Ryan Poles wasn’t naive. He understood the pressure on him going into the 2025 off-season. Many Chicago Bears fans wanted him out, blaming him for the Matt Eberflus fiasco at head coach and overseeing the two longest losing streaks in franchise history. Thanks to good fortune, team ownership opted to give him a second chance to get things right. That meant finding a head coach who might finally change the culture to one ready to win. After months of research and over a dozen interviews, he became convinced Ben Johnson was the guy.
The Detroit Lions offensive coordinator has been spectacular for three years, guiding Jared Goff to a career renaissance. Everyone acknowledged his high intelligence and creativity as a playcaller. The problem is that many people worry about his ability as a leader. He is described as an introvert who might not understand how to communicate properly in front of a locker room. Poles admitted to Waddle & Silvy that it took him all of a few minutes to realize those whispers were complete garbage.
Ryan Poles can at least feel like his process was sound this time.
Everything felt off about the hiring of Eberflus in 2022. His name wasn’t even remotely in demand. Worse still, Ryan Poles was even GM for a week before deciding he was the coach he wanted. He met three guys and made a decision within 48 hours. That was an irresponsible approach that ultimately almost cost him his job. This time around, Poles made sure to lay out a careful approach where he met several candidates and collected information. In the end, he went after the name that everybody wanted. Nobody can say the Bears GM tried to outsmart himself. He did the obvious thing for once. Will Johnson end up being great? That is impossible to know. Still, it feels like the organization did it the right way.
