It’s becoming obvious that new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson can’t wait to coach Caleb Williams.
Whether it’s by potentially scheming up fellow second-year star Rome Odunze as a bigger piece of the offense and potential security blanket for the former No. 1 overall pick, or possibly throwing open his playbook full of trick plays, Johnson seems downright giddy about helping Williams take the next step in his development.
Just as Johnson was in the process of agreeing to terms with the Bears, reports emerged that he had eyed the Bears’ job since the 2023 offseason, even before Williams’ arrival in Chicago.
Ben Johnson has been studying Bears QB Caleb Williams for quite some time
As it turns out, Johnson has been scouting Williams for several years.
“Listen, he’s a player that stood out on tape this year when we were watching other opponents,” Johnson said, during an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
While it often happens that when teams are studying opposing defenses, there were several plays last season where it’s easy to imagine getting sidetracked by Williams.
After all, the former Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback completed 62.5 percent of his passes for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns to just six interceptions, despite shoddy coaching at times during his rookie season.
Now, Johnson gets to shape his offense–that helped propel Jared Goff to becoming the NFL’s second-leading passer last season around Williams’ skill set and an electrifying set of potentially dynamic weapons.
“There’s no question the talent level that he possesses,” Johnson said. “It got verified when we played each other late in the season. There both games home in a way you could, you could feel, you could feel the zip on the football, even though you’re on the sideline. You could see it even competitor. You can tell he wants to win.”
With Matt Ebeflus dispatched on Black Friday last November, and Thomas Brown relieved of his duties, Williams now gets a clean slate, playing for arguably the most coveted coaching candidate of the past two hiring cycles with a track record of maximizing his quarterbacks.
Johnson, too, gets the chance to solidify his reputation as one of the sports’ rising offensive minds, if Williams takes the next steps, which it sounds like he expects him to this fall.
“I got to meet with them earlier this week,” Johnson pointed out. “Just one on one. We spent a good, good amount of time together, and that was the team of the draft process a year ago, because you knew he was going to be a top draft pick, you don’t spend as much time or resources into getting to know the person. And so that was really my first exposure to how he’s wired. And I’m telling you, I came away super impressed this guy wants to be coached.”
“You know, you hate, you hate the outcome of a season where people get let go and fired and and the team doesn’t have the success that they were looking to get. But for a young player like Caleb, it could be a blessing in disguise, and that’s how we’re going to approach it. You know, this is hopefully the worst football that he’s played in his career, and we’ll look to improve bit by bit as we go forward. So he’s got a million strengths to build on, and we’ll identify some weaknesses that we can go ahead and and hone in on as well.”
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