Ben Johnson hiring feels different than previous Chicago Bears head coach decisions

The Chicago Bears are ushering in a new era with the hiring of Ben Johnson as their next head coach.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson walks the sidelines before a game against the Chicago Bears | David Reginek-Imagn Images

Every time the Chicago Bears hire a new head coach, the fanbase is filled with hope that this new leader will be more successful than the previous coaches who have failed.

After watching Marc Trestman, John Fox, Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus go through that same rise and fall, it would be reasonable for Bears fans not to trust the next hire the team makes.

But Ryan Poles hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson feels different than the previous head coaching decisions Chicago has made.

For the first time in a long time, the team landed the coach that was not only their top choice but other teams' top choice too.

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Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders fans were all hoping their teams would hire Johnson. Tom Brady was personally trying to lure him to Sin City. Bears didn't just get Poles' guy. They got Brady's guy.

That's no guarantee that Johnson will be a great head coach in Chicago, but it means Bears fans will never be able to look back and say Poles should have known better and pursued someone else.

This is the consensus top guy, and the Bears landed him.

Johnson is also building his coaching staff wisely. ESPN's Adam Schefter described it as a "star-studded" staff, with former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as the leading candidate to be defensive coordinator.

That was one of the keys that Poles talked about during his press conference after the end of the season.

"If you're a first-time head coach, what can we put in place for you to help support you?," Poles said. "What do the coordinators look like? Are they former head coaches? You have an advisor who's a head coach that's right at your side to pick up some of the blind spots."

Sounds like he was talking about the likes of Allen coming in to support a first-time head coach like Johnson.

Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

And perhaps most importantly, this time, the Bears acted decisively. They didn't waste any time locking in on Johnson and secured the hire the day the Lions' offensive coordinator became available.

Everyone expected the Bears to go through a second round of interviews with candidates and bring them in-person to decide who should be the next head coach.

After interviewing over a dozen candidates in the first round, Poles knew exactly who he wanted, and he made sure he got him.

If the Bears had waited longer, perhaps Johnson could have been swayed by Brady and the Raiders. Poles didn't take that chance.

It could be risky to decide on Johnson before doing more interviews, but it shows that the organization is giving Poles the freedom and the resources to hire the coach he sees as the best fit.

That all feels different than previous head coaching searches that resulted in the likes of Eberflus, Nagy, Fox and Trestman. Maybe that means the results could be different this time, too.

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