New Bears coach Ben Johnson, his wife and three children stood near the front desk of the main entrance to Halas Hall on Tuesday. Bears employees had gathered on the stairs and second floor balcony to welcome him when he gave an impromptu speech.
“This is exactly where we wanted to be,” Johnson said in a video the team posted on social media.
That he landed in Lake Forest is a credit to the people who recruited him. General manager Ryan Poles and president/CEO Kevin Warren stood in the corner of the room and smiled — with good reason.
Yes, quarterback Caleb Williams is a major draw for the former Lions coordinator, whose offense posted the most yards and points over the past three seasons. The money is significant — league buzz has Johnson receiving around $12 million a year, which would be more than the Bears have ever paid a head coach and set a new high-water mark for first-time coaches across the league.
Other teams have promised money and young quarterbacks, though, only for Johnson to turn them down. That the Bears didn’t join that group is a testament to the recruiting powers of chairman George McCaskey, Warren and Poles, who landed their first choice for the job out of 17 candidates they interviewed.
To secure the 38-year-old Johnson, who will be introduced Wednesday at Halas Hall, the Bears had to beat out perhaps the most accomplished and popular person in the sport, Raiders part-owner Tom Brady. The Raiders wooed Johnson with the promise of helping to choose his own general manager. Johnson picked the Bears without even visiting Halas Hall, having grown comfortable with the team’s front office structure. The Bears’ power brokers deserve credit for that, even if they were tamping down worries of their own making.
It was easy to roll your eyes two weeks ago Wednesday when Warren painted the Bears’ head coaching job as the best available destination in the league.
“This will be a coveted job,” Warren said then. “We have so much going for us. We have incredible ownership. We have the best fan base in the world. We found a franchise quarterback. We have salary cap space. We have draft capital. We live in a world-class city. We just have a lot of attributes going for us.”
Around the NFL, though, there was skepticism. Warren’s presence in a news conference after firing Matt Eberflus was so overpowering that some wondered whether Poles was really in charge, despite the Bears’ claims otherwise. The Bears had decided to retain Poles, putting franchises who promised an overhaul at general manager in a more favorable position with many of the top candidates.
Others around the league pointed to McCaskey, who, since taking over as chairman in 2011, was hiring his fifth full-time head coach. By contrast, the Bears had two winning seasons, no playoff wins and three losing streaks of eight game or more. And then there was the Bears’ search, which felt bloated and meandering.
The Bears had promised a thorough interview process, and delivered. They vowed to land their top choice, and they did.
They knew the stakes.
“This decision, our head football coach, will impact the trajectory of this franchise for the next 10, 15, 20 years,” Warren said two weeks ago. “We have to get this right and I’m confident that we will.”
There’s no telling if they did. History would argue that they didn’t — the Bears have now employed six head coaches in the last 12 years, counting interim Thomas Brown. But they got the head coach that they, and other teams, wanted.
In a statement, Warren stressed that Poles led the search. The GM said that he was impressed by Johnson’s “character, intelligence, leadership and ability to connect” during the interview process. He praised his “progressive mind” and his plan for offense, defense and special teams.
“Meeting with Ben and gaining an understanding of his process and vision, the more confident we became that Ben is the right leader for our team,” Poles said. “And that he and I will be great partners in building our team and shaping our franchise for long-term success.”
Player reaction has been borderline ecstatic. On social media, safety Jaquan Brisker declared that “this is the turning point,” while tackle Theo Benedet posted an image of the stock market rising. Unless Johnson brought the Lions’ stout offensive line with him, that enthusiasm might be a bit premature. The Bears know what it’s like to win the offseason — they did that last year and flopped when the games began.
Johnson has long admired Williams — Tuesday, he took photos of his kids in front of the quarterback’s empty locker. But Williams alone didn’t get the deal done.
Johnson has had the opportunity to join up with young quarterbacks in the past — and passed. Two days after the Lions lost in the NFC title game last year, Johnson withdrew from the Commanders coaching search as they were traveling to Detroit to meet with Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. The Commanders had the second overall pick, which they used on future Offensive Rookie of the Year lock Jayden Daniels.
In 2023, many around the NFL believed he was the top choice of his home-state Panthers, who would eventually trade for the Bears’ No. 1 overall pick and draft quarterback Bryce Young. Johnson declined to meet with the team.
The Bears, then, had to be special. Their leaders sold the job as just that — and got their guy.
Standing near the welcome desk, Johnson told Bears employees that he knows the challenge ahead because of his experience in the division. He encouraged them to support the players in the locker room.
“If we do that, the wins are gonna come,” he said. “The playoffs are going to come.”
