Bears Chairman Reveals Powerful Line Ben Johnson Said at Start and End of HC Interview

Perhaps everyone should take notes for their next job hunt.

Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey on Jan 31, 2022. / David Banks-Imagn Images

Former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears, and pretty much everyone is excited. His mandate is well-defined, but not easily executed: breathe new life into a floundering franchise and get the team back into the postseason for the first time since 2020.

Publicly, Johnson has appeared eager and ready for the job, despite its difficulties. And privately, he's been showing the same enthusiasm, per the front office.

After the head coach's first press conference on Wednesday, team chairman George McCaskey revealed that, during his and Johnson's first meeting over Zoom, the latter was (unsurprisingly) vocal about how much he wanted the gig.

"The first words out of his mouth were 'I want this job,'" McCaskey told me the media. "The last thing he said before we turned off the camera was 'Did I tell you I want this job?' I was especially struck, and he referenced it in his comments [on Wednesday], that this is the toughest division in football. He wants to be here and he wants to go up against [Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell], [Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur], and [Minnesota Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell], and wants to succeed in the toughest environment possible. I was very impressed by that."

Ben Johnson left no doubts for the Bears pic.twitter.com/rRJu1l6mHa

— Bears on CHSN (@CHSN_Bears) January 22, 2025

The TLDR; Johnson made clear what he wanted and he got it. Now comes the hard part.

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