The Chicago Bears arguably made the biggest hire of the offseason, snatching Ben Johnson away from the Detroit Lions and naming him their head coach for the 2025 season. Johnson had spent the previous three years as the offensive coordinator of the Lions and helped turn Jared Goff into an MVP-level quarterback.
Well, all good things come to an end and Johnson left the Lions to become the Bears head coach over the offseason. This was a bitter pill for Lions fans to swallow and it was probably even worse for them after their offense looked anemic in Week 1 against the Packers defense.
As Johnson took the field for his first game back in Detroit since leaving, he was greeted with boos by the Lions faithful. It isn't surprising that Lions fans chose to boo Johnson considering that he not only left but did so for a hated division rival. Of course they're not going to support that move. Perhaps he'd have received a different reception if he took a job with a team in the AFC.
Ben Johnson booed by Lions fans in return to Detroit as Bears head coach
Johnson had tremendous success during his time as the offensive coordinator in Detroit and he even chose to stay in the Motor City for the 2024 season because he thought that Lions team had what it took to win it all. After the 2024 season wrapped up, however, it was clear that Johnson was going to leave Detroit to be a head coach somewhere.
Again, if he had chose to coach a team like the Jaguars, it might have been a different story for him when he returned to Detroit for the first time with another team. The fact that he chose to be the head coach of the Bears and then his team got so much hype in the offseason, however, had to really be annoying for Lions fans.
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Hopefully, Johnson can let his team do all of the talking for him in this one.