and the Bears are hoping that he’ll be able to replicate the success he helped develop as an offensive coordinator, now as a head coach and running his own program in Chicago.
Created:
2024-10-27T16:45:35
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FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY
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© Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Chicago Bears: Reason Ben Johnson chose Bears over Raiders revealed
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