PHOENIX – Ben Johnson did not grow up dreaming about becoming an NFL head coach, but as he enters his second season in that role with the Bears, it's clear that he has found his calling.
"I love being around the guys," Johnson told ChicagoBears.com this week at the NFL owners meetings. "I love being in the locker room after wins. I love being in the locker room after losses, too, because you don't experience that in many other professions. It's just the emotional toll that it takes, the camaraderie. All the things that make football such a beautiful game, you miss when you're away from it."
Johnson did in fact spend a year away from the game; after graduating from North Carolina in 2008 with degrees in mathematics and computer science, he landed a job as a software developer. Interestingly, coaching was never on his radar when he was playing quarterback in high school and college.
The Bears coach starred at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, N.C., winning a state championship as a junior and being named conference player of the year as a senior. He then served as a reserve walk-on at North Carolina.
That all changed in 2009 when Johnson accepted a graduate assistant position at Boston College. In that role, he developed a passion for the profession but still didn't have any designs on becoming a head coach down the road.
"I didn't even know when I got done playing that I wanted to coach," Johnson said. "I kind of tipped my toe into it. I really fell in love with the coaching aspect [at Boston College] and was able to transition that into a gig with the Miami Dolphins. But nowhere along the line was [I thinking] 'I'm getting into this to be a head coach.' That was never the thought process."
Johnson spent seven seasons in multiple roles as a Dolphins assistant from 2012-18. Hired by the Lions in 2019, he steadily climbed from offensive quality coach to offensive coordinator. In his final two seasons as OC in 2023-24, Detroit led the NFL in points (30.1) and yards (402.2) per game.
The first time that Johnson started wanting to become an NFL head coach was during the 2024 offseason.
"I knew immediately after we lost the divisional game against San Francisco that I wanted to come back to Detroit," he said. "And yet as I went through the spring and summer, that's where probably for the first time I was like, 'Man, I'm starting to feel that itch,' or that it could be time next year. I've always trusted my gut in decisions like that. As the summer finished and as the season started, I certainly felt that calling a little bit."
That calling led Johnson to the Bears. In his first season, he was named a finalist for the NFL Coach of the Year Award after leading them to their first NFC North title since 2018 and first playoff win since 2010. Under his direction, they rebounded from a 5-12 record in 2024 to go 11-6, tied for the third largest season-to-season improvement in franchise history.
"The best advice I got was from [defensive coordinator and former NFL head coach] Dennis Allen soon after I took the job," Johnson said. "He was like, 'You just come into work every day expecting something to hit your desk that you weren't anticipating.' When you come in with that in mind, you're really not taken unawares a whole lot. You learn to be flexible, you learn to trust people around you, and that's been the best part of it.
"I've loved coming to work every single day over the past 12-plus months. I wake up literally every morning and can't wait to get into work. I love these guys that I'm working with, and I love being with the players. The best part of it is being around the guys."
Johnson's favorite aspect of his job is the weekly game preparation.
"I love the grind," he said. "I know it's not for everybody; I know some guys live for gameday. I love the course of the week because I really feel like that's where you develop your edge. That's where you get your leg up, and when you get to gameday, it makes things easier for you. I love the in-season process: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, install a plan, see it come together and then finally on gameday see it come to life. That's always been the cool thing.
"With the head-coaching role, you get the ability to set the schedule and the practices, how it's going to look, and so a lot of that's a puzzle that I've come to appreciate as well, just trying to think what's best for our guys … There's always something every single day that's challenging that makes you use your brain."
Johnson certainly used his brain assembling his staff. While many NFL head coaches hire friends or assistants they've previously worked with, he instead sought out intense, teacher types he felt were the best fits.
"I suppose it probably stems from when I was a young coach having a hard time finding my footing in this league," Johnson said. "It seemed when new coaches get hired they just automatically hire their buddies. Sometimes that's good. The good news is you get loyalty. That's usually a given when you do that, but I don't know that you're necessarily hiring the best guys for that particular job when you do that.
"[I felt that] if I got into a situation where I could hire people that I wanted to go through the process and make sure that I fully vetted it and thought it through and made sure that they were phenomenal teachers, that they were going to be demanding and they're good coworkers to be with too, that they fit in right, because it's really the mix that's the most important thing that I've come to learn.
"You don't want a bunch of idea guys. You don't need a bunch of idea guys; you need a couple of them. You need a bunch of them that are good on the grass; that can really get the most out of the players there. You need experience, youth. I think if you just automatically hire people that you worked with in the past or your friends, you just miss out on some really good coaches out there.
I remember Mike Sherman, who was my first coordinator in the league. He said some of the best coaches in this world are high school coaches, they just didn't get a chance to coach in college or coach in the NFL, and I think he's right about that. There's something to be said for that. I haven't hired a high school coach yet, but I do think there's a lot of merit there."
