Bears hire Lions OC Ben Johnson as head coach: sources

The Chicago Bears are hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as head coach, league sources said Monday, landing arguably the NFL’s most coveted head coaching candidate as they aim to end a four-year playoff drought.

Chicago is turning to Johnson, one of the league’s most dynamic offensive coaches, in hopes that pairing him with quarterback Caleb Williams could put the team back in contention in the NFC North competition.

Johnson became available for hire quickly after the Lions’ season ended Saturday when the team lost to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. He is already starting to complete his team; Johnson is expected to select former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as defensive coordinator, according to a league source.

Chicago conducted an extensive coaching search and formally interviewed 17 candidates. But Johnson was seen as one of the leaders from the start, and the team didn’t need to enter a finalist phase of interviews at Halas Hall to make its decision — a decision that seems sure to please to the franchise quarterback.

“Selfishly, I want an offensive-minded guy so I can build with him and be with this coach for the next 19, 17, 15 years,” Williams said on the St. Brown Podcast with the Lions receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown last week.

“If it’s Ben…” Williams then said with a smile.

There’s no doubt that Williams was intrigued by the possibility of playing for Johnson. After the season ended, a day after the Lions beat the Vikings to clinch first place in the NFC, Williams was asked about Johnson as a candidate, and he pointed to a Lions touchdown when Johnson countered that that Minnesota showed them on defense.

“I just knew how he was going to play and counter. I think he’s done it all year,” Williams said. “It was really cool to watch. During our match, I was watching and trying to learn something. It was fascinating to watch because he had wrinkles for counters and things like that throughout the match. He obviously did very well. It will be cool to see how this all plays out.

One of the Bears’ biggest selling points is Williams, the No. 1 pick in 2024. For Johnson to choose Chicago, he probably feels good about Williams as his quarterback.

“There’s no doubt this guy is talented,” Johnson told reporters earlier this season. “I remember standing on the sidelines in the last game and you can hear the ball whizzing past you. He has a pretty fast ball and has some creativity, can extend plays and is also accurate down the field. Like I said, I haven’t really delved into it and I can tell you a lot more beyond that, but it was impressive from afar.

The Bears fired Matt Eberflus 12 games this season and finished the year 5-12 – their sixth straight season at .500 or worse. Eberflus became the first coach in Bears history to be fired during the season.

The team began conducting interviews on January 8, and Johnson’s interview with the Bears took place on January 11 via video conference. Only three candidates were interviewed in person: former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, former Carolina Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera, and former Tennessee Titans running back and coach from Tennessee State Eddie George. McCarthy was considered a strong candidate for the job, but the franchise opted for a young, offensive-minded coach instead of hiring a retreader.

Bears general manager Ryan Poles was the “point man” for this search, along with chairman and CEO Kevin Warren and chairman George McCaskey. The fact that the franchise landed the most coveted coach says a lot about what they were able to sell Johnson, which starts with Williams, but also includes $66 million in cap space (per Over the Cap), the No. 10 pick in April’s draft and two second-round picks (giving Chicago three picks in the first 42 selections). Even with these resources, Johnson still had to feel comfortable with this power structure.

As the sixth head coach since 2012 and the fifth hire since McCaskey took over as president, Johnson apparently hasn’t been fazed by the turnover cycle at Halas Hall. He may also know that if anyone can end the cycle and win, that coach will be immortalized in Chicago.

Johnson, 38, has called it quits for one of the NFL’s best offenses in each of the past three seasons in Detroit, overseeing a group that helped turn the Lions into Super Bowl contenders. Three of the four highest-scoring seasons in Detroit’s 95-year history have been led by Johnson, including a franchise-record 564-point season in 2024. In the regular season, Detroit scored 30 points in 10 games, scoring 40 on six. different occasions and 50 twice. The Lions’ 222 point differential in 2024 also broke a franchise record that had stood since 1934.

These are unheard of numbers in Bears history. Under Johnson, the Lions finished in the top four in total offense three times. The Bears last finished in the top four in total offense in 1977. The Lions led the league in scoring in 2024. The Bears haven’t done that since 1956, when there were 12 teams in the NFL.

The Bears have reached the top 10 once in the millennium, when they finished eighth in 2013. Ironically, that was head coach Marc Trestman’s first season. The only two times the Bears have finished in the top 10 since 2007 came in the first year of Trestman and Matt Nagy, another first-time offensive-minded head coach. Both of these mandates began to fall apart in the second year.

Even though the Bears tend to be a team that lives in the past, they don’t want to live in a recent past of first-time head coaches that didn’t work out. Johnson’s prolific offense in Detroit should provide more than enough excitement for a city that has a talented quarterback and is hungry for success on offense.

Johnson, who was a quarterback at North Carolina from 2004 to 2007 before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boston College in 2009, first joined the NFL as an offensive assistant from the Miami Dolphins in 2012. He joined Detroit under the direction of Matt Patricia. as offensive quality control coach in 2019, then served as tight ends coach before being promoted to passing game coordinator – then offensive coordinator – under Dan Campbell.

Johnson has received interest in head coaching opportunities in the past, speaking with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders for openings last year. However, Johnson turned down these opportunities to stay in Detroit.

Johnson also interviewed virtually with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders this cycle.

One of Johnson’s biggest projects as offensive coordinator was developing quarterback Jared Goff, a Los Angeles Rams castoff who reached a Super Bowl but was considered a product of Sean McVay’s offensive system . Under Johnson, Goff became one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Goff had three straight years of at least 4,000 yards under Johnson, the longest streak of his career. In 2024, he set career highs in passing yards (4,629), passing touchdowns (37), completion percentage (72.4%), completion rate (54.7%). ), in yards per attempt (8.6) and QBR (68.5).

Johnson also made the most of the talent around Goff, especially the young talent. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fourth-round pick, finished the 2023 and 2024 seasons in the league’s top five in receptions, receiving yards and touchdowns. In 2023, tight end Sam LaPorta set a rookie record for close receptions (86) while scoring the second-most receiving touchdowns for a tight end in NFL history. In 2024, Jahmyr Gibbs finished third in the league among running backs in yards per carry (5.6) and finished top five in total rushing yards (1,412) with just 14.7 carries per carry. match.

In Chicago, Johnson inherits an offense that counts Pro Bowl running back D’Andre Swift, tight end Cole Kmet and receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze as Williams’ primary weapons under contract. Swift had more than 1,250 yards of offense for the second straight season and Moore had 194 receptions over the past two years. Keenan Allen, last year’s No. 2 receiver, is expected to become a free agent.

Johnson is considered one of the most aggressive and inventive players in the league. The Lions have attempted 110 fourth-down conversions since Johnson’s arrival, the second-most in the league in that span. Since 2022, the Detroit Lions have had six unskilled players with receptions, including touchdown receptions by Goff and tackle Dan Skipper. No other team has more than three players catching passes in those three years.

— Jeff Howe and Dianna Russini contributed reporting.

(Photo: Michael Reaves/Getty Images)