Ben Johnson had earned his spot as one of the most coveted head coaching candidates in years. When you guide an offense to three consecutive years of top-five ranking, it should come with proper respect. Nobody thought the Chicago Bears would make that move, if only because they’d never done it in the past. The organization was always known for either targeting defensive guys or opting for offensive names nobody considered top candidates like Marc Trestman or Matt Nagy. They never would’ve bothered going for somebody like Sean McVay or Kyle Shanahan in 2017.
Things have changed. Teams have been looking for the next McVay for years. Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor was one of those names who got such an opportunity. He worked with McVay for two years in Los Angeles and Johnson in Miami. He made it clear to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune that the two are exactly the same. Both are ridiculously intelligent, have great self-confidence, and have the ability to communicate with anybody.
Chicago may have hit a bullseye.
“Ben felt strongly enough that he had the right information that we should be more aggressive,” Taylor said. “He could approach things differently and gave a presentation to the whole staff, the data he had put together.
“So he’s 1,000 times smarter that way than any of us in the room on this, and he’s left-handed (although Johnson throws a football and eats with his right hand) and writes funny. It’s all these traits that I see these Sean McVay-type guys have, these left-handed, write-funny, brain-thinks-differently guys, and it was a spectacular presentation. Dead on.
“Now, it takes a lot of guts to jump on board with what he was saying: ‘Hey! You should be going for it.’ Bottom line was, and I’m looking for the right word here, the gumption of a guy like that. He was confident enough to say, ‘I’m going to put myself out there in front of a staff of people that have way more experience than I do because I believe in this.’
“It was impressive. I knew that because I worked side by side with him every day, but I am sure that’s where other guys, it really opened their eyes to the capability of Ben.”
The parallels between Sean McVay and Johnson are hard to miss.
Both entered the NFL at a very young age: McVay was 22, and Johnson was 26. Both were tight ends coaches before getting promoted to offensive coordinator. Both held the job for three years, during which they elevated previously struggling franchises to playoff runs and became head coaches the year after that. Last but not least, both took over the development of a #1 overall pick. McVay inherited Jared Goff with the Rams, while Johnson will look to elevate Caleb Williams moving forward.
Pretty eerie, right?
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Sean McVay found immediate success with the Rams, making the playoffs his first year and reaching the Super Bowl in his second. He eventually won a championship in 2021. That would be a dream come true for Bears fans who have endured endless mediocrity and heartbreak for over a decade. Asking Johnson to duplicate that might not be fair. This team still has some roster issues to iron out. Still, if he’s anywhere as good as McVay is, this team should turn around fast.
