The Chicago Bears needed a new head coach who could be the driving force for a new culture, and they tabbed Ben Johnson to be that tone setter. How a first-time head coach will assert himself is always an unknown, but Johnson wasted no time in showing he was more than just one of the top offensive play-callers in the league.
A 0-2 start to this season could have led to things going off the rails. But players stayed bought in, and the results followed as the Bears went 11-6, won the NFC North, and won a playoff game in Johnson's first season.
Johnson also easily resonated with Bears fans with his unvarnished dislike of the Green Bay Packers and his "good, better, best" postgame locker room mantra. Oh, and he took his shirt off in a postgame locker room to get local fans free hot dogs from "The Wieners Circle."
For the first time in a long time, the Bears have the look of a sustainable contender under the guidance of Johnson.
Chris Simms says it all about Ben Johnson
Appearing with Adam Hoge, Greg Braggs, and Mark Carman of CHGO from Radio Row at Super Bowl LX, NBC Sports NFL analyst Chris Simms was asked about Johnson.
"I think Ben Johnson's the man...He's a psycho and all good coaches are psychos", Simms said. (Kyle) Shanahan's a psycho, (Sean) McVay's a psycho. (Mike) Vrabel's a psycho....you gotta be a psycho. I think you guys see that in the press conferences. And I mean psycho in a good way, it's all about football, pushing buttons to be better at football."
"The toughness of the football team, is because of Ben Johnson", Simms said.
Simms acknowledged his close relationship with 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, but when he watches Johnson's offense, it's "as special as it gets," and to him, on film, it's the only offense around that "rivals Shanahan."
Simms continued to praise Johnson, saying he has the "Midas touch" in being hard on players while also offering positive reinforcement. When Hoge noted that Johnson proved he was more than an offensive mind during training camp, Simms noted that the best teams typically reflect the coach's personality. The Bears reflect the personality of their coach in the best way now.
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All in all, nothing Simms said about Johnson was a great revelation for Bears' fans and followers. But it is nice to have an outside perspective reinforce what seemed so obvious from up close this season.