Bears coach Ben Johnson talks about the challenge ahead in his new role and where he sees the team.
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00:00I wanted to stay in this division.
00:09I know this is the toughest division of football right now.
00:12There's three teams that made the playoffs this year.
00:15I've got tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this league,
00:23having competed against them for the last six years.
00:27Dane Campbell, Kevin O'Connell, you're talking about two guys that are up for Coach of the
00:32Year awards as the season ends here.
00:35And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.
00:44I'm still reeling through some of those feelings myself right now.
00:48It's a hard thing to do when you're around a group of guys as committed as we were to
00:54not only winning a division title, but getting the number one seed in the playoffs, but following
01:00through by winning a Super Bowl and coming up short the way that we did.
01:05Ryan did his homework.
01:09People on my end did our homework as well.
01:11So Ryan had left Boston College right when I was getting there.
01:15There's some shared history there.
01:16There's a lot of connections that may or may not have already been put together that people
01:21understand.
01:23I truly believe in the character and integrity of this man.
01:28In terms of true alignment, you're going to have to talk to the powers that be here.
01:34They can fill you in on that structure, but we are going to be locked at the hip and connected
01:41every step of the way with all the decisions that are made.
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09:44The most important thing that we do here
09:46is we establish the culture that we want in this building
09:49in the springtime.
09:51Accountability and integrity—they're going to be cornerstones of this.
09:55Team-first mentality
09:57is going to be critical for us.
09:59I already talked about the communication,
10:00the structure,
10:01the consistency.
10:03felt by our players from day one all the way through the end of the end of the
10:08season okay and at the end of the day we are going to lean on a professional work
10:15ethic we're gonna learn how to be pros here in this building we'll be
10:18deliberate and intentional with what we do and then we'll get out of the
10:22building and off our feet. Hey Ben, Mark Rohde with the score here in
10:27Chicago welcome to the city. You mentioned that this roster is loaded
10:33with talent so then when you look back at the Bears season you know enduring a
10:3810-game losing streak does that surprise you that a team with this type of talent
10:42endured that and how close do they not need to make that many changes going
10:48into this year? Yeah listen we'll evaluate the the whole roster I have not
10:54watched all the tape but I have a good feel from game planning against this
10:59defense and certainly seeing the crossover tape with the offense that I
11:03feel really confident about the current talent level already in the building
11:06going into this season I felt like this place was a sleeping giant to be honest
11:12with you I was I personally was more concerned about the Chicago Bears than I
11:17was anybody else in this division now there's a number of reasons why that did
11:22not unfold all right which that's why I'm here I'll get to the bottom of that
11:25and we'll see if we can't get that corrected and cleaned up but I was very
11:31encouraged with what was already on the roster right here and like I said before
11:36this division as hard as it is really excited about competing here. Was it just
11:40the changes that they made going into the offseason that scared you the most
11:43about the Bears was a Caleb Williams like what was it about the Bears that
11:47they were the well I personally we struggled with that defense here for
11:51both games that we played them in 2023 okay so that was that was a huge deal
11:57was knowing that as much as I struggle staying up at night trying to attack
12:04this defense I knew what that was capable of and then seeing all the
12:08weapons that they have on offense here was really really encouraging. Coach
12:15Dion Miller ABC 7 Chicago welcome we're glad that you're here you had this
12:19opportunity a year ago to be a head coach you chose not to why are you more
12:23prepared now for this job than you were a year ago? Yeah a year ago honestly it
12:29was it was a similar situation in terms of being ejected from the playoffs
12:35prematurely how we saw it and as my emotions got the better of me at that
12:41point I decided quite early on that I wanted to come back and take another
12:45shot at that in Detroit. This year this offseason summer I was able to do a lot
12:53more thinking and just through throughout my head my process what it
12:58would look like as the head coach and I just felt a lot more comfortable in
13:03terms of making that jump regardless of how a lot how the season ended in
13:07Detroit. Ben here to the right got the designer ESPN 1000 when you your
13:14predecessors came in in a very similar situation that you have quarterback
13:18already in place having to come in kind of midway through excuse me this this
13:24rebuild being done what is it that you can bring to the table that will make
13:29this situation and in a different manner than what we've seen in a previous
13:33situation? Listen I can't speak to the previous coaches that were here all I
13:37can tell you is this every step along the way already alluded to it I found a
13:42way to excel in each job so I'm deeply committed to finding a way to make this
13:48work my core values really rest on work ethic selflessness and poise and I
13:56expect that to be embodied within this team. Ben over here again Courtney Cronin
14:01ESPN you interviewed for a couple other jobs this cycle what specifically about
14:05Chicago tip the scales and the Bears favor and you landing here? The people
14:09point-blank the interview process was was excellent for me answered all the
14:16questions I was looking forward to and not to mention the family atmosphere
14:21that they clearly outlined was a huge selling point as well. Does having a
14:26quarterback because there's some other teams that don't necessarily have their
14:29franchise guide how much heavy did that way specific to this opportunity for you?
14:34Having a quarterback helps. Ben over here John Greenberg from the athletic you've
14:42been in a lot of different offenses you've worked for different kind of
14:45coaches you have seemed to have a lot of different influences in what you believe
14:49in like how would you describe what your offense is going to be about you know
14:53Caleb's different than Jared Goff what would you describe to Bears fans what to
14:57expect from this offense? Philosophically what I believe in is
15:02similar to a blast from the past named John Shoop and that is to make the same
15:09things look different and different things look the same all right we want
15:14the defense on their heels we're always going to be attacking on offense we
15:18believe in multiplicity and so that's both formationally and conceptually
15:24we're gonna make things very challenging on the defense each and every week we
15:29want the ability to morph whether it's 50 runs in a game or 50 passes in a game
15:35it does not matter balance to me is throughout the entire season not
15:39necessarily within the game and with that being said those are those are
15:45broad strokes of what this will look like it's not going to look like it did
15:50in Detroit we have a completely different personnel group than what we
15:55did in Detroit so this entire offense is going to be predicated on on the guys
16:01that we have available and that's going to take the springtime as well as
16:04training camp to hone in to what that's going to look like. Ben over here. Josh
16:09Bell, Calder Clocker Sports. With all that you have when you're played
16:11offensively how involved you plan to be defensively and do you foresee any sort
16:15of scheme change going forward? Yeah I think yeah when you're the head coach
16:20you have to be involved defensively you have to be involved in special teams
16:23that comes with the territory and so when you talk about last year why I why
16:29I went back to Detroit part of the reason was I had not fully comprehended
16:34how to make that all work I'm at a much better space right now in terms of time
16:39management how I can be involved with all three phases the whole key to this
16:44is being able to tie them together play complementary football and so I will be
16:49heavily involved both defensively and special teams as much as offense it's
16:54going to be critical that I hire people that are have some experience here in
16:59this league and I can I can lean on and I can trust defensively there are a
17:04number of guys I want to talk to and really it'll be predicated on on who we
17:09decide to go with what that defense is going to look like.
17:14Hey Ben, Kevin Fishbane from The Athletic. Ryan talked to us about how the
17:22quarterback development plan was gonna be a big part of interviews and talking
17:26to coaches about what the plan is how would you kind of characterize what your
17:30vision would be for helping get a quarterback to where he needs to be? I
17:33think it's time on task it's trust I've already talked to Caleb we're gonna have
17:40to spend a lot of time together the play caller and the quarterback have to
17:47be integrated the quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the
17:51play callers eyes in my opinion that's that's the only way it works and so we're
17:56gonna spend a lot of time together this springtime certainly during training
18:00camp we'll be able to see how much headway we can make but there's already
18:05things I've talked to him about that I've noticed in his game that I want to
18:09address and I want to go ahead and take a look at early and often here. Ben, as
18:16you acknowledge the difference between a coordinator role and the head coaching
18:19duties what gives you the greatest confidence in your leadership skills for
18:23this role? Yeah that's a great question and here's what I have to tell you is
18:29what gives me confidence is the players that I was just with and the respect
18:34level that they had for me along with the people that I trusted in that
18:38building who would come up to me time and time again and assure me I'm ready.
18:43Chris Spielman, Mark Burnell, the people that were with me saw me in front of the
18:48room saw me in the meeting room they believe in me I believe in myself I'm
18:53ready for this next challenge. You used the word accountability a little bit ago
18:57that was a word that the players used a lot this past season in this building
19:00what does that look like to you how do you define accountability under your
19:03watch? Yeah accountability is really we're gonna do what we say we're gonna
19:08do and we're gonna be who we say we're gonna be and if we fall short of that
19:11standard then there has to be consequences to that that can look a
19:16number of different ways but we are going to get to the point when we are
19:21winning here where our veteran players are going to take over the
19:26accountability portion of it until we get there though it's gonna be on us as
19:29the coaching staff to outline what it should look like what a Chicago Bears
19:33gonna look like with that professional work ethic is gonna look like.
19:40Andy Seligman, AP, do you plan to call plays on offense? Yes I do. Okay along
19:48those lines what characteristics are you gonna be looking for in an offensive
19:52coordinator? It's gonna be critical for me to find somebody that can organize
19:58and structure and set the table particularly early in the week I've
20:02been around a number of guys that have called plays in the past and I've seen
20:06the potential pitfalls that could arise as as you're coaching the entire
20:10football team and you can't get to watching as much tape early in the week
20:14as you possibly could so it's gonna the offensive coordinator position is gonna
20:19have to be somebody that not only I trust but will be extremely detail
20:23oriented organized and structured to set the table and and also willing to work
20:28late nights. Ben, Pat at the Chicago Sun-Times again, when we talked to Ryan
20:35Poles a couple weeks ago he talked about hey if I'm gonna bring in a guy who
20:38hasn't been a head coach before there's a value in him bringing in experience or
20:43people who have head coaching experience as assistant coaches. Do you have a plan
20:48for that and how do you know kind of big picture how do you kind of know what you
20:52don't know you know when you move up a chair? Yeah there's no question that
20:57experience whether it's coordinators or elsewhere within the coaching staff will
21:04be important to me and that's why I look forward here after after we get through
21:10this initial madness if you will we can get going on the coaching staff that's
21:14gonna be a critical part of our success. I really believe that we're gonna be able
21:21to find some great candidates out there that that want to come to Chicago for a
21:25number of reasons but they will be able to help guide and and show me the way.
21:30The good news is this is I'm not coming necessarily from a program that has
21:37solely won for the last 10 years. What I've seen in my time in the NFL, seven
21:44years in Miami, six years in Detroit, is as much not good as I've seen good and
21:50so there are a number of things that I've experienced and I've seen that
21:54should help help throw the red flag up and help me avoid those potential
22:00pitfalls. Ben over to your right. Nicholas Moriano from the Bigs. One of the things
22:05expressed last year by the players that they wanted someone that can enforce
22:08discipline in their head coach. How have you enforced discipline in the past and
22:12how can you implement that here? Yeah it looks a number of different ways. I think
22:17the most important thing and I've already alluded to it a couple times now
22:21is clear communication and structure and expectation and that's that's really
22:26what we're going to outline. We will set the standard in terms of what it looks
22:31like, what it should look like, what it shouldn't look like. Anytime it's not
22:35hitting that standard in that mark it'll be us as the coat on us as the coaching
22:39staff to call guys out and repeat offenders will have to continue to be
22:45made an example of. Ben to your left. Yeah. The stumble-bum play that you hit
22:50the Bears with. Did you like that one? It was clever. As a Matt LaFleur special. Was that
22:58was at the start of your job interview here or were you just showing off? I don't
23:02know about that. I don't know about that. Did you think about that at all coaching
23:06that game here when the job was open at the time that this was a chance for you
23:11to make a big impression? I think every day in the NFL is a chance to make an
23:17impression. We were very blessed to have these jobs as coaches and as players.
23:23It's not something that I take lightly and I think we we have an obligation to
23:29each other and to the game to max ourselves out each and every day. Yeah.
23:36Hey Ben. Over to your right. Josh Friedman with WGN-TV. Congrats and you
23:42said your mission statement is to win and win now. Do you believe this is a
23:46multi-year process though to get back to a playoff caliber team or can that
23:50happen in 2025? There's no question it can happen in 2025. It depends on how
23:56hard we're willing to work and how much we're willing to sacrifice though. Hey
24:01Ben. Adam Hogue again from CHGO. It was a little surprising that you took this
24:09job so fast without coming here first. Why did you feel so confident that you
24:15didn't need to see the building or see anybody face-to-face in person and then
24:20once you got here other than the people because you've already spoken on that
24:23what stood out to you the most? Yeah the information was was given to me from any
24:31interested party what it would look like. It was very detailed. It was thorough. It
24:36did not take me long particularly with that first interview in the back of my
24:40head. I've already been in this city. I know what this city is about. It just
24:45simply did not take me a long time to decide that this is where I wanted to be.
24:50I wanted my family to be and these were the people I wanted to be around. Walking
24:57in this building yesterday gave me goosebumps. There I don't think many
25:04people understand how set up for success this place already is. This facility is
25:11outstanding. It is an A-plus facility and I look forward to meeting all the people
25:17within this facility and and getting to work.