The Bears spent all last offseason trying to put Caleb Williams in the best position possible — and failed so poorly that their head coach and offensive coordinator were fired by December.
They spent this offseason trying to find the head coach candidate best-suited to make the former No. 1 overall pick a success. They found Ben Johnson, the Lions’ offensive coordinator, with whom they are finalizing a deal Monday.
Williams should be thrilled. The 38-year-old play-caller just posted a league-leading 33.2 points per game and has managed, in three-and-a-half seasons as the Lions offensive coordinator, to turn journeyman Jared Goff into a standout quarterback — Saturday’s playoff loss notwithstanding.
Williams was effusive in his praise for Johnson earlier this year after watching the Lions beat the Vikings on television.
“Knowing what [defense] they are going to be in, in certain situations and being able to go out there and execute …” Williams said on the Bears’ locker cleanout day. “Just knowing how he was going to play it and countering. I think he’s done it all yea. It’s been really cool to watch. During our game I would watch and try to learn something. It was fascinating to watch because he had wrinkles for counters and things like that throughout the game. He’s obviously done really well. It will be cool to see how all of that goes down.”
Williams was enamored enough with Johnson that he agreed to a FaceTime meeting with someone pretending to be the Lions coach during the first week of the search — only to be pranked.
Johnson has made no secret of his admiration for Williams’ potential. The quarterback’s talent ultimately the Bears land Johnson when the Raiders could offer more control by having the coach help choose a new general manager. The Raiders, though, have no long-term answer at quarterback, holding the No. 6 overall pick in a weak quarterback draft.
Before the second meeting between the Bears and Lions, Johnson said that “there’s no question this guy’s talented” when asked about Williams.
“He’s got quite a fastball, and has some creativity to him to extend plays and is accurate down the field as well,” Johnson said. “I haven’t really dove in, and can’t tell you much more beyond that, but he’s been impressive from afar.”
Now he’ll get to see him from a much closer vantage point.