Editor’s note: Scott Bair’s full 1-on-1 with Bears head coach Ben Johnson can be seen exclusively on the Marquee Sports Network app.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams met up for coffee over the summer, before training camp began. The Bears head coach and his quarterback had spent an offseason program together learning schematics and new techniques.

This meet-up wasn’t about that. It was about getting to know each other as individuals. That wasn’t the first time Johnson and Williams had talked outside of a meeting room, Johnson’s office or with the head coach’s voice blaring through a helmet speaker.

It’s about understanding how Williams thinks, how he learns. A teacher can have all the information possible, but that doesn’t matter if the student doesn’t absorb it. Johnson needed to know how Williams learns. Williams had to find out about Johnson’s standards. Both worked hard to form a solid bond.

That happens through conversation and shared experience.

“It’s not always just about football,” Johnson said Tuesday in an exclusive one-on-one interview with Marquee Sports Network, “but he understands how we’re going about our business here and what the expectations are.”

Johnson and Williams have found sync because of this getting-to-know you phase. That doesn’t mean everything’s applied perfectly. There was plenty of evidence that it wasn’t this camp and other times when everything just clicks. Rain or shine, the teaching process is sound and well received. Williams knows Johnson has his best interests in mind. There’s confidence to be derived from that.

“I’m very thankful for how he wants to be coached,” Johnson said. “He takes every little bit of knowledge and he’s looking to apply it. Some things he picks up instantly, other things it takes him a little while. As with all good players, it takes some time.

“I’m very happy with how he has progressed so far. There are flashes in every game he has played or in any practice he has had where you can see that we’re on the right track here.”

The day-to-day grind is granular, with focus on doing little details right to make sound plays within the rhythm and structure of the offense. That happens in small increments, but this is all part of a larger project.

Williams often talks about his partnership with Johnson as a long-term working relationship that will take place over several seasons. Building a foundation of scheme knowledge is the hardest part, and Johnson understands that will come with setbacks and periods of struggle.

That’s what we’re seeing at times in camp, and will likely continue to see at times after the season starts. There is great optimism for the long-term future, though because Williams and Johnson are process driven first, knowing that time on task will help establish the mastery required to level up in time.

“This thing is just going to accelerate; it goes exponentially,” Johnson said. “This year there’s growing pains. Next year he’s – I don’t want to use the word comfortable because we don’t ever want him to necessarily feel comfortable, but he’s going to have a lot more awareness in terms of what we’re doing.

“Rather than teaching algebra, we’re going to move on to calculus. That’s where his game will keep going up and up and up. It’s no longer reacting to the defense, it’s manipulating the defense. That’s the trajectory we’re on. How quickly we get there, that remains to be seen.”

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