Ben Johnson is coming to Chicago. He becomes the 19th head coach in Bears history, fresh off a glittering run as the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator. It is remarkable how quickly things came together. Many felt he might take some time to evaluate his options after the crushing loss to Washington, but he didn’t need it. The Bears had intrigued him all the way back to 2023. Once it became clear they were interested, everything fell into place. Belief is Johnson wanted to move fast because he aimed to assemble the best possible coaching staff he could.
Well, he’s not wasting any time. According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, he already has a defensive coordinator in mind. Former head coach Dennis Allen is the current favorite for the position. Since 2011, he has produced a top-10 defense five times across Denver, Oakland, and New Orleans. He’s known for being highly intelligent with a knack for frustrating quarterbacks. His head coaching experience means he will be able to run the defense without much input from Johnson.
A smart hire all around.
Ben Johnson has one key spot filled. One more remains.
Anybody who has followed the NFL long enough knows this. The two most important hires for an offensive-oriented head coach are the defensive coordinator and the offensive line coach. It is a safe bet Chris Morgan won’t remain in the latter spot with Ben Johnson taking over. The two have no history and Williams just got sacked 67 times last season. A change is needed. Some believe Johnson may try prying Hank Fraley away from Detroit with a promotion to offensive coordinator. He’s been one of the best line coaches in the league over the past couple of years. It would be a coup to get him. Regardless, the addition of Allen is a strong opening salvo from the Bears’ new head coach. Here’s hoping more are on the way.
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Betting Johnson knew he was going to be the HC for the Bears the minute flus was fired.
It seems to me that if Johnsons staff come together this quick, he has been planning this for a long minute. He wanted to be the Bears coach last year before they drafted Williams and Odunze, I can only imagine how he felt this year, like a kid licking a candy shop window.
@Slip Knotz That’s great that you’ve watched all the Saints games, but I think you’re missing the point…unlike guys like Lovie and Eberflus, who require superior talent to get pressure, coaches like Dennis Allen and others with similar approaches get pressure from scheme more than raw talent. Besides that, Dennis Allen’s defense is more along the lines of guys like Fangio, Jesse Minter, and some of the other Ravens desciples…they confuse QB’s with coverages by doing a ton of rotation in the secondary post-snap, having their CB jam receivers at the line to screw up timing and giving his 4… Read more »
@Arnie I’ve seen all the Saints games and they always have D-Linemen getting pressure up front. I stand by my statement. Are you Poles’ wife?
@Slip Knotz Actually, if you look at the best three years of the New Orleans defense, 2020-2022, when they were top 5, their defensive line wasn’t all that “elite”. They had Cam Jordan at left end before he declined badly, two of the three years, they had Marcus Davenport at RE, and they never had anyone at DT that was anything special. In other words, they didn’t have some unicorn 3T that Ebetflus always cried “his scheme” needed, they had good, but not great ends, and in fact, if you compare their starting defensive lineups of those years to the… Read more »