Ben Johnson "cannot wait to get to work" coaching "absolutely loaded" Bears team
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Newly hired Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson said he gets goosebumps just thinking about coaching a roster he believes is "absolutely loaded with talent already."
"I cannot wait to get to work," Johnson said at his introductory news conference Wednesday at Halas Hall.
While having quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, already in place, and coming off a 3,500 passing yard, 20-touchdown performance in his rookie season was an obvious draw, Johnson said he's impressed with the high level of talent across the roster.
"It is stocked, it's loaded. Everyone wants to talk about the quarterback, and Caleb I am excited to work with you, but it's going to take more than just you, and there a lot of pieces already in place, and I can't wait to get to work with the rest of you guys," Johnson said.
Johnson said he plans to build a strong offense around Williams from the ground up.
"There is no doubt Caleb played a large component into my decision. He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up-and-down rookie year. Where I see my role is as a supporter of him," Johnson said. "This offense will be calibrated with him in mind. We're going to build this thing — this is simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there. Nope. We're ripping this thing down in the studs, and we're going to build it up, with him first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next."
Williams said he is up to the task.
"He's going to test me. He's going to challenge me in the offseason and things like that too," Williams said. "You know, what's worked, and what works in the NFL, and things that he may want me to get better that — but at the end of the day, if that doesn't fit me, if it doesn't work with me, you know, it won't be there."
While the Bears suffered through a 10-game losing streak in 2024, en route to a 5-12 season, Johnson said going into the season, he believed the Bears were a "sleeping giant" in the NFC North given their already strong defense and the improvements they made to the offensive roster coming into 2024.
"To be honest with you, I personally was more concerned about the Chicago Bears than I was anybody else in this division. Now, there's a number of reasons why that did not unfold, all right? Which that's why I'm here. I'll get to the bottom of that, and we'll see if we can't get that corrected and cleaned up," he said.
It was clear despite the wide net cast by Bears General Manager Ryan Poles and the team's search committee, Johnson was always the top target.
"He's done some things that are, like, special, in terms of getting the offense to operate at a high, high level, and that stood out," Poles said, "so he was always, you know, the top candidate."
Johnson was just as eager himself.
"The first words out of his mouth were, 'I want this job,'" said Bears Chairman George McCaskey. "The last thing he said before we turned on the camera was, 'Did I tell you I want this job?'"
Johnson was also widely regarded as the top NFL coaching candidate available on the market this offseason, having built the Lions' offense into one of the best in the league in his three years as Detroit's offensive coordinator.
The Lions averaged 29 points per game under Johnson, the most in the NFL in that time, including a league-best 33.2 points per game in 2024.
While Bears fans no doubt will be eager to see what Johnson can do with a Bears offense that features not only Williams, but a talented position group with wide receivers D.J. Moore and Rome Odunze, tight end Cole Kmet, and running back D'Andre Swift, Johnson said, "It's not going to look like it did in Detroit."
"We have a completely different personnel group than what we did in Detroit," Johnson said. "So this entire offense is going to be predicated on the guys that we have available, and that's going to take the springtime as well as training camp to hone in as to what that's going to look like."
Johnson said his offensive philosophy is similar to that of former Bears offensive coordinator John Shoop, "and that is to make same things look different, and different things look the same."
"We want the defense on their heels. We're always going to be attacking on offense. We believe in multiplicity, and that's both formationally and conceptually. We're going to make things very challenging on the defense each and every week. We want the ability to morph, whether it's 50 runs in a game or 50 passes in a game, it does not matter," he said.
One key to getting the Bears into playoff contention will be improving the offensive line, after Williams was sacked 68 times, the third-most in NFL history. While Williams has acknowledged many of those sacks were the result of him holding the ball too long, Johnson said "Offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward."
"We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done, but I'm looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach into the building to help develop the young talent that we already have on the roster, and we will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well," Johnson said.
Johnson had a simple message for the Bears players he will soon be coaching: "Get comfortable being uncomfortable."
"The bar has been set higher than it's ever been set before. The only way for this team and for you as individual players to reach your potential is to be pushed and to be challenged, and that's exactly what I and my staff plan on doing," he said. "Everybody in this building is going to be all about helping you guys out."
"Our mission, starting this spring, is to win and to win now," Johnson added.
While exclusively an offensive coach so far in his career, Johnson said he plans to be heavily involved in the defense and special teams now that he's a first-time head coach.
Johnson said, in choosing his first head coaching job, he wanted to stay in NFC North, taking a shot at the rival Green Bay Packers in the process.
"I know this is the toughest division in football right now. There's three teams that made the playoffs this year," Johnson said. "To be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating [Packers head coach] Matt LaFleur twice a year."