Anybody with common sense knows Caleb Williams will be a central part of the Chicago Bears head coaching search. Whoever they hire must have a good plan for developing the young quarterback into the player he’s capable of becoming. GM Ryan Poles clearly stated that was one of the four core criteria for the search. A more interesting question is what Williams’ stance is in all of this. He may say it’s not his decision, but he is still human. There is no question he has preferences. Sure enough, he was asked the question on the St. Brown podcast.
The conversation began by addressing Williams’ recent catfishing incident, in which fans tricked him into a Facetime call by posing as Ben Johnson. He explained his side of the story, venting frustration at being tricked and having to change his number. Then, the conversation came to the point. If he could build his preferred head coach, who would it be? His answer was diplomatic, but also not difficult to decipher.
Caleb Williams isn’t trying to hide his true feelings.
He would accept a CEO-type coach without issues, but he admits it’d be great to grow with somebody from an offensive background. It isn’t hard to understand why. The most successful quarterbacks in recent years tend to fall into that category: Aaron Rodgers with Mike McCarthy, Drew Brees with Sean Payton, and Patrick Mahomes with Andy Reid. Caleb Williams understands his best chance for success is building a relationship with that kind of coach. It is also beyond obvious he’d love for that coach to be Ben Johnson. Will the Bears take these statements to heart? It sounds like GM Ryan Poles is committed to landing Johnson. Whether they close the deal remains to be seen. Answers should be forthcoming within the next week. Until then, everybody, including Williams, will have to wait it out.
Micah Parsons calling the Cowboys moving on from McCarthy “devastating” is a huge endorsement from a player on the other side of the ball.
So we have Mahomes with the top offensive genius in the league; Stafford becoming a winner with a brilliant offensive HC. The Ravens still need to show that Lamar can win on the road in the playoffs, as does Buffalo. We all know Houston and Washington are out after this weekend. So yes, it does matter in the current NFL to have a brilliant offensive mind as your HC so you know they will stay there for several years. We all know Detroit and Baltimore and Washington will fall dramatically once their OC is gone.
Caleb, go in and tell Warren and Poles Johnson is who you want to play for and if they expect you to stay after your rookie contract they really should make it happen. Be the Diva.
If Caleb wants Ben, then Poles might have no choice, really.
@scott brs: I think Erik means recent in contrast to Sid Luckman or Otto Graham. All three of the examples presented are more recent than Troy Aikman and Jimmy Johnson. It’s all relative. That said, the article is, again, speculation based on some evidence. I kinda feel sorry for Erik, because he has to spend the next three weeks writing about a coaching search that won’t budge until the Lions season ends. Bottom line, Ben Johnson is the hot HC candidate right now. Poles needs to figure out (he’s been working on it for some time, presumably) if Johnson is… Read more »