As this year’s coaching carousel began, the name at the top of many wishlists is Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — who was also a top candidate last year but opted to come back for one more season in Detroit. This year, Johnson was set to have his pick of the openings around the league, and after the Lions lost in the Divisional round on Saturday to the Washington Commanders, he made his choice on Monday.
According to Adam Schefter, Johnson is headed to Chicago to be the new head coach of the Bears, as he’ll look to unlock Caleb Williams’ full potential after the Bears had another disappointing season in 2025. Williams’ rookie season did not go as the Bears hoped, and they are hoping Johnson — who helped revive Jared Goff’s career in Detroit — will be able to create an offensive system that can maximize Williams’ talents. The big question regarding the Johnson-Williams pairing is how big a change it will be going from Goff, who is at his best in structure and working quickly through reads, to Williams, who has a tendency to hold onto the ball and has excelled largely out of structure, even going back to college.
The hope for the Bears, of course, is that Johnson can get Williams more comfortable in structure and get him to be a quicker, more decisive passer, who can then lean on his abilities as a playmaker when things break down. Part of what will determine Williams’ ability to develop in that regard (and, generally, whether the Bears can take a leap forward as a team) will be whether the Bears front office is able to build an improved offensive line in front of him. All of that is to be seen, but at the least, the Bears leveraged their situation with last year’s top pick into the most coveted coaching candidate on the market. Now the hard part begins to close the gap on the rest of the NFC North.
