By Rob Maaddi and Andrew Seligman, Associated Press
Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions, has consented to take over as head coach of the Chicago Bears, an individual with knowledge of the matter told The Associated Press on Monday.
Because the contract was still being finalized, the individual talked to the AP under the condition of anonymity.
Under Dan Campbell, the 38-year-old Johnson oversaw Detroit’s offensive scheme for three seasons. He was regarded as the greatest head coach available and helped develop Jared Goff into one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks.
In a divisional playoff game on Saturday, Jayden Daniels and the Washington Commanders shocked the Lions, who had secured the top spot in the NFC at 15-2. During the regular season, Detroit finished second in passing yards and total yards per game, and they lead the league in points per game.
On November 29, Matt Eberflus was fired by the Bears, who temporarily replaced him with Thomas Brown. Chicago dropped ten straight games and finished last in the NFC North with a 5-12 record before winning at Green Bay to end the season.
Following the Bears’ fourth consecutive losing season, Johnson’s major priority will be the development of quarterback Caleb Williams. In the previous year’s draft, the first overall pick threw for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions. However, he was fired 68 times, which is a league and team record.
Williams is an admirer of Johnson’s.
When the Bears cleaned out their lockers two weeks ago, Williams remarked, “I think it’s been really cool to watch.” I would observe and try to pick up some knowledge while we were playing. Observing it was amazing. Throughout the game, he had wrinkles for counters and other stuff.
Prior to the Bears’ Week 16 matchup with the Lions, Johnson had high comments for Williams.
Without a doubt, this man has skill. “You could hear the ball whistle by you last game when I was standing on the sidelines,” Johnson recalled.
Ben Johnson, the quarterback Caleb Williams’ new coach, says: There is no doubt about this man’s brilliance. I recall hearing the ball whistle by you as I was on the sidelines during the previous game.AP
He can stretch plays, has some inventiveness, and is precise down the field. He also has a good fastball. He has been remarkable from a distance, but as I mentioned, I haven’t really dug in and can’t tell you much more than that.
The Bears acknowledged interviewing seventeen applicants. On that list were former coaches Pete Carroll of the Seattle Seahawks, Mike McCarthy of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and Mike Vrabel of the Tennessee Titans, who was hired in New England.
Since winning the NFC in 2006, Chicago has only made three trips to the playoffs. The 1985 season was the Bears’ only Super Bowl victory.
Since the 2010 squad made it to the conference championship game under Lovie Smith, Chicago has not won a postseason game. Since then, Johnson has been their sixth head coach, excluding Brown.
The Bears have two losing streaks of ten or more and are 15-36 in their three years under general manager Ryan Poles. As part of a 14-game decline that was the worst in franchise history, they lost their last 10 games in 2022 while in a deconstruction phase.
Following some high-profile offseason transactions, including Williams’ arrival and a blockbuster trade with the Los Angeles Chargers for six-time Pro Bowl receiver Keenan Allen, Chicago entered this season seeking a postseason berth. However, the season took a turn for the worst after a 4-2 start.
After Eberflus made a string of bad late-game mistakes, the first NFL team fired a head coach during a season for the first time. Shane Waldron, who replaced Luke Getsy in the offseason, was fired by the Bears just nine games into his tenure as offensive coordinator, marking the team’s second firing in less than a year. After serving as coordinator of the passing game at the start of the season, Brown succeeded Waldron as interim coach a few weeks later.
At the final home game versus Seattle, a 6-3 setback in front of a national audience on a Thursday night, things got so bad that cheers of “sell the team!” were heard.
https://apnews.com/hub/NFL is the AP NFL.
More sports news