When he was announced as the Chicago Bears' head coach, Ben Johnson said how much he enjoyed "beating Matt LaFleur twice a year" as Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator. That stoked a rivalry right away, complete with a cold postgame handshake with the Green Bay Packers' head coach and a perfectly profane start to the postgame locker room celebration after that playoff win ("F**k the Packers!").
Johnson has made it refreshingly clear he does not like the Packers, or LaFleur for that matter, which all Bears fans can appreciate. Those who also intensely dislike LaFleur, possibly to the point of saying he has a highly "punchable face," would further channel Johnson's postgame sentiment.
Of course, on the other side of that equation, some others don't necessarily appreciate a perceived lack of decorum from Johnson toward LaFleur and the Packers. He should have nothing but nice things to say in public settings, of course, even if deep down he can't stand the coach or the team that is the chief rival of his.
Ben Johnson clearly couldn't care less about making nice with opponents
Well before the quick postgame handshake with LaFleur, Johnson had an awkward interview going into halftime with CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala back in Week 4 last season. Johnson apologized for the latter thing, since he clearly could've done a lot better in that setting, but he owes no apology to anyone for openly hating the Packers as he does.
At the recent league meetings in Phoenix, Johnson sat down with Herb Howard of "The Bigs". Howard asked him, in light of what he had said about the Packers, the quick handshake with LaFleur, and the interview with Kinkhabwala, whether he felt misunderstood. And if so, if that matters to him.
"I didn’t come into this league, or take this position, to necessarily make friends", Johnson said. "That’s not the case. I love what I do, I love who I’m doing it with. That’s the most important thing to me, and everything I do is with them in mind.”
Johnson's dislike for the Packers has been abundantly clear from the start of his time as Bears' head coach, and it's not going away. As for being generally misunderstood, he also made it clear he doesn't care if being understood or being a "nice guy" to "make friends" means he has to be disingenuous to earn that approval.
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That's a direct contrast to every head coach the Bears have had since Mike Ditka, and a welcome change of mode from the head coach's chair in Chicago.