LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Ben Johnson’s experiencing a series of firsts in as Bears head coach. The respected offensive mind hasn’t held such a job title before and the extra responsibilities that come with it.

He’s working through some of that now, building a culture, setting a ‘championship standard,’and running practices his way. Those are slow burns — day-in, day-out work that can handle small course corrections outside the spotlight as Johnson learns on the job.

He’ll be familiar with other aspects, like building an offensive scheme, designing plays and calling them.

There’s one aspect it’s tough to prepare for. Game management.

Johnson is putting his whole self into that endeavor, and it started as early as this winter.

It started with something Johnson’s calls “The Breakfast Club,” shortly after he got hired. Bears director of research and analysis Harry Freid started running through scenarios with Johnson and ways to react to them.

“I said, ‘teach me like I’m a rookie quarterback from the start to the finish’ and so we’re about halfway through his program right now,” Johnson said way back at the NFL Scouting Combine. “Once we get through that, we’ll make a decision on where we want to go in terms of when the players get in and educating them on how we want to handle the situations that can pop up and potentially win or lose ball games for us.”

Johnson’s crash course on game management didn’t stop there. It continues to this day, and will throughout the preseason. In-game coaching has a huge impact on the outcome – just ask Bears fans who watched last year’s Thanksgiving game versus Detroit – and Johnson wants to help his team.

“Game management is another area where (it’s the) first time doing it, really calling the shots,” Johnson said on Tuesday. “I’ve been well-versed in it over the years but this will be the first time actually pulling the trigger. We have people in the building that are going to help out in that regard as well. It’s going to be leaning heavily on the people around me and trusting them.”

Johnson has great respect for the analytics community and will listen to the percentages and tendencies provided.

The first-time head coach is also spending time going over scenarios while making split-second decisions in these rehearsals. He believes repetition is key to building confidence and the ability to execute with a game on the line.

“You watch tape. You put yourself in that mindset, ‘If I was here now in this situation, what would I do?’” Johnson said. “That’s why the situations we practice over the course of camp are going to be huge not only for me but the rest of the staff and the players to figure out how my mind works so that they can play off of that accordingly.”

That’s how the team will get the whole operation up and running. And then there’s the preseason, which will provide important dress rehearsals for the players and their head coach alike. While preseason games don’t have the same stakes, Johnson will use those opportunities to follow established protocols to help make decisions, but he also much learn to trust his gut.

And rely on those around him. Defensive coordinator Dennis Allen’s a great resource on staff, with head-coaching experience at two different stops. While Allen will be a sounding board, he has faith Johnson will excel in those in-game scenarios.

“He’s incredibly intelligent,” Allen said. “He understands the game and I think really from an offensive standpoint there’s a lot of game management that goes on within play-calling as an offensive coordinator so I think he’s had a lot of experience in that regard. Certainly, there are some veteran coaches on his staff that can help him in that way. There are some other guys within the building that he’s got in place that can help him there. I wouldn’t concern myself with that too much. He’ll be just fine.”