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Courtney Cronin
LAKE FOREST, Ill. — In between conducting 17 interviews over the past two weeks to find the franchise’s next head coach, Chicago Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren found time for a brief respite at one his favorite haunts.
While dining at “Old Pueblo Cantina” in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, a drink was sent over to Warren with a note that served as a directive many Bears fans hoped the team would execute.
“Please hire Ben [Johnson],” the note said.
Warren laughed and held onto the piece of paper. On Wednesday, as the Bears prepared to introduce Johnson — the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator as their next head coach — Warren pulled the note out of a drawer and read it again.
“I’m going to give it to Ben and hopefully, if we do what we’re supposed to do, one day that note will be framed on [a] wall, someone’s wall,” Warren said.
Johnson, 38, was named the 19th head coach in the Bears’ 105-year history and comes to Chicago after architecting a top-five scoring offense in each of his three seasons as the Lions OC.
That, coupled with quarterback Jared Goff‘s success with Johnson as his playcaller and Detroit’s prominence as the NFC’s No. 1 seed, made Johnson one of the top candidates to land his first head coaching job.
Johnson interviewed with the Bears, New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and Las Vegas Raiders. He agreed to take the Chicago job less than 48 hours after Detroit lost in the divisional round of the playoffs last Saturday.
Getting the team’s top choice for their next head coach was critically important for general manager Ryan Poles and Warren, who knew the Bears would need to swing big to land one of the most sought after candidates in the league.
“I’m fiscally conservative, but I’m also aggressive and I believe in being creative,” Warren said. “I also believe that you get what you pay for. This is a situation where we needed to make sure we got the No. 1 candidate.
“And it’s not about the No. 1 candidate. It’s about the No. 1 candidate for the Chicago Bears. All the other financial issues, those are things we have to be smart with our money and make good decisions. When things work out well, no one ever talks about the finances. It’s up to us to make sure we hire good assistant coaches. We have a world-class head coach.”
Johnson had one virtual interview with the Bears on Jan. 11 during Detroit’s first-round bye.
Though the Bears aimed to strengthen their case to land Johnson, the former offensive coordinator also made it known how much he hoped to be hired in Chicago.
“The first words out of his mouth were, ‘I want this job,'” chairman George McCaskey said. “The last thing he said before we turned off the camera was, ‘Did I tell you that I want this job?’ I was especially struck, and he referenced it in his comments, that this is the toughest division in football, and he wants to be here. He wants to go up against [Lions coach Dan] Campbell, [Packers coach Matt] LaFleur, and [Vikings coach Kevin] O’Connell and wants to succeed in the toughest environment possible. I was very impressed by that.”
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