The Bears had targeted Johnson as their top candidate since firing head coach Matt Eberflus the day after Thanksgiving. They were convinced that his play-calling acumen and leadership skills were a perfect pairing with quarterback Caleb Williams and the rest of the Bears’ roster.

Halas Hall is haunted by past failures, but the Bears may have stumbled into a good hire. He’s creative and fiery and he runs the dang ball.

New Bears coach Ben Johnson realizes it won't hurt to add coaches who have been around the track a few times to complement his own relative inexperience.