Johnson laid out his expectations for the Bears very clearly in his opening press conference with the team.
It’s only Day 1 for new Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson, and he’s letting everyone know loud and clear that he’s not here to f— around.
The Bears’ new on-field boss even took Lovie Smith’s 2004-era brash goal to regularly beat the Packers a step further.
I wanted to say in this division. I know that this is the toughest division in football right now,” Johnson told reporters in his introductory press conference on Wednesday. “… To be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”
Who is this guy, and what did he do with the Chicago Bears’ real coach? You know, the bumbling, inspiring one we’ve gotten so used to?
Wait — you mean we got this dude?
Ben Johnson directly looks at Caleb and other Bears players in attendance at presser and says, “Be comfortable with being uncomfortable”
It was a pretty powerful moment in the room. @ESPN1000 pic.twitter.com/4oPNzVCkZX— Silvy (@WaddleandSilvy) January 22, 2025
While you’d be forgiven for thinking Johnson slightly awkward and not oozing with charisma, nothing about him lacks for confidence. In fact, you’d be right to believe there’s a palpable arrogance in him — something that shouldn’t surprise you about a guy who calls power-toss shovels or wide receiver passes in an all-important playoff game (whether they win or not).
He’s clearly a man who believes he has the answers, and he’s going to make sure you have them to as evidenced by his shrewd questioning of George McCaskey, Ryan Poles, and Kevin Warren before his official hiring by the Bears.
But far from being discouraged, Bears fans should be thrilled to have a coach like this again after three years under Matt Eberflus, who repeatedly wilted when the lights got bright in Chicago.
Plus, there’s more to Johnson’s cocky demeanor than simply thinking he’s the smartest man in the room. He also wants everyone else to believe they’re on that level, too.
“Get comfortable being uncomfortable. The bar has been set higher than it’s ever been set before. The only way for this team, and for you as players, to reach your potential is to be pushed and challenged. That’s exactly what I and my staff plan on doing,” he added.
Something tells me you won’t have offensive players whispering that they weren’t being coached hard enough or that details were slipping in training camp.
Put simply, Johnson is coming in expecting nothing less than greatness from himself and from his players. No moral victories. No, “if this had gone right, we’d have won. We’re almost there.” Just winning — in what might be the toughest division in football.
On top of that, this “I’m better than you”-type swagger is exactly the kind of mentality that will mesh well with the wildly talented Caleb Williams, who needs a coach to harness and bring out his best qualities consistently rather than mute them.
Now, if you want to point out that former Bears Matt Nagy, who was fired after four seasons, also displayed similar qualities in his coaching, that’s fair. The difference, of course, is that Johnson’s offense and philosophies are his own, not an imitation of Dan Campbell’s. But talking a big game at a press conference and winning on the field are two different things.
Until the Bears have a chance to show off what they can do in Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season, though, you can rest assured of one thing:
Johnson’s not coming here for “improvement” over last year or even just a playoff berth. He’s coming for all of it, and he wouldn’t have come to Chicago if he didn’t think they were game to take the ride with him. Saddle up.