Cut open that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown Bears.
I am Jeff jonihack.
Blitz is not Donnie got what was like playing for Coche Good.
I don't want to answer any questions like that pressure coming is a big trouble. Dommi gos Mottest Sweat.
Bears et Cetera brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
We welcome the new head coach of the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson, in this episode one of the Bears et Cetera podcast with Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer.
I'm Jeff Joniak.
This episode of Bears et Cetera is brought to you by Miller LIGHTE good to have you alongside. I've been writing a little notes, little nuggets Tom, over the course.
Of the day.
I have so many little pieces of paper and scribbles because I'm running out of room to kind of characterize what we have here in Chicago now with thirty eight year old Ben Johnson, introduced as the eighteenth full time head coach in Bear's history nineteenth overall, and you consider interim boss Thomas Brown last season, but color me fascinated, color me intrigue, color me excited and hopeful.
How about you, Well, you're a guy that's full of scribbles, and that's no difference in any other day of your life, whether it's because of a new head coach or just preparation for a game. When I look at a situation like this, Jeff, I got to look at it in a lot of different ways. I have to look at it as a Bears fan. I have to look at it as an ex player when you're all of a suddenly starting to going to try to impress a new head coach. And then you have to look at it as an
alumni and a broadcaster. And so I am super excited about what I saw at the conclusion of him addressing the podium because he didn't say anything unrealistic. He didn't fill our heads full of false hope. He filled our heads worth a realistic work that's ahead of him in order to continue this process of what the organization wants to see out of him, and that's a consistent winner, and I think that's what we all want to see
out of them. But when I look at the hiring of a new head coach through the eyes of a player.
You're better be on high alert.
Man, because I knew you were going to say that, even though your slate is wipe clean, you better understand that you're probably getting ready to go into one of the most difficult training camps that you've ever been through, because that's the initial process of most head coaches that are hired in professional football in college football. And I've been a part of changes on both levels. So I really enjoyed what Ben said at the podium, and I'm really excited to see this journey get underway.
And we will hear some of my one on one interview with Ben Jonson before the news conference that took place at HALISAW. It was wonderful conversation, wonderful meeting. But the one thing that you'll hear is our goal is to win and win now. There was no shying away, No, Hey, this is going to take some time. We know what's up though. We know it's a process, no question about it. But he is not shying away from it. And I
think that's his personality. Tom this guy. He sets high standards for himself and he's certainly going to set high standards for his team.
Well, that was one of the most encouraging things to me that he said, because you know, Jeff, when you go back and you look at the season and you look at the reality of the division, the Bears were as close to winning the division as they were into
at the end of the division. And so when you look at this process and the development and what quarterback that's going into a second year, and some of the assets he talked about already being put in place in place, and what Ryan's going to put in place, it is realistic for him to stand up there and say, look, we're here to win, and we're here to win now.
And I think that should be the most encouraging thing to everybody that is part of the Bear pandemonium, because you know, it is fun to listen to him stand up there and talk about winning with confidence.
I'm glad you brought up the ex player in you, the eighty five Bear, the Super Bowl winner, and just the types of coaches that have surrounded your life from the time you played youth football to the time you finished your career in Miami with Don Shula, and You're not gonna be able to look at it any other way from through a player's eyes and what expectations are. If you were sitting in that meeting room, or were you sitting in that press conference room with guys like
Roma Dunze, DJ Moore, Caleb Williams and Cole Komett. He was looking right at them when he spoke to them. As a player, you can appreciate that better than anybody. So if you were that player at the age of twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty eight, seven, twenty eight, whatever these guys are are right now, they're in that realm right there, would you be having an adrenaline rush of like, Okay, I get it, let's go listen.
If I was a player that was able to touch the football, if I was one of those special guys, a receiver, a tight end, a running back, a quarterback, and then see that body of work that Ben has already put on display around the division, around the league, I would be trying to draw plays in my head.
Going, I wonder if Ben would even consider this.
I wonder if you think about this, because they're just coming off of a game this past week, what it four or five days ago, and you have the broadcasters say, oh my god, I've never seen that play in the history of my career, and that was the pitch to David Montgomery and the shovel pass forward. I've never seen it either. I've been around some of the most creative minds in offensive football for almost forty years as a
player and a broadcaster, and I've never seen it. So if I'm one of those guys Jeff, that I know that I have the opportunity to touch the football, I would be out of my mind. I would have a hard time sleeping tonight, and I have a hard I would have a hard time not being in the building tomorrow. So I can make eye contact with Ben Johnson and just let him know how excited I am to be a part of it. But then you think about the process of success and you talk about what they have
to do on the offense and defensive line. That's a that's a really important part of the future of the success of the Bears. But you can ignore the creativity that this guy has already shown us, especially in the division for a few years.
When he walked into the auditorium to visit with me for the different Bears platforms, and you will hear the interview, but not this part. But he goes first thing, he said, how'd you call stumblebum? And I said, you got me? I just thought I just thought it was a guy stumbling around. I go, yeah, you got me good, and he just started laughing. I appreciated that that was. That was a funny little entree to meeting Ben Johnson. The other thing is that this is not from any particular tree.
This is a collaboration of different influences in his career. If you read the backgrounds and the stories, Adam Johns of the Athletic did one, Dan Pompeii did one while back prior to him became a coaching candidate for the Bears while he was with Detroit. It's it's Eric Corial, It's West Coast offense, its influences of of of many, Mike Martz, it's it's Adam Gase, It's I mean, there's a long list. He's been exposed to a lot of different things. Tommy, is that an encouraging component for you.
It's not from a particular tree. This is going to be and he made it clear this is gonna be the Bears offense. It's gonna be it's gonna be Caleb's offense.
Right, And that was again, another super encouraging thing that I heard from him out of the podium, because I don't want a manual from another offensive coordinator in your pass and saying, Okay, we're gonna insert this during this type of defense. We are going to put this in during this type of defensive front. And I think that's the creativity that Ben Johnson has shown all of us.
And again we had we got to see him twice a year since he's been around Detroit, so it's not you know what, this is not something that we're not familiar with. And a lot of the different plays, whether he's throwing a pass to an offensive tackle, the different formations that he has on the goal line, and all the other things that he used at the perfect time to use the play that nobody suspected or seen before. Now you've got Jared Goff taking center quarterback exchange acting
like he stumbled. Also, I could buy time for the receiver to get done and let the defenders drop their guard. I can't wait to see the creation of that mind with a quarterback like Caleb and the other assets that they have aboard from Cole to Rome to DJ in every one of the off their offensive weapons.
And one of the big things too, I think is a strong takeaway here is and George McCaskey said it. He met the media a conversation with George as well when the zoom interview started, because he didn't come here to Hallas Hall until afterwards the zoom. He says, I want this job. When the Zoom ended, he reminded them, did I tell you I want this job? And you know that excitement for something you know? And I think
back to when you wrapped up your career. You dabbled in some television, you dabbled in some radio, and the opportunity to become the analyst for the Bears and the Bears Radio Network, you made it clear you want this job. That passion was exuding from you. You don't want to have any doubt from the person you're interviewing about whether they're just going through the process or they're just using you for another opportunity elsewhere to create a market. He
didn't want to market. He wanted to be a Bear.
I love that, and like he said, he wanted to stay within the division. And I think that's really important because there's some there's incremental issues that you already know about the division. And I think when you're a guy that's saying, Okay, I'm going to go from Detroit to Chicago, they have some centerpieces already in place. Now what can I do to put my own stamp on this team? And he did not ignore the fact that Dan Campbell was an important part of his coaching development over the
last couple of years. But this is no longer about all the other coaches. This is about what Ben Johnson, the head coach of the Chicago Bears, is going to do moving forward. All the influences that he has in his football life because of the other people that he played with and was tutored by, that's all.
You take all that into account.
But when he walks into that building from now on and you're got that parking spot, you know exactly where to go in, you know where your office is, it's got to be an unbelievable feeling for a young man like that.
Yells has a great respect for the Bears defense said it was challenging that that's what he talked.
About, you know, whether you want to minimalize it down to the red zone or the entire field. And I like to hear him think that way. Because he knows, you know, part of the development of his coaching staff, what they already have out there, what they need to build upon. In the fact that what do I'm gonna do now when I see these guys every day in camp to try to keep them as difficult as they were for me, make it difficult on the opponent, but all ultimately how to get him better.
He an new or gently used coat lad around. Head to your local jewel asco until February tenth and donate one of your new or gently used coachs to the thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears coat drive. Helped keep Chicagoans warm this winter. All right, so let's listen in to the new head coach of the Bears, the gentleman who
helped a Detroit Lions team have two fabulous seasons. He's been there for three, and over those last two seasons, no unit in the league has average more points per game or yards per game each of the last three seasons. Coordinating that to trade offense, Johnson's crew had top five in total offense every season, including number two here in twenty twenty four with a four thousand yard quarterback, and each season under Johnson. That would be Jared Goff. This
is our interview with a new Bears head coach, Ben Johnson. So, welcome to the next chapter of your football life, and it happens to be with the charter franchise of the National Football League.
How do you put that in the words?
It's hard to express.
This is such an iconic franchise with such a storied history that only when you're a little boy do you think of something like this, and so to see it to come to light just like it did, opportunity I could not turn down. I'm beyond excited. It Really don't have words to express the excitement and enthusiasm I have right now for this job.
Your Mandit had many opportunities.
Why Chicago, That is a great question.
I'll tell you. I'll tell you this Number one.
The place I spent a lot of time coming up during the summers to see Chicago Cubs games, and I fell in love with the city.
I fell in love with the people up here. That's one. Number Two.
I believe in the structure that we have in place, from George to Kevin to Ryan, there's gonna be complete alignment in everything that we're doing. I love the team that Ryan's already assembled, and we'll look to continue to build. And finally, I wanted to stay in this division. I wanted to be in this division. This is a good division.
Three teams made the playoffs. I have a lot of respect for the talent and the coaches that are in this but anything worth doing and fulfilling, it's the hard thing to do.
It's the hard way.
And so I embraced this challenge of being in the NFC North and I can't wait to get started.
Well, you know, Ryan, one of Bryan Poles's famous lines that I grab onto all the time. I live it. The hard rate is the right way. So you're a glutton for punishment. I guess it's going to be.
A heck of a division.
What about when you got here, the welcome committee, the entire building showed up. You come out with a lot of energy. Your family's with you, your three kids, your wife, your youngest daughter staring up. I was just enamored with that, she was. How did that make you feel?
Yeah, I'll be honest, I was not expecting that. I wasn't expecting this place, this facility, the people within it.
There's an energy right now that I really can't put into words. So I know this.
I know my family is so happy right now to see the potential of where we're going and the people we're going to be around.
All Right, you're gonna get asked a lot about vision.
What's your vision for this franchise?
Well, I mean our goal, our goal is to win, and it's going to be to win now, and so that's going to be stressed early and off into our group. What we put on tape for this franchise is we want a physical team. We want a detail orient team that's great at situational football, and we want an explosive team. And that's gonna be on both sides of the football. Three phases to be honest with you, along with special teams.
And really, when we're talking about setting the culture, which is going to be step number one here in the springtime, accountability and integrity are going to be the cornerstones of everything we're going to be about. We're going to have a team first mentality from starting to finish. Our players are going to understand the staff is going to be there to support them. There will be consistent communication and structure.
And.
Really, at the end of the day, there will be a level of discipline that they're looking to embrace here.
Well, I can picture myself as one of the ninety players that will be here and this will be your first team meeting. That's right, You'll be standing in this room, the George muggs Haallis Auditorium. I'm similar. The message will likely be similar. But how power empowering is that when you get in front of a group of guys and say, hey, follow me, we're going to learn how to win.
There's no question I think this is every player. Every player wants consistency and they want to be able to get better. And that is what I plan on doing and the staff that I bring in, that's what we're going to be tasked to do, is to get every player on this team to be the best versions of themselves and to elevate this team to winning football consistently.
I know that the media always focuses on the head coach quarterback relationship, and that's one of the fifty three, but it's the most important position in all of sports. So the enticing aspect of working with a young quarterback with a bountiful amount of talent, how is that with Caleb Williams.
Yeah, I think standing on the opposite sideline from him this year, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for not only the talent level that he possesses, but also the type of person he is leading that huddle. I know it was a rocky rookie year for him, and I'm excited to help grow and together this offense and the pieces. I want to be clear, it's not just Caleb I am. I am so fired up to work with him, but there are so many great pieces to the puzzle already in place. This defense gave me, gave
me trouble the last two years. I stayed up at night trying to find ways. I think the red zone. We couldn't score touchdowns in the red zone. They got after us. And it seemed like almost every single time we played the Chicago Bears when I was in Detroit, that came that game went down to the wire.
A few teams did. Yeah, you know, they were outstanding at it. So you mentioned other players, the skill they got.
DJ Moore got from Dunsay, you got Cole Comet, you got DeAndre Swift.
That's just a sample size.
It is your offense, an offense that is adaptable to all sorts of kind of skill.
Yeah, it's not my offense. This is going to be really I like to fancy it the quarterbacks offense. We are going to tailor this right around Caleb Williams. It will not be necessarily, but you've seen from from me the last three years. It's gonna we're gonna find out exactly what our quarterback does well, and that's really what we're going to anchor on. And then the supporting pieces around him, we're gonna look to accentuate those as well.
So the different looks the same and the same looks different. You know where you heard that one before? My old friend, Ye, John shop. We'll talk about John Shoop at another time.
I love that guy. What does that all mean?
What that means is we want we want to keep defenses on edge, all right, when you're on an offensive perspective. We don't want them to know exactly what's coming multiplicity formationally schematically to where uh, when they see one formation and they're expecting one play that they saw on tape.
They get hit in a different direction.
That sounds simple.
Yeah, it's simple.
It sounds simple and the most complicated game I think when people break it down. If you are sitting in a team meeting or a room to break down one play. I've had coordinators tell me, yeah, I can sit in a room and break down one play for eight hours. Yeah, saying there's.
No way, but yeah, that's the case.
You've been described as creative, We know that, fearless, no nonsense. Are these some attributes and adjectives that you would agree with?
Yeah? Yeah, Listen.
I've every step of my journey, whether it was quality control, position, coach, offensive coordinator, I morphed into a world that would make me the best at that particular job, and every step along the way tight ends coach.
Oh see, the last few years, it's whatever that job required.
And so this new job is a completely different skill set and responsibility, and so I will find exactly what it takes to excel in this new role.
How excited are you to work with Ryan Poles, his staff, Kevin Warren, mccaskey's everybody in the build.
Listen, they blew me away on the interview. I spent time just alone with Ryan on that interview and then in a group setting with all of them, and it's clear their commitment to build a sustained winner here in Chicago. I think Ryan's done a phenomenal job already accumulating talent here in this building. And I can't be more excited about George and Kevin and the support that they're willing to give us and the resources they're willing to give us to get this thing going.
The familiarity you touched on it within the division? Is that a positive?
Because you faced everybody before for the last many years.
There's no doubt, And once again I have tremendous amounts of respect for all the coaches and players already in this division. But really, as a competitor, I didn't want to leave.
That's awesome.
As a young kid growing up now I have this correct Asheville.
North Carolina.
That's right.
Could you have imagined this day?
No? Absolutely not, absolutely not.
Like like I said, I grew up watching WGN Chicago Cubs with my little brother and to see that one day I would land in that city as the head coach of the Chicago Bears, it just gives me goosebumps.
And it hasn't been without challenges.
Correct, That's right.
I think there was a time where you didn't you didn't know what you were going to be able.
To do Oh yeah, right, yeah?
Is that the adversity that you know everybody's got some YEA was at it.
There's always hills and valleys every journey that you take. And yeah, when I got let go from Miami seven that was twenty eighteen, it took me a while to land back on my feet. I worked so hard to climb the ladder there in that organization. And then when something you love, which was the game of football, gets ripped away from you, it hurts, it leaves it leaves a hole in your soul.
And I was I was so.
Fired up just to get the opportunity to start over again and work hard, put my head down, and fortunately good things happened.
All right, And the last question, what's your message to the fans.
Message to the fans is we are completely committed to building a sustained winner here. We are going to have high standards, but we're also going to have high level of support for these players. The bar is gonna be every time they step into the building so high, because that's the only way we're gonna push. We're gonna challenge these players to become the best versions of themselves along the way, though, we're going to provide them the necessary resources to.
Hit those goals.
Congratulations, thank you.
In best of luck, Yeah, thank you, Jess.
So we touched on some of it, but then you marry it with the news conference. Tom wants to be physical, wants to be explosive, situationally sound, and he really appreciated being asked in his Zoom with the Bears about specific game management situations. They put them in a position a what would you do here ABCD, and he said that was unique to other interviews he's had over the last couple of years for a head coaching job.
So, I mean.
Clearly that was a aig, a big necessity to make sure you get somebody who can handle those situations.
It's imperative.
It is how you forge ahead in this very difficultly you got to be great in game management situations.
Well you know how timely that you put together an answer for a difficult question and you're not necessarily expecting. I think that tells you a lot about a guy, whether you're face to face or in zoom. And if you say the exact answer that they want to hear without hesitation, they know that. Listen, they are on the path of the right person. And so when you have some of these questions out of the ordinary, I think it's really beneficial to every one of those guys sitting there with them.
Well, you know that's precisely why. Okay, so you don't want somebody to be rehearsed. It's not the combine when agents get their players and they're going to ask you, ABCD, you know, here's what your answer is going to be. He spoke from the heart at that podium. It is not like some prepared gript right. And the more he spoke, whether it was with me individually or at that podium for the first time as the head coach of the charter franchise of the National Football League, you could feel
his intensity rising. You could feel his answers becoming more compelling, and he was more in you know what I'm saying. Did you get that same impression I did?
You know what I liked about it, Jeff, about the whole interview between you and he and when he was at the podium with the media, is he understands the energy of the city of Chicago by going to a baseball game, and it's not something that you have to be sitting in the stands. But you can feel it when you're walking around the neighborhoods. You can feel the passion of the Chicago fan base for all of their sports and all of the support that we have in
the city. And he understands how an organization like Detroit can go from the bottom to the top. And we've seen it ourselves going to the stadium a couple times a year. So I'm really happy that Ben Johnson was exposed to the passion of the fans of the Bears and the fans of sports in the city of Chicago to understand his role and the importance of success in Soldier Field.
You know, he only sat in the bleachers. That's where he goes. Sits in the bleachers. You can't get anybody that's fantastic.
Can any better feel of passion and been sitting in the bleachers and whatever. Wherever you go in sports, wherever around the world you may go to a game, it's not always sitting here in the high dollar seats. It's sitting in the seats with the real fans in understanding how they feel about their city, about their sports teams. And if he comes in here and he's the never he's the next playoff winning head coach for the Chicago Bears. He's gonna feel at first hand.
That's funny.
I was listening to WADO in Sylvie the other day and they had Mike wilbon ont speck for him, the journalist and writer and TV star, and he said, if it was him, he'd encourage him to seek out some of the greats of our city, members of the eighty five Bears. Go have dinner with them, Go have a cup of coffee, Go get a feel for what this city's all about. Go go have dinner with Michael Jordan. Good luck getting that reservation right with Michael or any
number you know. But he's already done it in a matter of manner of speaking, by being a Wrigley Field fan over the last decade or so and growing up watching WGN television and watching Cubs games and sports on WGN.
So, yeah, this is.
Asheville, North Carolina born and bred, University of North Carolina walk on quarterback. It seems to me this was meant to be a little bit Chicago was meant to be for this young guy.
You know you.
I remember in the interview you asked him if he could imagine as a little kid in Asheville, North Carolina, that he'd be sitting here today, and he said, no, but I would like to hear some of the conversations as the teenagers between he and his brother, when the kind of started feeling or realizing what your future is gonna be. And then the first time that you really hooked into that fish and you go, oh my god, it's got me, It's got me, and it's never gonna
let me go. You swallowed the hook of football and you're still on that line. So I got to imagine some of those conversations with the brother of to where you're at now has got to be amazing.
For savings in service, get more with Geico and have a new or gently used coat land around well. Head to your local jewel as go until February tenth and donate one of your new or gently used coach to the thirty sixth annual Chicago Bears Coat Drive help keep Chicagoans warm this winter. Ryan Poles really focused on the progressive offensive mind as Johnson and his quote mind toward innovation things you've touched on. But I think he also was enamored with this no that there are going to
be high standards, there's going to be discipline. He's going to push these players and challenge these players, these same players of which many are the leaders that went and said, hey, we need to be challenged first and foremost Caleb Williams and held accountable. And I did talk with Caleb one on one. We'll hear that on our next episode and also on their Bears Weekly show on Thursday night on
ESPN Radio one thousand. This is what they've been asking for and he's going to deliver it to him some terms that we've heard from other coaches. You know, be comfortable with the uncomfortable. It's the same thing that Kevin Warren speaks of. I am a big proponent and I said it in the interview. You know, Ryan Poles has sat a long time ago. The hard way is the
right way, and I do subscribe to those concepts. Life's not simple, and you got to go through the heart to get to the end and to become a winner. In all walks of life, nothing's easy, no linear path. It is not simple, especially in this sport, in this league where there are so few that make it to the final, the final game, which is the Super Bowl, and so few have won that game at that quarterback
position or at the head coaching position. So I get a kick out of those I don't know, you're I don't know if you're that type of guy.
You know, you're just.
Well, you're you're about Yeah, it's you and I are different in that regard because you're an athlete and I'm not.
Let me, you know, make reference to one of the points when they brought up the repeated word by a lot of guys in the postseason, of accountability, and he talked about reference to accountability and what it means to a team. But it's also realizing that the message of accountability is going to come from the leaders inside the locker room. And I do think it's super important to make sure that you have those guys who are accountable and they're held accountable by other players, either at your
position or leaders inside that locker room. And that's what needs with the leadership of Ben Johnson in this coaching staff and Ryan Poles and Kevin and George and everybody, that has to be the message that started today from the podium and carries a tremendous amount of weight throughout the entirety of the regular season.
Tom, I wish you were here to see the expression on Caleb William's face when he sat down. He's very relaxed, seems refreshed, re energized. After that season, it may have been one of the more toughest seasons we've seen.
A quarterback go through.
And it had to be emotionally draining, physically draining, spiritually draining. Because you don't get a break as the number one pick in the NFL Draft. You go right back to work from after playing your college season. You never really find time to breathe. He had a moment to breathe, and now he's going to dive in deep. But he seems ready to take on that challenge.
You know, for Ben Johnson, for Caleb.
So the hardest part for Caleb is over going through that first year. Now it's Ben Johnson understands the template that he has to develop and mold into the quarterback that he ultimately sees winning a division and winning the Super Bowl. And I think any coach that was recruited by a lot of professional teams, he was most excited about the key position in place, and that's Caleb Williams.
You know, It's almost like a Bob Ross painting. When he paints the background, you can't tell what it it's going to be, and then a half hour later it's one of the prettiest pictures that you could ever imagine. And you can't believe how talented the guy is. And I think that's a little bit about Caleb. You got that base coat down, now let's paint the picture of his future success.
So he told the media that gathered to speak with him here at Hallisa quote, he told me, it will be my offense and build it around me. What kind of weight does that carry for Caleb now that he's got that green light.
Well, first of all, you understand the athleticism you're dealing with. You understand the accuracy that you have. You understand the courage inside the pocket that you're going to start developing. You understand the assets and the move, the ability to throw on the move. This is not a thirty six
year old Jared Golf. This is a twenty something young Caleb Williams that has his future ahead of him, and he's got all the athleticism in the world, all the arm talent in the world, all the vision, the intelligence that you need.
So that's what I'm saying.
You're developing just the base of a canvas, and eventually it's it's gonna be an an ultimate you know, just a beautiful painting with a lot of details.
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So to roll up your sleeves time where Ryan Polls, Ben Johnson and everybody else in the building to now secure the right group of coaches to take care of the rest of the job, the positions, the coordinators and whatnot. So I think there's going to be a lean towards experience that will help a first time head coach.
I think that's wise and smart.
I'm not sure how that's all going to play out in the end, but they're actively doing that right now. And in other cases, with Aaron Glenn leaving now Detroit going to the New York Jets as their head coach, Detroit's gonna lose, lose some things, some players.
There's going to be coaches leaving beyond just.
Those two coordinators, So you know you're you're somewhat weakening your opponent right out of the gate with this decision to bring Ben Johnson here and the removal of Aaron Glenn who did such a great job with a depleted defense and kept them viable right through the bitter end into the NFC divisional loss.
Well, I think that's a key ingredient of getting Ben Johnson Ben Johnson hired right now, is to make sure that he can get into that pool of really good assistant coaches and get him hired as quickly as possible. Detroit also lost their defensive line coach, was a highly prized possession that's going to New England.
So if you can.
Get on that board, get a board. And I'm sure Ben Johnson has had a lot of coaches in mind for you know, the last couple of years, considering he's been one of the key candidates to become an NFL head coach, and so hopefully a lot of those pieces have already been in place. Now you have the opportunity to go out there and offer them a Chicago Bear opportunity, and I hope they capitalize on it. And he puts together a staff that gets into that building and starts
putting implementing their plan together. And like he said, he's going to have a big role on offense, but now he's head coach, he's going to have a role on defense and special teams as well. So you're going to have to efficiently divide your time up and make sure, like you said, I'm going to get an offensive coordinator that I have one hundred percent trust in that can set the table and then we'll work it from there.
For savings and service get more with Geico put also something into focus. Obviously, he was a North Carolina quarterback, a walk on, as we indicated and then developed a relationship with. At that time offensive coordinator at North Carolina was John Shupe, someone we became quite familiar here with two thousand and one, two thousand and three for the Bears, now coaching in Europe, still coaching, talk about or really
a grinder, that's exactly who John Shupe was. Bears went to the playoffs on that one season that was our first season together as play by play crew with Hubarcish.
It was a wonderful season.
It was a playoff season and we got to know him, and I got to know him in a way that fire. I mean, he was very intense, but he's the one who encouraged Ben to get into coaching. So that's what he did. Grad assistant in Boston College. Happened to share the same little tiny office with Ryan Poles did as a grad assitizen a year prior, which is kind of fascinating. And then three years there in Chestnut Hill, including a
twenty eleven as tight ends coach. So then seven years in Miami he was offensive assistant, assistant quarterbacks coach, tight ends coach, assistant wide receivers coach, wide receivers coach. That's significant. That's a lot of different coaches and exposures that you saw there. Then he went to Detroit with Dan Campbell. There was a time when he didn't work because you heard in the interview I did with him, didn't know what was going to happen with his career. So that
was an adverse situation that he got through. But he also is a grinder.
You could tell.
You could tell from talking to other people about him, and that also is he's all about ball is no nonsense. He has already set the standard and the bar for what this team is going to be expected to be.
And usually people.
Who are in that position Tom for the first time, they make statements and this is how we think we're going to be. But you always hear it takes a while before the culture is set or the identity of the team. I believe that that's almost already set. This is he laid out the game plan of what they want to be.
Yeah, but he's familiar with the Bears. He's been preparing against these guys now for the last few years. He understands the division. He understands what he's up against when he's facing the defense of the Green Bay Packers or the defense of the Detroit Lions whomever they hire, or Minnesota Vikings. So he's so far ahead of the hiring process that most of these guys have been in our lifetime that he can already see the future and he's got to look at the horizon. And the thing about is, Jeff,
what have we known one hundred assistant coaches throughout our career? Yes, every one of these guys are grinders, man, because it is not an easy life. You got to be willing to pick up and move every year two or three. And so when Ben Johnson finally, ultimately through all this hard work and grinding, gets an opportunity, it's not a relief. The pressures on. And I'm encouraged by what I hear out of him about what he sees for this team and what he imagines for the immediate future.
What's interesting to me.
You had some of the NFL writers, the national experts on the NFL theorizing or kind of predicting, well, does he really want to stay in a division that has three of the best teams in football, three playoff teams coming from Detroit included, to come to the Bears, a team that has struggled here over the last fifteen years, or you.
Know, is he going to go a different path?
And this guy had no interest in doing anything but staying right where he is. He wants to face the best and he wants this challenge. This is what he wants.
I love it.
Well, okay, let's I mean, we're not going to talk about him, but you take every other job in consideration that's open, and you think of the pieces they have in place as opposed to the pieces they have in place here in Chicago.
You get interviewed on Zoom and then all.
Of a sudden you're driven into Hallis Hall and it's the taj Mahal of facilities in the NFL. Everything that you need to make your football team the best team possible is right there in front of you down nineteen twenty Football Drive. And so don't paint a picture that this site is a better place for you to be than where you're at. The decision you made and where you're at. Sell me on some other team and I'll debate it with you.
This podcast is brought to you by the official beer partner of your Chicago Bears tastes like Middle Time Chicago. Go to middle ninke dot com slash Bears pod to find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ninety six calories and three point two cards per twelve ounces. A couple of notes real quick here all four conference championship teams. Tom, I don't know if you've heard this. Zero turnovers in the playoffs. You think ball security is
going to be number one goal this weekend? I didn't know that.
Well, you know, it's the thing that surprises me about it is in some of the outdoor games that they played in already that it's it's surprising that ball security was not an issue in some of those games. The only time the ball security was when Mark Andrews unfortunately dropped the two point conversion. But does that mean it's an offensive league or the these are offensive teams that are, you know, fighting for the championship because I kind of
look at a team like Philadelphia. Philadelphia kind of reminds me of the eighty five Bears because they have an experienced defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and Buddy Ryan. Then you have a quarterback that statistics aren't gaudy, but they have a running back who's a Hall of Famer. They have an offensive line that could be considered one of the best in the NFL, and they have a defensive line that can go toe to toe with them. I look at them and even and if you look at you know,
Jalen Hurts has two touchdowns, McMahon had two touchdowns. Jalen Hurts is sixty something percent. McMahon was fifty nine percent.
So if you.
Look at the comparative, the comparisons right now of a team that has the opportunity to do what Philly could possibly do. It reminds me of the eighty five Bears.
That's an interesting look at you. Nicely done, nicely done. What about the other side of the fence, AFC.
It's hard to deny that one of the greatest players in the history of the league. And Patrick Mahomes always has an idea. He always he's already thinking faster than all the other guys on defense. To me, Josh Allen has an opportunity to put himself on that next shelf, not necessarily the shelf of Patrick Mahomes or Brady and those guys, but he certainly is an incredible quarterback and he's got these guys into a battle for their life. To me, I still what haunts me and we talk
talked about it. Sixteen carries last week for Derrick Henry. You should be ashamed of yourself. He averaged five point eight or five point three yards per carry. If you didn't go into the game and the head coach said, look, offensive coordinator, he's going to carry the ball thirty times or don't come back in the locker room sixteen times In that game. That's why you're at home, and that's why Buffalo is moving on.
Lamar Jackson named MVP.
He deserves it.
He is the most one of the most incredible football players I've ever seen amongst a group of star athletes in the greatest sport in America. And Lamar Jackson deserves it. He's He's just an incredibly talented young man.
All right.
A couple other nuggets. This was from The Sun Times Mark Pottash. In Ben Johnson's three years as the Lions offensive coordinator, the Lions were fifteen and fifteen when allowing twenty three or more points. That's the most in the league in that span and second best winning percentage during that same time Fame, the Bears did not win any of the twenty five games that that happened to Oh
in twenty five. That offense gave you a shot to win when your defense, you know, did what they could, but sometimes because of injury and whatnot, they couldn't hold the other side.
That's crazy. That's a crazy stat to.
Ben Johnson press conference today.
Because like that, oh my goodness, and then the Lion season ended. What for Mike you said four or five days ago, is They've lost Ben Johnson, the lost Aaron Gunn, they lost Terrell Williams. Patriots defense and their offensive line coach. Hank Fraley, they say, is in the mix for the Seahawks offensive coordinator job or who knows what other jobs?
Right.
One of the biggest surprises in my football life thinking of Hank Frayley as an offensive coordinator, because I remember him well as a player. I see him on the sidelines and walking laps before the Detroit Chicago Bears games. And he doesn't give you that appearance, that template of an offensive coordinator because you know of his background of being an undersize thicker, middle thicker in the middle offensive lineman.
But if he gets the offensive coordinator job, I wish the best for him and I wish.
Him all the success in the world.
All right, Tom, the offensive line there, they don't want to let him go.
They're fighting for.
It, right.
You know, when you get a good offensive line coach, it's hard to hard to want that man to leave. There's some great ones, including the Philadelphia is stout They call him stout right, Jeff Stoutlin. Outstanding offensive line coach there in Philadelphia, really good offensive lineman in this particular final four of the NFL and that's going to be a big focus obviously for the Bears, that in the defensive line. So we'll be looking forward to breaking it
all down next week. Again, we'll have Caleb Williams on the podcast I sit down with him. Hope to have general manager Ryan Poles as well. Until then, Bears Weekly on Thursday night in the ESPN one thousand for town There, I'm Jeff Joniak.
Thanks for listening.
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