Bear Digest

League Insider Stokes the Bears and Ben Johnson Possibility

Analysis: SI's Albert Breer, appearing on ESPN AM-1000, made it clear Ben Johnson would have liked the Bears job last year when they decided to keep Matt Eberflus.

Gene Chamberlain

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson watches warm up before Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans.
Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson watches warm up before Sunday's win over the Tennessee Titans. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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With Matt Eberflus taking on criticism from all sides after the Hail Mary fiasco, it's not surprising replacement name are popping up.

The obvious one for the Bears or any team would be Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and the mere mention of his name in association with the job by one insider on Chicago's ESPN AM-1000 set off the Bears social media.

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer, talking on Dave Kaplan's show, suggestion Johnson might have been interested in coming to Chicago last year.

"He was definitely looking at the Chicago job last year," Breer told Kaplan. "So, I mean, there was definitely, oh, well, there were some people who thought that was the one he wanted. And obviously it didn't come open."

Johnson interviewed with the Washington Commanders, Seattle Seahawks, Carolina Panthers, L.A. Chargers and Atlanta Falcons. The Detroit Free Press reported he turned down an interview request with Tennessee and turned down an in-person interview with Carolina when he was thought to be the front-runner for the job.

He withdrew from the Washington job about the time the Commanders decided on hiring Dan Quinn.

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The one thing to note about Breer's comment was what he said of the job: "It didn't come open."

There was no open job in Chicago last year because Ryan Poles and Kevin Warren had decided they would go another year with Matt Eberflus.

After Sunday's fiasco, there will be many hoping Johnson is again available.

While talking on Kaplan's show, Breer was asked if he thought the available candidates might persuade a team's ownership or decision makers to fire a coach, the answer was "I think that stuff always plays in."

The irony in all of this is the Bears have their first winning record this late in a season since 2020 but firing talk is flying.

It shows how disappointing this rebuild has been overall, considering it's wide scope and how little the Bears have accomplished as they go along beating weak teams but lose to average teams or better.

Johnson is in his third year as Lions offensive coordinator, after coaching tight ends two years and being an offensive quality control coach one year. The first three years with them came under Matt Patricia and Darrell Bevell. Before that, he was a Dolphins assistant from 2012-2018, working with quarterbacks as the QB coach from 2013-15.

Johnson has a bit of a link with Bears GM Ryan Poles in that he was a grad assistant coach at Boston College in 2009 and 2010. Poles was an offensive lineman at Boston College a few years before Johnson was on the BC staff.

He does have another circuitous connection to the Bears in that he worked for former Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase and former Bears offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains in Miami.



The Lions are sixth on offense and first in scoring this year after the first two offenses Johnson had were fifth in scoring.

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.