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Why Ben Johnson’s agent was impressed, surprised with Bears’ approach to hire

1 week agoMatt Danielewicz

It has been one week since Ben Johnson was officially named as Bears head coach.

As Johnson’s agent Rick Smith eluded to on the Bernstein & Harris show on 670 The Score, the hiring process left a positive impression on him and his client.

“I was really pleasantly surprised,” Smith said of the Bears’ changing ways and new approach. “This was the best process I’ve seen in a heck of a long time from any team in the National Football League.”

Prior to being hired as the Bears new head coach, Johnson signed with agent Rick Smith of Priority Sports.

Smith and his agency have worked with the Bears organization for decades. When asked about how the process unfolded, Smith detailed his questions asked to the Bears front office prior to Johnson being hired.

“It was alignment and a recognition of the organization that previous dysfunction was going to walk out the door,” Smith said on 670 The Score on the “Bernstern & Harris” show. “So the questions I asked were, you know, very direct in the sense that, you know, ‘Are you married to this roster?’ ‘If it doesn’t fit Ben’s vision, are you willing to move on from certain guys no matter how much you like or dislike them?’ ‘Do you have your house in order?’ ‘What have you learned from the last three years?’

“I got very honest transparent answers, to the point where I was extremely comfortable that there was recognition and a willingness to I guess move into the 2025 world and start building a champion.”

[WATCH: Sit-down interview with Ben Johnson]

With Johnson being the most coveted head coaching candidate in 2025, Smith provided clarity of how Kevin Warren was able to provide answers on what the Bears needed to do to become a successful NFL franchise.

“The Bears, prior to Kevin Warren, were really a mom-and-pop shop,” Smith said. “The same people had been there for 100 years. They got comfortable in the way they did business, and it worked for them, but it was difficult for them to keep up with how things around the league were working.

“Kevin was able to kind of explain to them and show them how a building is structured, how a front office is structured, what it takes to attract top talent, both financially but more importantly otherwise. Kevin’s work in that regard came out quickly to me – he really has worked hard and spent all that time after Coach [Matt] Eberflus was fired basically explaining to them, ’If we want the best, we better act like the best,’ and present a case that shows it’s more than words – that there’s actually going to be action.”

Now that Johnson has assembled his coaching staff, the Bears being an important offseason to build themselves up in 2025.

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