The Chicago Bears are hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their head coach, league sources said Monday, landing arguably the most highly coveted head-coaching candidate in the NFL as they aim to stop a four-year playoff drought.
Chicago is turning to Johnson, one of the league’s fastest-rising offensive coaches, in hopes that pairing him with quarterback Caleb Williams could return the team to contention in the competitive NFC North.
Johnson and the Lions’ season ended Saturday when the team lost to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round. He is already beginning to fill out his staff; Johnson is expected to select former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen as his defensive coordinator, according to a league source.
The Bears fired Matt Eberflus 12 games into this season and finished the year 5-12 — their sixth consecutive season at .500 or worse. Chicago delivered a wide-ranging coaching search, officially interviewing 17 candidates. But Johnson was one of the leaders from the outset, and the team didn’t need to enter a finalist stage of interviews at Halas Hall to reach its decision.
Johnson’s interview with the Bears came on Jan. 11 over video conference. Only three candidates interviewed in-person: former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, former Carolina Panthers and Commanders coach Ron Rivera, and former Tennessee Titans running back and Tennessee State coach Eddie George. McCarthy was considered a serious contender for the job, but the franchise went for the big swing on a young, offensive-minded coach instead of the retread hire. The Bears would have been McCarthy’s third team.
Johnson, 38, called plays for one of the NFL’s best offenses in each of the past three seasons in Detroit, overseeing a group that helped transform the Lions into a Super Bowl contender. Over the last three seasons, Detroit led the NFL in points scored (1,478) and finished in the top five in offensive DVOA in 2023 and 2024. Three of the four highest-scoring seasons in Detroit’s 95-year history came under Johnson, including a franchise-record-setting 564-point season in 2024. Detroit put up 30 points in 10 different games this season, scoring 40 on six different occasions and 50 twice. The Lions’ 222-point differential in 2024 also broke a franchise record that stood since 1934.
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The offensive uptick propelled the Lions into one of the NFL’s best teams. Detroit’s 36 regular-season wins are the fourth-most in the NFL over the last three seasons. In 2023, the Lions won the NFC North for the first time since 1993. They also secured a playoff win and reached the NFC Championship Game, milestones not achieved in Detroit since 1991.
Johnson, who was a walk-on quarterback at North Carolina from 2004 to 2007 before beginning his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Boston College in 2009, first joined the NFL as a Miami Dolphins offensive assistant in 2012. He joined Detroit under Matt Patricia as an offensive quality control coach in 2019 and later served as tight ends coach before being promoted to passing game coordinator — and then offensive coordinator — under Dan Campbell.
Johnson received interest for head-coaching opportunities in the past, interviewing with the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders for openings last year. However, Johnson turned down those opportunities to remain with Detroit.
Johnson also interviewed virtually with the Jacksonville Jaguars, New England Patriots and Las Vegas Raiders during this cycle.
For the Bears to come out of this with Johnson says a lot about what they were able to sell him. Chicago has the cap space to keep adding players and the draft capital — including the No. 10 pick in April’s draft — to keep building the offensive and defensive lines. Johnson wasn’t fazed by the power structure of general manager Ryan Poles and president/CEO Kevin Warren, or the cycle of hiring the franchise has gone through. (He’ll be the team’s sixth full-time head coach since 2012.)
The Bears also believe they have the quarterback in Williams, the 2024 No. 1 pick, and for Johnson to take the job, he must believe in Williams, too.
One of Johnson’s biggest projects as offensive coordinator was developing quarterback Jared Goff, a cast-off from the Los Angeles Rams who reached a Super Bowl, but was believed to be a product of Sean McVay’s offensive system. After acquiring Goff in a trade that sent Matthew Stafford to the Rams, Goff finished his first season in Detroit with career lows in total yards (3,245) and touchdowns (19) while posting his lowest success rate (46.9 percent) as a passer since 2017.
Under Johnson, however, Goff has become one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Since 2022, Goff’s 0.194 EPA per play is fifth-highest among quarterbacks (minimum 1,000 plays), behind just Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes and Tua Tagovailoa. Goff posted three straight years of at least 4,000 yards under Johnson, the longest such streak of his career. In 2024, he set career highs in passing yards (4,629), passing touchdowns (37), completion percentage (72.4 percent), success rate (54.7 percent), yards per attempt (8.6), and QBR (68.5).
Johnson also made the most of the talent around Goff, especially young talent. Wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown, a fourth-round pick, finished the 2023 and 2024 season in the top five in the league in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. In 2023, tight end Sam LaPorta set a then-rookie record for tight-end receptions (86) while scoring the second-most receiving touchdowns for a tight end in NFL history. In 2024, Jahmyr Gibbs finished third in the league among running backs in yards per carry (5.6) and finished top-five in total rushing yards (1,412) on just 14.7 carries per game.
Johnson is also heralded as one of the most aggressive and inventive play callers in the league. The Lions have attempted 110 fourth-down conversions since Johnson came aboard, the second-most in the league over that span. Since 2022, the Detroit Lions have had six non-skill position players with receptions, including touchdown receptions by Goff and tackle Dan Skipper. No other team has more than three such players catching passes over those three years.
— Jeff Howe and Dianna Russini contributed reporting.
This story will be updated. More to come.
(Photo: Michael Reaves / Getty Images)
