Ben Johnson’s first year as head coach of the Chicago Bears ended in heartbreak, but what a ride it was.
The former Lions offensive coordinator presided over a transformation in Chicago in 2025 that will resonate with Bears fans well past the final whistle of their overtime division loss at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. Now Chicago has a new goal: Build on the seemingly overnight success story that was the 2025 Bears.
“I’m proud of the progress we’ve made,” Bears general manager Ryan Poles said Wednesday via the team’s official site. “And knowing that, we can’t be complacent. We’ve got to keep pushing forward. (Johnson and I) both come from organizations (Detroit and Kansas City) that have had success over the years. We know the challenge of having success and then trying to get back to it the next year.
“I can tell you right now, we’re all excited about the challenge of rebuilding this team, making changes, tightening the screws on the process and the people that we need to continue to elevate to get back to where we were and get over it and win championships around here.”
From the Poles’ point of view, adjustments are all the Bears need. Sure, their takeaway defense could use some reinforcements to graduate from average to reliably stifling, and he’ll likely need to find a new receiver to replace DJ Moore. Overall, though, Chicago is miles ahead of when the Poles spent January pursuing Johnson’s coaching services a year ago.
After one season with Johnson at the helm, the Poles know he hired the right man. In fact, he knew it in late July.
“The shopping was incredible,” said the Poles. “I go back to training camp. He needed a physical day in the dog days of camp, and it was a really cool opportunity to see those guys buy into what he was saying, do something really hard. Right now, does it feel good? No. But they believed, based on his message, that it would help us down the road. And they went all out with that. And you saw that carry through the whole season.”