Now that Ben Johnson has got his feet under him as the new Chicago Bears head coach, it is time for him to fill out a staff.
We have already begun seeing some departures from the old regime. And while the Matt Eberflus staff might’ve had some OK coaches, it makes sense for the Bears to usher in a new era in as many different ways as possible. Frankly, splitting ties with coaches from the old regime is probably the best way to go about fully moving on. Again, this isn’t to say that there won’t be any holdovers. However, I do not imagine there will be many.
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With that being said, I have identified five assistant coach positions that I think are the most important for Ben Johnson to fill out in Year 1 as a head coach. I do not have them listed in any particular order. But just know that these are some key hires that, if he nails them, will help put the Bears in a better position moving forward.
5 Important Hires For New Bears Head Coach Ben Johnson
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR
With the Bears hiring an offensive-leaning head coach, it makes bringing on a quality defensive coordinator that much more important. In essence, Ben Johnson’s defensive coordinator hire is going to be the head coach of the defense. With that in mind, it would be nice if the Bears hired someone who will come having had previous head coaching experience. Hence, Dennis Allen makes a ton of sense as the top candidate to get the gig. In an ideal world, Allen could be to the Bears what Steve Spagnuolo is for the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Perhaps a better comp for Johnson-Allen might be to re-visit how Sean McVay hired Wade Phillips to run his defense with the Los Angeles Rams. Maybe we’ll dive deeper into that if and when the Bears make that hire officially official.
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR
On the one hand, the offensive coordinator hire is not as important because Ben Johnson will be calling the plays. But on the other hand, I do not want to completely look past this potential hire. The Bears could go in several different directions when it comes to an offensive coordinator hire. Ideally, it would be someone who can help with the development of the offensive line. Perhaps a coach who has a history with running back development could be helpful here. Maybe this is a good job for a quarterback whisperer.
One important thing a good offensive coordinator can do for a play-calling head coach is be a sounding board. Having a coach who listens, provides feedback, and serves as an intermediary between the head coach, players, and even other coaches is something that could be valuable to this staff.
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH
The bad news is that the Chicago Bears offensive line is a mess. But the good news is that Head Coach Ben Johnson and General Manager Ryan Poles have already been discussing plans to fix it. In case you missed it, this is what Johnson had to say about the offensive line during his introductory press conference on Wednesday:
โI think offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward. Something that Ryan and I already talked about. We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done. But Iโm looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach into the building to help develop the young talent we already have on the roster, and we will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well. I certainly was blessed the last few years with the men that I worked with, and that was something I would love to replicate here as well.โ
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That Johnson is already on record expressing how important it is to bring in an offensive line coach who can help develop talent speaks to where his priorities are when it comes to re-creating his superb offense in Chicago. The Bears have offensive tackles Braxton Jones and Darnell Wright on their rookie contracts. Reserve offensive lineman Kiran Amegadjie is another young player who could use some tutelage from a top-notch offensive line coach.
I do not think Chicago’s offensive line is as bad as it performed last season. But until that group works together in unison instead of five linemen playing individually, we won’t see the best version of that unit. With that in mind, it is of the utmost importance to get this hire right.
QUARTERBACKS COACH
Don’t get it twisted. Ben Johnson is going to have his fingerprints all over Caleb Williams‘ development. But because Ben is the head coach, there will be limitations to how much time he can spend with Caleb. This is where having a quality quarterbacks coach is important. Sometimes, I feel as if a QB coach’s importance can be overstated. However, I think a good one can help be an extension of the head coach and relay their message to the quarterback.
The Green Bay Packers had a good one in Tom Clements, who helped guide Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, and Jordan Love. I realize that coaches like Tom Clements don’t grow on trees. But if the Bears can find their own version of that kind of coach, it could do wonders for Chicago’s QB1 (while also taking some of the pressure off its head coach).
GAME CLOCK MANAGER
Technically, this isn’t a position just yet. But maybe it should be. NFL coaches have been bungling clock management scenarios for as long as I can remember. And I imagine shortcomings in that particular area date back to the game’s inception. With that being said, it feels like it would be of the utmost importance to have someone on your staff responsible for handling these situations. For what it’s worth, Ben Johnson has a basic level of understanding when it comes to clock management. At a minimum, it is better than what Matt Eberflus had โ which I suppose isn’t saying much.
In the end, I think it would be cool if part of Johnson’s hiring process included a position for an assistant whose job is to understand in-game time management and relay the most pertinent information to the head coach so they can make the best decision.