Bear Digest

How Bears coach Ben Johnson is duplicating Matt Eberflus' start

The start of the Ben Johnson regime as coach is imitating that of fired head coach Matt Eberflus in at least one aspect already.
Gene Chamberlain|
Matt Eberflus looks at the scoreboard during his final game as coach at Ford Field, when he failed to properly call a critical timeout.
Matt Eberflus looks at the scoreboard during his final game as coach at Ford Field, when he failed to properly call a critical timeout. | Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

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Chicago Bears

Ben Johnson is duplicating what Matt Eberflus did during his start with the Bears.

This probably doesn't sound like the thing to do when your predecessor had a record of 14 wins and 32 loses before becoming the franchise's first coach fired in-season.

What Johnson is duplicating exactly is the process of game management lessons taught by Bears director of research and analysis Harrison "Harry" Freid.

It's nothing new for Johnson to talk with Freid, while it was for Eberflus.

"He's someone I've got a relationship with from going back to Miami, I think very highly of him," Johnson said of Freid at the combine. "I'm really looking forward to sitting down. We've already started this process. We call it the Breakfast Club.

"He and I go 30 minutes every day right now. He's just taken–I said, teach me like I'm a rookie quarterback from the start to the finish and so we're about halfway through his program right now. Once we get through that we'll make a decision on where we want to go in terms of when the players get in and educating them on how we want to handle the situations that can pop up and potentially win or lose ballgames for us."

In Eberflus' case, it was obviously mostly lose ballgames.

In particular, it will be important to get Caleb Williams involved. They failed to call timeouts when necessary last year in several games and didn't allow the rookie quarterback to call timeouts.

The sessions Eberflus had were designed with decision making in mind.

"We had sessions, video sessions," Eberflus said at the time. "We set it up originally where I did 15 or 20, in that range, video sessions with the guys. Then we split it up into situations on offense, situations on defense, situations on special teams. Then we had the coordinator come in and we probably met for four or five hours the first time with Luke, then with Alan (Williams) for two or three hours, and then the same thing for HT (Richard Hightower).

"So we're coming up with terms of what we want to call situational ball so we know we can just call and rip them out, so when we use the language during the game, it's code. We know what we're talking about and know what we're gonna do in the situation. That's just all preparation. It's about setting it up. It's about being prepared."

Freid also had a role on game day. Examples of what Freid might talk to them about would be fourth down situations.

"When you get down into the red area, your go zone there, it certainly changes and adjusts, and I’m always talking to Harry about that," Eberflus said.

Considering how all that worked out at the end of games for Eberflus, and how Johnson's reputation was built with a Lions team known for succeeding on fourth-down gambles, it's safe to wonder whether the student now might know more about it all than the teacher–or at least whether the former student just didn't pick it up right.

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.