Everyone knew the Bears got a brilliant offensive strategist and quarterbacking technician when they hired Ben Johnson as coach. But he’s hardly the “snot-nosed computer punk” Lions coach Dan Campbell, his old boss, playfully described him as.
While this team certainly needed play-calling expertise, it also needed a power surge. And from the way he presents himself in team meetings to his brash confidence on the sideline and boisterous postgame speeches, Johnson has been a double shot of espresso for a team that grew bored of predecessor Matt Eberflus’ uninspiring style.
“It’s better than it’s ever been,” nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon told the Sun-Times. “His ability to relate to all the players and get everyone to feel where he’s coming from and his energy is just different from what we had the last three years — very much so.
“Once you get to the rest of the team and they see his concept with his energy behind it, we all believe it. No one can be half in, half out.”
Johnson adopted pieces of his philosophy from various coaches throughout his 17-year career, including former Bears coaches John Shoop, Mike Martz and Adam Gase, and the Campbell influence certainly has been evident lately.
The former computer-software engineer with a math degree isn’t wearing a pocket protector during his postgame speeches in the locker room. He was at full volume Monday night at Northwest Stadium after the Bears pulled out a 25-24 victory, telling the team, “Did it go up and down? You never blinked, not for one [expletive] second. . . . We found a [expletive] way.”
He talked to the players like he was one of them. He’s saying what they’re feeling and gets buy-in.
“That stuff’s contagious, especially when you’re the head coach,” said right guard Jonah Jackson, who also played for Johnson in Detroit. “He’s a very smart guy, a wizard with his play-calling, but he’s a North Carolina boy, and he’s got some vinegar in there.”
Eberflus was less vinegar and more . . . skim milk?
Two years earlier, after a blowout win in the same stadium, he celebrated by revisiting his pregame talking points in a droning, awkward speech. Imagine how tiresome he must’ve been to listen to as the losses accumulated.
With the Bears standing 3-2 going into their game Sunday against the Saints, everything about them seems better than in the Eberflus era. It’s early in the season, and there’s a long way to go to truly get things right, but this is a good start. They look and feel like a team on a good trajectory.
Johnson, who, at 39, is 16 years younger than Eberflus, seems to be on 11 at all times. He always has been like that. When he was coming up as an assistant, one of his former bosses said soon after practice began that Johnson’s shirt would be a much darker shade of gray from running all over the field.
On the sideline, quarterback Caleb Williams said Johnson will sometimes preface a play by saying, “This is a great play-call right here. Here we go.” That sparks something in Williams, who spent his college years playing for another feisty up-and-comer in Lincoln Riley.
“Those little things actually provide confidence when you’re about to run the play,” Williams said.
Johnson never fully got the chance to show this side of his personality until now. He always had been in a supporting role, even as he rose to prominence as Lions offensive coordinator the last three seasons. Whether it was under Joe Philbin and Gase with the Dolphins or Campbell with the -Lions, he had to defer to the head coach.
The key is to get a sense of when to restrain yourself and when to let it fly. And to keep winning. Any approach looks good when it gets results and wears thin when it doesn’t. The best coaches adapt to each moment.