Will Ben Johnson and his coaching staff be able to make fans forget the misery?
First up was the coaching staff. The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus in the middle of the season. Additionally, the team had three offensive coordinators. Poles went out and hired the hottest head coach candidate this offseason, Ben Johnson.
Johnson was the Detroit Lions’ dynamic offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. In each of those seasons, the Lions had either the best or one of the best, offenses in the NFL. Now the team hopes he can turn Chicago’s offense as well. Despite being a head coach for the first time, Johnson surrounded himself with veteran coaches with a lot of experience. His defensive coordinator is Dennis Allen.
Allen has been a coach for 30 years, 14 of them in the NFL. He was a defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos and the New Orleans Saints. He was also a head coach for the Oakland (now Las Vegas) Raiders and the Saints.
As the Saints defensive coordinator, Allen’s units had some tough defenses. The Chicago Bears have a history of fielding tough defenses so Allen could help return that tradition.
Johnson retained special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. He enters his fifth season with the Bears, his fourth as the special team coordinator. The Chicago Bears special teams unit has had some good moments so keeping it the same will help the unit.
Some of the position coaches have both playing and coaching experience. Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy has had success as offensive coordinator. He helped the Kansas City Chiefs win three AFC championships and two Super Bowls. He is a hard-nosed coach and will grill the Chicago Bears’ running backs.
The Bears also have Antwaan Randle-El as their wide receivers coach and J.T. Barrett as the quarterbacks coach. They had success on the field in both college and the professional levels. They should be able mesh well with the players since they understand how to communicate with them.
While having a strong staff surrounding him is good, people are going to want to see what Johnson does. The way he leads and handles the players and holds them accountable will be critical for success. Everyone wanted him. While some threw out other names, Johnson was number one on the list. Many just felt the Bears wouldn’t be able to land him.
Chicago did and now the hope is that they finally found the head man to lead the team back to relevance.
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