NFL experts react to Bears-Ben Johnson pairing: It’s a ‘dream hire’
One day after the Bears reportedly hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their next head coach, NFL experts have praised the Bears on the move.
As NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero said on the Spiegel & Holmes show on 670 The Score, it’s a perfect hire for the Bears and the organization moving forward.
“I think that it’s a dream hire for a lot of people, from the front office to the McCaskeys to Caleb Williams, who now gets one of the foremost offensive minds in the NFL working with him on a daily basis,” Pelissero said. “They knew that they needed to be bold. They knew that they were going to have to pay. There were going to have to operate maybe a bit differently than how the Bears have in the past.”
[Analysis: Aggressiveness key to Bears acquiring Ben Johnson as head coach]
In three seasons as the Lions offensive coordinator, Johnson’s offense has finished in the Top 5 in total offense in 3 straight seasons as well as the top scoring offense in 2024.
With Johnson paired up with Williams for the 2025 season, Williams hopes he [Johnson] can bring the ‘fire‘ with him to Chicago.
Many experts believed the Bears head coaching search was one of the coveted jobs in the NFL. Former NFL coach Mike Martz noticed how special Johnson can be in Chicago.
“I think he’s a once-in-a-generation kind of coach. They just don’t come around very often like him. They got this one right. I’m just over the moon on this one. It’s great to see Chicago have something exciting happen to them like this,” Martz said on the Spiegel & Holmes show on 670 The Score.