Tag: Perfect

While Johnson believes that it takes more than a talented quarterback to win in the NFL, the presence of Caleb Williams was a key factor in him accepting the Bears job.

“It’s clear that modern football in the NFL is quarterback driven,” Johnson said. “That is no secret. You can look at analytics right now – quarterback success is a higher predictor of winning and losing than turnover ratio which has been for 20-plus years.

“That’s changed, so there’s no doubt Caleb played a large component into my decision. He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up and down rookie year. I see my role as a supporter of him. This offense will be calibrated around him. We’re going to build this thing. This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there. Nope, we’re ripping this thing down to the studs, and we’re going to build it out with him first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next. I really look forward to challenging him and pushing him to continue to grow and develop.”

Johnson believes that the keys to a young quarterback’s development are time on task and trust.

“I’ve already talked to Caleb,” Johnson said. “We’re going to have to spend a lot of time together. The play caller and the quarterback have to be integrated. The quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the play caller’s eyes. In my opinion, that’s the only way it works. And so we’re going to spend a lot of time together this spring time [and] certainly during training camp, and we’ll be able to see how much headway we can make. But there’s already things that I’ve talked to him about that I’ve noticed in his game that I want to address, and I want to go ahead and take a look at early and often here.”

In Detroit, Johnson coordinated one of the NFL’s most explosive offenses. Over the last two seasons, the Lions have led the league in average points (30.1) and yards (402.2) per game. In 2024, Detroit scored an NFL-leading 68 touchdowns and ranked second with a franchise-record 409.5 yards per game. The Lions became the first team in league history to have two running backs and two receivers all compile at least 1,000 yards from scrimmage.

Philosophically, Johnson wants the same things to look different and different things look the same.

“We want the defense on their heels,” he said. “We are always going to be attacking on offense. We believe in multiplicity – that’s both formationally and conceptually. We are going to make things very challenging on the defense each and every week. We want the ability to morph, whether it’s 50 runs in a game or 50 passes in a game. It does not matter. Balance to me is throughout the entire season, not necessarily in the game.

“With that being said, those are broad strokes of what this is going to look like. It’s not going to look like it did in Detroit. We have a completely different personnel group than what we did in Detroit. This entire offense is going to be predicated on the guys that we have available. That’s going to take the spring time as well as training camp to hone in what it’s going to look like.”

Johnson, who confirmed that he will call offensive plays, is excited about also working with the defense and special teams.

“When you’re the head coach, you have to be involved defensively,” he said. “You have to be involved in special teams. That comes with the territory. When you talk about last year, why I went back to Detroit, part of the reason was I had not fully comprehended how to make all of that work. I’m in a much better space right now in terms of time management, how I can be involved with all three phases.

“The whole key to this is being able to tie them together, play complementary football. I will be heavily involved both defensively and in special teams as much as offense. It’s going to be critical that I hire people that have some experience in this league that I can lean on and trust. Defensively, there are a number of guys that I want to talk to. And really it will be predicated on who we decide to go with, what that defense is going to look like.”

In an offensive coordinator, Johnson will seek to hire someone “that can organize and structure and set the table, particularly early in the week.”

“I have been around a number of guys that have called plays in the past and I’ve seen the potential pitfalls that could arise as you’re approaching the entire football team and you can’t get to watching as much tape early in the week as you possibly could,” Johnson said. “The offensive coordinator position is going to have to be somebody that not only I trust but will be extremely detail oriented, organized and structured to set the table, and also be willing to work late nights.”

Johnson’s primary objective this spring will be to establish a culture at Halas Hall.

“Accountability and integrity, they’re going to be cornerstones of this,” he said. “Team-first mentality is going to be critical for us … At the end of the day, we are going to lean on a professional work ethic. We’re going to learn how to be pros here in this building. We’ll be deliberate and intentional with what we do, and then we’ll get out of the building and off our feet.”

Asked what the accountability will look like, Johnson said: “We’re going to do what we say we’re going to do and we’re going to be who we say we’re going to be. And if we fall short of that standard, then there has to be consequences to that. That can look a number of different ways, but we are going to get to the point when we are winning here where our veteran players are going to take over the accountability portion of it. Until we get there, though, it’s going to be on us as the coaching staff to outline what it should look like, what a Chicago Bear is going to look like, what that professional work ethic is going to look like.

“I’m deeply committed to finding a way to make this work. My core values really rest on work ethic, selflessness and poise. I expect that to be embodied [in] this team.”