It’s time for some predictions about the new Bears head coach!
As the Bears are having their first practices of the 2025 season, let’s have some fun. For obvious reasons, we’ve been focused on the Bears in 2025 and how many strides they will take. But let’s zoom out and let’s look at Ben Johnson.
Question of the Day: How good will Ben Johnson’s Chicago Bears career be?
Let’s decide just how good Ben Johnson will be when looking at the history of Chicago Bears coaches. The Bears are a unique franchise with George Halas eating up so much of the team’s history that stretches for over 100 years.
But the Bears have had other successes under other coaches. Obviously, there’s 1985, there’s 2006, and there are a couple of others too! How much success will Ben Johnson have?
My answer: Alright, well, let’s look at the Bears franchise. Halas was basically the Bears’ head coach from 1920 to 1967, but he wasn’t the head coach exclusively. There were some other coaches in the mix there, but they almost filled in for Halas and had unique situations where they were only there for a short time, or it was during World War II. So while Paddy Driscoll reached a championship game in one of his two seasons, the wartime tandem of Luke Johnsos and Hunk Anderson even won a title, I don’t think you can rank them as all-time great coaches due to their unique situations.
So there’s George Halas, he sits atop the Bears coaching ranks and is near the top of the all-time NFL ranks as well. Second all-time has to be Mike Ditka, who was the captain of the 1985 Bears team that won the Super Bowl and several other teams that had excellent seasons, including a 14-2 campaign, and two other seasons that ended in the NFC Championship game. Third on the list is Lovie Smith, who had several solid seasons and reached one Super Bowl, but couldn’t bring home the championship.
Fourth on the list is probably Matt Nagy. Perhaps Bears fans would argue against that, but it’s irrelevant for this discussion. If Ben Johnson isn’t better than Matt Nagy, we have some serious problems in Chicago.
Let’s be honest, if the expectation is that the Bears have the best offensive play caller they’ve ever had or have had in the modern era, and the best quarterback they’ve ever had, or at least, best they’ve ever had in the modern era, than the expectation has to be that this team will win a Super Bowl.
If you are excited for Ben and Caleb and don’t have Super Bowl expectations, then the bar isn’t high enough. I am a part of that group. I think Ben and Caleb will eventually win at least one Super Bowl. That puts him ahead of Lovie Smith because you have to expect they will have several other winning campaigns as well.
When you look at Ditka, it gets more challenging. Some fans may want to say, “But Buddy Ryan,” and I get that, but Ditka was the man in charge of those teams, so I’m awarding him the success as the head coach. Ditka had 7 seasons with 10 or more wins, and he had a 4-year stretch where the team averaged a 13-3 record from 1985 through 1988. That’s truly remarkable.
Even if Ben has sustained success, unless it’s some sort of insane Mike Tomlin-like run, you have to imagine even Ben wouldn’t reach the consistent heights of the 1980s Chicago Bears. So for Ben to pass Ditka’s success, he’s going to need to win a second Super Bowl.
I truly believe the Bears got this right. If you believe the Bears got this right, then you should believe that Ben Johnson will be here for 10 years, maybe 20 years. You have to believe that Caleb Williams will be here for 10 years, maybe 15 years. I have hope that it could be that successful.
Again, if that’s the case, the odds are good that even if the Bears don’t win a second Super Bowl, they make an appearance in at least one or two more, perhaps win a second title. If Johnson and Williams can have that kind of success, then yes, Johnson will surpass Ditka. That puts him second on the all-time list.
Now, Halas. Caleb Williams has said that he wants to have a Tom Brady-like career, and he wants to win eight Super Bowls. If he and Johnson have a Belichick-Brady type run where they win obscene amounts of Super Bowls, then yes, Johnson will surpass Halas and become the greatest coach in Bears history.
But even I’m not that optimistic.
I think in the era of parity and the Salary Cap, that there are limitations to success, and I can’t see some sort of mega dynasty. I just hope for sustained success.
I think Johnson clears Lovie Smith, and I think there’s a good chance he even surpasses Mike Ditka. When it’s all said and done, Ben Johnson will be the second greatest coach in Chicago Bears history.
I think any of us would sign up for that in a minute.
What do you say, Bears fans? Are you as high on Ben Johnson as Bill is? How good can he be? Sound off in the comments below!