The Chicago Bears had a problem from the outset. Their approach to hiring a new head coach in 2025 was smart. They had a talented young quarterback who needed development. That meant targeting the best possible coach with the expertise to do that. Ben Johnson was far and away the best candidate available. However, there was one major concern. Would the two take to each other? Williams’ style of play was nothing like what Johnson had become famous for during his rise to success in Detroit. It felt like oil and water. One person compared it to the disastrous Sean Payton-Russell Wilson situation in Denver.
Early on, there were signs of friction. Williams didn’t know where he stood. Johnson wasn’t used to coaching a quarterback like him. Some felt the coach would lose patience if things didn’t work out quickly last season. To his credit, Johnson would not go down that road without giving his relationship with Williams a genuine, honest effort. So, according to Henry McKenna of Fox Sports, the coach established a rigorous routine for the two of them that involved regular meetings filled with lots of communication and sometimes frank honesty.
Ben Johnson believes this approach turned everything around.
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams established many routines in their first season together. One of Johnson’s favorites was their post-practice meeting. All season long, they’d finish their work on the field and, once Williams got out of pads and into street clothes, the Chicago Bears’ rookie coach and second-year quarterback would log anywhere from 60 and 90 minutes together in Johnson’s office…
…As Johnson tells it, those meetings had a cascading effect on the relationship between coach and QB. Everything improved: communication, repetition, execution.
“We’d meet the night before the game to go over his favorite calls, and to see how that went from early in the season to what it looked like at the end of the season, [it was] much more fluid,” Johnson told me. “We just saw the game so much more through the same lens as the year went on. I think all those quarterbacks saw that and witnessed that firsthand. So I think that was the coolest thing, just to see where it started to where it finished.”
Those meetings yielded incredible results.
Williams admitted that the iconic throw to D.J. Moore in overtime to beat the Green Bay Packers got its genesis in one of those meetings with Johnson. It became obvious down the stretch of last season that the two men were on the same page. They started seeing the game the same way. You often hear Williams say certain phrases that Johnson coined. It is difficult to remember the last time a Bears quarterback and head coach were so in sync. You might have to go all the way back to George Halas and Sid Luckman. Not even Mike Ditka and Jim McMahon had that sort of harmony.
This is a testament to Johnson as a coach. Coming into Chicago, many had labeled him as your classic nerd-type. He was focused on numbers and metrics, and on doing everything a specific way. That is great for a coordinator, but it can prove problematic for a head coach. There was a belief that Johnson didn’t have the communication talent that his mentor, Dan Campbell, did in Detroit. This story suggests those assumptions were way off base.
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Things should only get better from here.
Don’t forget that the version of Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams we saw last season was the first draft, not the final product. Yet that version still managed 3,941 yards passing and 27 touchdowns. One is a franchise single-season record, and the other was just two short of it. Williams only completed 58% of his passes. Just imagine what might happen if he starts hitting more of those thanks to his growing comfort in Johnson’s system. The possibilities are truly limitless.
Those post-practice conversations are sure to be more detailed and nuanced than last year. We’ll likely see more big plays in games that originated from one of them. Maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see some behind-the-scenes footage courtesy of 1920 Football Drive someday. Regardless, the most important relationship in Chicago sports has reached a solid foundation. Now they can start building something that hopefully one day becomes special.
