Ben Johnson is wired the right way to lead Bears into a new season with high hopes

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Ben Johnson had a nearly perfect debut season.

The Chicago Bears won 11 games, the NFC North and a home playoff game against the Green Bay Packers. Caleb Williams went from a polarizing rookie to a playoff hero and a Madden cover star. Johnson turned a hokey saying into a mantra and ripped off his shirt to earn the city free hot dogs.

Now, as his second season begins in earnest with the opening of training camp, he wants to put the past where it belongs.

“I don’t think there’s talk about sustaining,” Johnson said Tuesday. “Shoot, we’re starting all over again. That’s been the consistent message.”

Johnson has indeed been beating that particular drum all offseason. It’s time to write some new music as his second camp gets underway at Halas Hall, where sustained success has been as ephemeral as franchise quarterbacks and new stadiums.

Of the four Bears coaches who preceded Johnson, three won either three or four fewer games in his second season. (Matt Eberflus improved from 3-14 to 7-10, but in Year 3, he went 4-8 and got fired.)

Eight years ago, the Bears were the darlings of the city, going 12-4 in Matt Nagy’s first season, and he was named coach of the year. The next year, after a distracting kicking competition and a regression by Mitch Trubisky, Nagy was just another bum of the week.

There were similarities between Nagy and Johnson in their first seasons — particularly with the rah-rah postgame speeches — but the key difference is that Johnson seems smarter and more self-aware. The two traits, I’ve found, often go together in a coach.

Like Nagy, Johnson inherited a highly touted quarterback. But the difference between Trubisky and Williams is simple: Williams is much better. Nothing makes an offensive whiz look smarter and more self-assured than a talented quarterback.

Johnson’s healthy relationship with Williams is why you should feel confident the Bears won’t backslide this season. They might not win 11 games with a first-place schedule and some key roster questions, but I think that with good health we’re going to see an improved offense and an even better Caleb. As for the overall roster, Johnson pointed to the “continuity” of the staff as one of many reasons to be excited going into camp after a middling offseason in terms of player acquisitions.

“Fortunately here, we were able to have a lot of the same faces come back, and with that I really expect another layer of sophistication to occur within this building and with our players,” he said.

That’s the hope.

Though he lost offensive coordinator Declan Doyle to the Baltimore Ravens, Johnson promoted passing game coordinator Press Taylor to take his place. But these are just titles. Johnson is the brains behind the scheme, and that is why teams with young quarterbacks desire offensive-minded head coaches. Johnson said he thought team chemistry was the Bears’ “secret sauce” last season. Maybe coaching cohesion will be this year.

It’s clear Johnson has a healthy ego, but he also seems to have the capacity for self-scrutiny. And maybe that’s why he’ll succeed where other Bears coaches have failed.

For example, in discussing Williams’ development Tuesday, Johnson said something that struck me as profound.

“I have this urge as an offensive guy to want to continue to evolve, and you can say innovate and push the limits a little bit,” he said. “And yet at the same time, in the back of my mind, what’s best for him is to continue to bank some of these reps. He’s had two offseasons and one training camp so far, and a full season obviously, to where he’s had a lot of the similar concepts repeat for him. And now we’re at the point where he’s not thinking about the play call, he’s not thinking about cadence, the motion, and all of the rigamarole before the snap. Things are starting to slow down.”

And as it works in sports, once things slow down, they speed up. The same goes for the coach.

Johnson said he still feels “like I’m drinking out of a fire hose” in this role. Going from offensive coordinator in Detroit to head coach in Chicago is a daunting leap in responsibility and fame. And in one year, Johnson became a hero in a city that puts football above everything. I’m not sure anyone in this city is more popular right now, with the possible exception being his quarterback.

While I believe that Johnson believes this season isn’t a continuation of the last, it’s not the reality for the rest of us. There is a lot of pressure on both of them to improve and excel, and if not make the Super Bowl, then at least to make an honest run toward it.

The regular season kicks off in six weeks. The Bears will start anew this morning. Johnson talked about a “physical” and “demanding” training camp with a gleam in his eye.

“This,” he said, “is where it gets fun.”