For all the hype the Chicago Bears have gotten for hiring Ben Johnson, it’s important to note that 2025 will mark his first season as an NFL head coach. Despite it being his debut, Johnson will still be under a mountain of pressure to succeed with the Bears.
Chicago joined the trend of hiring young, bright offensive minds to lead their franchise. The Cincinnati Bengals did the same when they hired Zac Taylor back in 2019. He has helped the team reach the playoffs twice, including a Super Bowl run in 2021. Furthermore, Taylor became close with Johnson when they both worked together on the Miami Dolphins.
The Bengals’ lead man will be watching the Bears from afar as he sees Johnson’s rise to head coach come complete. Taylor has all the confidence in the world that Chicago found the perfect candidate, via Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune.
“He’s competitive, man,” Taylor said Monday morning during the AFC coaches breakfast. “He’s competitive. He’s the right man for the job and I think he’s going to have tremendous success there.”
“He’s one of the smartest guys I’ve been around,” Taylor said. “He really changed the technology for us with the ways we drew our plays and operated with our playbook. Ben is the best in the world at all that. … He’s such a smart football coach. But he has also earned everything he has gotten. He really worked from the bottom of this league all the way to the top.”
Started from the bottom, Ben Johnson’s here
Johnson actually began his coaching tenure at the college level with Boston College. However, in 2012, he made the jump to the NFL with the Dolphins, as an offensive assistant. Taylor arrived to Miami the same season, as the assistant quarterbacks coach.
Johnson held a litany of jobs with the Dolphins, ultimately working his way up to wide receivers coach in 2018. But one year later, he decided to take on a new venture with the Detroit Lions. Starting out as the offensive quality control coach in 2019, Johnson was promoted to offensive coordinator 2022. Then, he could really show the NFL his offensive acumen.
From the get go, Johnson helped Detroit become one of most dangerous teams in the league with the football in their hands. In all three seasons of Johnson being offensive coordinator, the Lions finished top five in total offense. That was highlighted in 2024, when Detroit finished second in offense, averaging 409.5 yards per game.
Johnson was bound to land a head coaching job eventually. He spoke with nearly every team in the 2025 cycle. Chicago ended up winning the sweepstakes, and now Johnson will be tasked with helping the Bears get back on track.
What Johnson is working with
The Bears won’t become the Lions overnight. Not that Johnson would want that. Jared Goff and Caleb Williams are two entirely different quarterbacks and both franchises are built entirely different. Still, it’s important to temper expectations a tad in Johnson’s first year at least.
However, the Bears have given their new head coach a mole hill to work with as he steps into his new role. Chicago finished their 2024 campaign ranked dead last in total offense, averaging 284.6 YPG. The team truly struggled in the pass game, ranking second-to-last, by averaging 181.5 YPG.
Johnson will at least have former No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams to work with. His rookie season didn’t go to plan for a number of reasons, with his league-high 68 sacks being a dark cloud. Still, Williams is oozing potential that Johnson is hoping to extract.
Upon the head coach’s arrival, Chicago did everything in their power to help both him and their quarterback succeed. The Bears traded for guards Jonah Jackson and Joe Thuney and signed center Drew Dalman. As Johnson starts building his offense, and Williams finding his footing, they’ll both be working on solid ground.
Johnson picked Chicago for a reason. Now that he’s settled in with the Bears, he’s ready to enact his strategy and climb back to the top of the NFC North mountaintop. Taylor is ready to be waving to him when he gets there.
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