Not many Chicago Bears fans are going to forget the memories of the 2025 season thanks to what first-year head coach Ben Johnson did for the team.
Chicago finished the season with an 11-6 record, winners of the NFC North, and came back from 18-points down to beat the Green Bay Packers in dramatic fashion in the NFC Wild Card Round. Johnson transformed the offense from the worst in the NFL in 2024 to one of the top five in the league this past year.
It was a near-magical 2025 season that the Bears hope to build on as they enter the second season with Johnson, who is waiting to hear whether he will win Coach of the Year. Despite all that success in one year, some are still not putting Johnson where he needs to be.
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ESPN NFL writer Bill Barnwell ranked all the best hires in the NFL since the 2021 season. Johnson found himself in the top 10, which is great, but still behind two of his NFC North Division rivals: Detroit Lions' Dan Campbell at No. 1 and Minnesota Vikings' Kevin O'Connell at No. 7.
"The prodigy. Bears fans treated Johnson like a superstar addition when they landed the Lions' offensive coordinator as their next head coach, and so far, he has generally lived up to the hype. There have been game management issues, especially early in the season, but Johnson quickly built one of the league's best run games and helped refine quarterback Caleb Williams' game.
The Bears benefited from excellent timing and good fortune late in games in 2025, which might not stick around, but I'm not sure you can find a Bears fan on the planet who is upset with the decision to hire Johnson after one season."
There's, of course, an understanding that Campbell and O'Connell will have an advantage since they have coached more seasons than Johnson, but Johnson had a better first season than Campbell. Campbell went 3-13-1 in his first year as the head coach in 2021, and O'Connell went 13-4 in his first year back in 2022, but lost in the Wild Card Round.
Not only did Johnson have a winning record in his first year, but he also won his division and won a playoff game. That is something he was able to do in all three categories that Campbell and O'Connell were not able to do in their first years.
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Johnson can use this as motivation to drive him into his second season, but Bears fans know he doesn't need it; he will want to get one on his former boss and new arch-rival in Minnesota.