Detroit Lions fans are taking the break up with new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson badly.
Lions fans didn’t like their NFC North division rival poaching their offensive coordinator after the team made two playoff appearances in a row. They complained weirdly when Bears fans celebrated Johnson for winning the 2024 PFWA Assistant Coach of the Year award.
Ben Johnson was putting out feelers during the regular season
Now, they have a new reason to be angry at Johnson for taking a promotion to get away from Detroit.
New defensive coordinator Dennis Allen explained the timeline of Johnson connecting with the former New Orleans Saints head coach about becoming a defensive coordinator in 2025. The timing of Johnson’s interest was sketchy.
“I think at some point as we got later in the season he reached out to me to see if I would be interested,” Allen said. “I told him that I would be interested. I think it’s probably a product of just the same connections.”
Johnson was already starting to put out feelers for assistant coaches while the Lions were the No. 1 team in the NFC and were looking like a Super Bowl contender. Any distraction Johnson had in preparing for the hiring cycle didn’t begin during the wild card round.
That can’t make Lions fans feel good, because Allen was intrigued by the opportunity of going to Detroit’s rival.
The Chicago Bears were a preferred destination for Dennis Allen
Allen was impressed by the Bears’ secondary. He was especially impressed with cornerback Kyler Gordon.
“When Ben asked me if I would be interested, there were a couple of places that I felt like had the pieces in place to potentially be a really good football team, and Chicago was one of them,” Allen said. “So, I was excited when it came about that this was a job that he really wanted, and I was excited to come along with him…
“There are some things that we have in the secondary that I like. There are some pieces at linebacker that I’m encouraged by. There are a couple spots up front where we’ve got some players. So I think the foundation is there defensively.”
Johnson and Allen discussed the job market before the end of the season, and the idea of the Bears being a destination was long thought out before Johnson accepted an interview from Chicago.
© Kirthmon F. Dozier / USA TODAY NETWORK
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