LAKE FOREST, Ill. – Ben Johnson was formally hired on Jan. 21. The new Bears head coach has spent time with Ryan Poles every single day since then.

He set that expectation during his introductory press conference, establishing time on task as an important component of he and Poles finding lockstep.

RELATED CONTENT:

• Ben Johnson on new Bears linemen: ‘tough, gritty, dirty individuals’
• Grady Jarrett ecstatic to join Bears: ‘I’m just so fired up’
• Bears free agency ‘opens up the whole board’ for Ryan Poles in NFL Draft
• Why Ryan Poles, Bears used trade routes to acquire Joe Thuney, Jonah Jackson over NFL free agency

That position has come quickly, with the Bears establishing a clear vision for navigating free agency and what comes after that. Cohesion is vital to being as aggressive as the Bears have been in the trade market and in acquiring unrestricted free agents.

Johnson and Poles have spent the time required to establish a cohesive plan to find the right fits.

“We’ve spent time every single day since I’ve been in the building,” Johnson said in a Thursday press conference. “Just me and him – him with his group, me with my group and it’s been between the scheme, talking about prototypes and what that looks like for each position group.

“That’s me sitting in with some of the preliminary draft meetings and getting a feel for how they operate. I’ve got a lot of respect for his crew, that group of scouts. They’ve done a phenomenal job this fall, collecting information and really starting to set that board for when it is time to pick those players. I feel strongly about that process and it’s been day-by-day, week-by-week process, getting on the same page, but it’s been very good so far.”

Poles hasn’t been hesitant about using Johnson as a magnet, with his offensive track record and reputation as a coach as an attraction for good players to come to Chicago.

“There’s a lot of excitement working with Ben, seeing the body of work that he had in in Detroit and see that grow to what it became is exciting,” Poles said. “You want to be a part of exciting football, you want to be a part of scoring a lot of points. You want to be a part of creativity and doing things that are a little bit different – that’s fun, it’s fun to work in that environment. Like you said, there’s going to be some of those foundational things you’ve got to put together that are tough, but what this can be is really exciting and a lot of people want to be a part of that.”

The Bears are also using Caleb Williams in a similar fashion. While his rookie season didn’t go as well as it did for Jayden Daniels or Bo Nix, his talent is undeniable. Williams was part of the reason why Johnson came to Chicago. It’s a selling point as well as the Bears are assembling the roster.

“Everyone’s excited about where Caleb can go,” Poles said. “We all know that there’s a lot of growth that has to happen and get him to where he needs to be. But that excitement in terms of what he can be obviously help get other coaches and players excited to be here and work with him and help get him to where he needs to be. “

While money talks, players want to win and believe that the hard work they’re putting in is worth it. New center Drew Dalman called it “culture, perspective and vision,” and the Bears have been selling that to those they want to join up.

“The history in this city and in this building,” new Bears edge rusher Dayo Odeyingbo said. “The type of players, the type of coaches and the type of people that have been in this building, it’s special. Then to be able to do it in a city like Chicago that loves their football, loves their teams, it is an exciting opportunity. With all the guys coming in, having (QB) Caleb (Williams), being young, (Head) Coach (Ben) Johnson coming in. We have an opportunity to do something special in a special city, and it’s exciting. It really wasn’t an opportunity I could pass up and really didn’t make the decision hard.”