The Chicago Bears are hoping to turn the corner and get back into title contention behind the arm of young talent and former Heisman Trophy winner Calebe Williams. In his second year in the NFL, Williams will have a new head coach on the sidelines.
The Bears hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson this offseason, and apparently, Johnson wasn’t a very difficult decision for the franchise to make.
“Within 10 minutes of the interview, within 10 minutes of the interview starting for me, if you look at my notes that I took, I knew right then,” Bears CEO Kevin Warren said at the annual league meetings in Tampa Bay, according to Pro Football Talk.
“Because he was so Passionate, he’s absolutely brilliant, he’s smart, he was tough, he was demanding and because I had never talked with him, you never know.
“And I had gone back and watched all of his media interviews and you know you’re watching a lot of candidates on the sideline, their demeanor, how they communicate with players, all of that. But in the first 10 minutes of the interview I just felt in my heart that he was the person to lead the Chicago Bears.”
Warren said that he had a good feeling about Johnson after speaking with players who had been coached by him previously.
“I was able to make calls to individuals he had coached at Miami, at Detroit, the different locations to really get a sense of what he’s like in the meeting rooms, his decorum, and so people say the same thing, he is absolutely brilliant, he’s a hard worker, he’s demanding, he’s tough, he keeps everyone accountable, but most of all, he’s a really good person. And that’s the thing: You win in this business with good people.”
It’ll be interesting to see how Warren’s intuition works out for Chicago.
