It's Ben Johnson

[BearFan PHX]

Breaking news from my guys with inside sources, saying Johnson is the guy, and the decision is made.

If you see it in mainstream press in the next hour, then that's a pretty good sign my guys do in fact have their sources

But yeah, it's real.

[BearFan PHX]

OK, and now, AFTER my guys said it, Adam Schefter is confirming.

[BearFan PHX]

So now I'm 100% on the ben Johnson bandwagon. I sure hope he has the leadership skills necessary.

I'm also hoping for a tough DC, someone like Ron Rivera would be ideal.

I am more optimistic about this head coach than any we've had in quite a while.

FWIW we could have had this last year and been a year ahead at this point, but Poles kept Flus. I knew that was a mistake at the time. But Caleb did grow this year, and here we are.

Lets go!

[CrackerDog]

Bravo!  Now let’s hope it for real happens!   Anyone remember the Dave McGinnis fiasco?  LOL

You’re right about a great DC and RR would be fine with me. 

[BearFan PHX]

17 minutes ago, CrackerDog said:

Bravo!  Now let’s hope it for real happens!   Anyone remember the Dave McGinnis fiasco?  LOL

You’re right about a great DC and RR would be fine with me. 

hahaha they'd better not pull a Dave McGinnis here. That was so outrageous, it's hard to believe it actually happened, but it did!

I have my concerns about Johnson, but i am ALL IN on him now. One thing we know for sure is FINALLY the Bears are going to run the ball effectively.

[Mongo3451]

11 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

I have my concerns about Johnson, but i am ALL IN on him now. One thing we know for sure is FINALLY the Bears are going to run the ball effectively.

When he signs, I'm all in.  So glad it's a top candidate. Bear down!

[BearFan PHX]

7 minutes ago, Mongo3451 said:

When he signs, I'm all in.  So glad it's a top candidate. Bear down!

it's so funny we are all nervous that it'll fall through. Any other franchise we wouldnt be this way, but the Bears have been SO dysfunctional, it makes concerns like yours valid.

Let's hope this is the beginning of a new era where we expect the Bears to do the right thing. Wouldnt that be nice?!

[ASHKUM BEAR]

Glad we got our guy and possibly the best available.  Now get to work and help Poles/Cunningham identify the players they need to reinvent the NFL.  I want to be as hated as the KC Chiefs.  

[Stinger226]

2 hours ago, BearFan PHX said:

So now I'm 100% on the ben Johnson bandwagon. I sure hope he has the leadership skills necessary.

I'm also hoping for a tough DC, someone like Ron Rivera would be ideal.

I am more optimistic about this head coach than any we've had in quite a while.

FWIW we could have had this last year and been a year ahead at this point, but Poles kept Flus. I knew that was a mistake at the time. But Caleb did grow this year, and here we are.

Lets go!

It has been clearly stated when Poles became GM, he didn't have a choice to pick the HC. . Last year he wasn't allowed to talk to Harbaugh and sure he wasn't allowed to fire Flus. So yesterday's decisions has nothing to do with today. They had focus on who they wanted and the first time he became available, they got him. All the interviews was clearly for insight on the state of their team. None of this is standard behavior for the Bears.

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, Stinger226 said:

It has been clearly stated when Poles became GM, he didn't have a choice to pick the HC. . Last year he wasn't allowed to talk to Harbaugh and sure he wasn't allowed to fire Flus. So yesterday's decisions has nothing to do with today. They had focus on who they wanted and the first time he became available, they got him. All the interviews was clearly for insight on the state of their team. None of this is standard behavior for the Bears.

I dont believe the first half. I think Poles deserves blame for keeping Flus. He also deserves credit for what he does right. He went out and got us the most highly sought after coach candidate.

He will also deserve the credit or blame depending on how Johnson does. I hope he does well of course.

For me Poles is in the middle somewhere. Some big mistakes, some eh moves and some really good moves. If he can put together a real OL this year and improve the pass rush, and Johnson does well Poles will deserve the credit he gets, and Im hoping for that.

[Stinger226]

1 hour ago, BearFan PHX said:

I dont believe the first half. I think Poles deserves blame for keeping Flus. He also deserves credit for what he does right. He went out and got us the most highly sought after coach candidate.

He will also deserve the credit or blame depending on how Johnson does. I hope he does well of course.

For me Poles is in the middle somewhere. Some big mistakes, some eh moves and some really good moves. If he can put together a real OL this year and improve the pass rush, and Johnson does well Poles will deserve the credit he gets, and Im hoping for that.

Ask your insiders what really happened. It has been reported by many sources, Warren wouldn't let Harbaugh come in for an interview, the rest is conjecture. Unless Poles or the bears come out and say who was responsible, no one knows for sure. I have an opinion just like you.

[BearFan PHX]

8 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Ask your insiders what really happened. It has been reported by many sources, Warren wouldn't let Harbaugh come in for an interview, the rest is conjecture. Unless Poles or the bears come out and say who was responsible, no one knows for sure. I have an opinion just like you.

well first of all I cant ask my insiders anything, I pay $7 a month and receive their content, I am just another guy in the audience! They did say last year that Warren was yelling at Poles, Warren wanted Flus fired, and Poles defended him.

I also agree that it has been widely reported that Kevin Warren rejected Harbaugh, so I think it is true as well, and it makes sense, given their tumultuous big ten relationship.

I'm not even sure I blame Poles for hiring Eberflus in the first place, but he definitely deserves blame for not firing him last year. If he was told he wasnt allowed to, and didnt put up a fight asserting his position, then he deserves blame for that. And that seems odd if he was able to hold back Warren's desire to fire him. So I do blame Poles for keeping Flus.

So in my mind Poles is not blameless, but neither is he all bad. I can see plusses and minuses and so it all rests on how he fixes the OL, the pass rush, and whether Johnson has the leadership chops to be a successful head coach.

[Stinger226]

13 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

well first of all I cant ask my insiders anything, I pay $7 a month and receive their content, I am just another guy in the audience! They did say last year that Warren was yelling at Poles, Warren wanted Flus fired, and Poles defended him.

I also agree that it has been widely reported that Kevin Warren rejected Harbaugh, so I think it is true as well, and it makes sense, given their tumultuous big ten relationship.

I'm not even sure I blame Poles for hiring Eberflus in the first place, but he definitely deserves blame for not firing him last year. If he was told he wasnt allowed to, and didnt put up a fight asserting his position, then he deserves blame for that. And that seems odd if he was able to hold back Warren's desire to fire him. So I do blame Poles for keeping Flus.

So in my mind Poles is not blameless, but neither is he all bad. I can see plusses and minuses and so it all rests on how he fixes the OL, the pass rush, and whether Johnson has the leadership chops to be a successful head coach.

I know who you're talking about now. Never read anything they stated that seemed like inside information. After you brought them up a yr or two ago I followed their podcast . The one guy is cool but the loudmouth didn't impress me at all. 

[Stinger226]

17 minutes ago, BearFan PHX said:

well first of all I cant ask my insiders anything, I pay $7 a month and receive their content, I am just another guy in the audience! They did say last year that Warren was yelling at Poles, Warren wanted Flus fired, and Poles defended him.

I also agree that it has been widely reported that Kevin Warren rejected Harbaugh, so I think it is true as well, and it makes sense, given their tumultuous big ten relationship.

I'm not even sure I blame Poles for hiring Eberflus in the first place, but he definitely deserves blame for not firing him last year. If he was told he wasnt allowed to, and didnt put up a fight asserting his position, then he deserves blame for that. And that seems odd if he was able to hold back Warren's desire to fire him. So I do blame Poles for keeping Flus.

So in my mind Poles is not blameless, but neither is he all bad. I can see plusses and minuses and so it all rests on how he fixes the OL, the pass rush, and whether Johnson has the leadership chops to be a successful head coach.

Poles carries accountability for some of the mess but I don't think the brass would allow him to fire Flus if he wanted to. Of course I don't know his true opinion but as you spoke that Flus was bad, Poles had to notice dysfunction too.

[BearFan PHX]

8 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

I know who you're talking about now. Never read anything they stated that seemed like inside information. After you brought them up a yr or two ago I followed their podcast . The one guy is cool but the loudmouth didn't impress me at all. 

the loudmouth is an ahole for sure, but he does excellent film analysis and player analysis pre draft. And he doesnt just give you his opinion, he shows you the film, and of course then we are free to see things the same way or think he is wrong. I find myself agreeing with him a lot.

Also youre right, they rarely have inside info. That's not their thing. So when he said what he said about Poles and Warren fighting, it got my attention, especially because it wasnt a headline, but buried deep in a podcast - I got the feeling it was just true that he'd heard that. I do know he has connections in Halas Hall, and Adam Rank and Courtney Cronin both respect him. The McCaskeys know them too, because they are always talking to them at events and stuff, but they dont give them a press pass, because they arent team friendly enough at all.

But your feelings about him as a loudmouth are 100% right. He is difficult to listen to - huge ego, extremely defensive and self promoting. BUT, his film analysis is the best I've seen - better than the ex NFL QBs I see on youtube etc. Epecially when it comes to OL analysis, run fits etc. I have learned more from him than anyone.

I dont necessarily take his opinion just because it's his, but when he illustrates the film, it is very enlightening.

Also, I think you have to pay the $7 a month on patreon to see the analysis stuff. The regular podcasts are long, and half the time he just talks about how smart they are and how they dont follow trends, and that is unpleasant and boring to me too.

[BearFan PHX]

10 minutes ago, Stinger226 said:

Poles carries accountability for some of the mess but I don't think the brass would allow him to fire Flus if he wanted to. Of course I don't know his true opinion but as you spoke that Flus was bad, Poles had to notice dysfunction too.

well yes we are all reading tea leaves, none of us KNOW, certainly not me.

[AZ54]

I'm still out of sorts because I'm so used to being left alone at the altar. 

My team, Da Bears, went out and hired the best coaching candidate.  They did it after interviewing a record 17 candidates (an insane number and very Bears-esque).   Then they were supposed to go through a second in-person interview with at least two or three candidates yet they suddenly shrugged off all the BS bureaucracy and just hired Ben Johnson via a phone call.  Further confounding this historical turn of events are the rumors that Ben Johnson just wanted the Bears job.  Which, given the fact he didn't even pursue other options, seems to be true.  

The odds of the Bears choosing the best HC candidate and being willing to pay for him...pretty small.   Odds the best HC candidate wants to come to Chicago...even smaller.  Yet here we are.   

Ben Johnson refused the Washington job last year.  Effectively walking away from it as they were headed to Detroit for a second round of interviews.  He just lost to them in the playoffs.  That is not why he's here but I guarantee you he's thinking "watch what I do with Caleb".     

[BearFan PHX]

46 minutes ago, AZ54 said:

I'm still out of sorts because I'm so used to being left alone at the altar. 

My team, Da Bears, went out and hired the best coaching candidate.  They did it after interviewing a record 17 candidates (an insane number and very Bears-esque).   Then they were supposed to go through a second in-person interview with at least two or three candidates yet they suddenly shrugged off all the BS bureaucracy and just hired Ben Johnson via a phone call.  Further confounding this historical turn of events are the rumors that Ben Johnson just wanted the Bears job.  Which, given the fact he didn't even pursue other options, seems to be true.  

The odds of the Bears choosing the best HC candidate and being willing to pay for him...pretty small.   Odds the best HC candidate wants to come to Chicago...even smaller.  Yet here we are.   

Ben Johnson refused the Washington job last year.  Effectively walking away from it as they were headed to Detroit for a second round of interviews.  He just lost to them in the playoffs.  That is not why he's here but I guarantee you he's thinking "watch what I do with Caleb".     

yeah i think we can say that the 17 candidates were in many cases not actual candidates, but intel gathering, coordinator hunting, intel hunting, favors and/opr Rooney rule interviews. Im glad we acted quickly to demonstrate that we werent lost in the wilderness, but just biding time until our guy came available.

I hope they picked the right guy.

But yes, you're right, the difference here is Caleb. And Johnson + Caleb will in turn help us find better coordinators and position coaches.

There is some argument that the Raiders job is not attractive because they have no QB, no picks to get one, and play in the AFC which is harder to succeed in right now.

But Caleb is the big sell, I agree.

Lets go!

[DABEARSDABOMB]

This was well executed by the Bears. No idea how it will play out - but I respect the game they played. 
 

They did deep research across the league and got to learn a ton with a wide spread interview process - but the second their numero uno candidate was available they bounced - and they opened up check book (he is going to be top 10 paid coach and I think I heard them say near top 5). 
 

It was clear they circled him a while ago and I bet they once Flus was gone they were already having other people make some contact. 
 

And Johnson’s first move as HC is hiring a former head coach as his DC - or at least it’s rumored that Dennis Allen will be DC. Love it. 
 

They are also looking at getting Saints special teams coach (who was the interim coach). When I think of Flus staff - he hired only positional goals and no one with a ton of experience (almost like he was afraid of talented coaches).

Johnson did opposite on defense. Curious to see what he does with OC - sounds like he is trying to poach his line coach from Detroit to be the OC. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Very excited - we have an OC who has a strong ground game, seems to be able to maximize oline talent and who has an awesome playaction game. He had done a lot with Goff - so excited to see what and how he can get Caleb to accelerate his growth and help him reach his potential!!! 
 

I hope the Bears aren’t cheap filling their staff - I imagine Allen wasn’t a cheap hire either. Colts were trying to get him. 

[DABEARSDABOMB]

Thought some of you might like this:

 

[BearFan PHX]

1 hour ago, DABEARSDABOMB said:

Thought some of you might like this:

 

oh YEAH, this is not something id heard or seen, and that is excellent news. This is my biggest worry with him\ - I will be THRILLED to be wrong!

[AZ54]

I listened to Mike Martz on Waddle and Silvy last night.  For whatever you think of him he has a great run in the NFL before defenses caught up to him.  He worked over year with Ben.  Said he was constantly asking questions about why they were doing things the way there were.  Very detail oriented.  He went on about what Been had been doing and said he’s really a once in a generation OC.  Not just a good coach who runs a scheme very well like most of the good coaches.  

[adam]

This is an amazing hire. He was my top choice, but I expected Monken or McCarthy. 

This is not Nagy 2.0. Johnson called plays for 3 years in DET. In all 3, they had a top 5 scoring and yardage offense. The last time the Bears had that was in the early 60s. 

If you just go back in the Bears coaching hires, this one is the biggest fish. Flus was meh, Nagy was exciting, but a huge question mark about playcalling, which ultimately was his downfall. Fox was always just an interim guy to get the locker room back after Trestman. So Lovie was the last coach of this caliber.

If they fix the OLine, get a true speedster and upgrade at TE2, this offense is comparable to DET next offseason. RB is about the only thing that the Bears would be lacking in, unless they sign or draft someone there. However, the WR Room is already solid with Moore and Odunze. Obviously Kmet at TE, and the biggest position is QB where Johnson is going from Goff to Williams. Nothing was easy for Williams, yet he still broke numerous rookie records. 

Goff numbers tell the story, he regressed in LA, they traded him, he struggled in Year 1 without Johnson, then Johnson arrived and since then he has AVERAGED over 4,500 passing yards a season with over 32 TDs. 

[AZ54]

Lovie was a good coach defensively but he was also one of those we’re going to do what we’re going to do coaches.  My hope is that Johnson is the rare coach who is one step ahead of those type of coaches, even when they change it up a bit.   Watching him easily dissect Flores whack-a-mole defenses among others makes me think he might be.