Ben Johnson Revealed His Secrets To How He Got The Bears To Buy In So Fast

Ask anybody, and they will probably tell you that the biggest challenge for any head coach in the NFL is getting players to buy in. Buy into their vision for what the team should be and how to win a championship. So many coaches fall short of accomplishing this goal. It is why you see half a dozen of them getting fired every year. Those types of men are hard to find. People weren’t sure what to expect from Ben Johnson when he took over the Chicago Bears. They knew he was an offensive wizard. However, it takes more than that to lead a football team.

Johnson didn’t need long to show that he has the secret formula for getting players to take him seriously. It started with tough, physical practices in training camp. Then it was an obsessive attention to detail. Finally, it was a simple but rousing speech about working to become, then better, then the best. Sounds simple. It isn’t. The truth is, Johnson used multiple methods to help him communicate better. One was to maintain an air of absolute honesty, making sure guys understood when they were making mistakes and how to correct them.

There is another secret he revealed to Hoge & Jahns. It involves making sure all of his players meet for film study together. No more splitting into position groups. Why?

Ben Johnson wants everybody to take responsibility for the team.

“I just love what we do here, which is we meet as a unit on a daily basis. You know, we’re all in it together, and we all want the same thing. I’ve been a part where everyone’s kind of in their own separate positions and all that. Yet I think when you have one unified (group), it’s not just one voice, but just we’re all going in this one direction. I think it all comes together. And so it’s going to become player-led. The longer we go into camp, they’re going to end up carrying that torch themselves if they’re not already doing it right now.”

Ben Johnson needed a way to foster team unity.

There is the classic us-against-the-world mentality. The problem is that it doesn’t last long if you use it too much. A far better way is to make players feel they have a personal stake in the organization. Make them feel like their input matters. Once that happens, they start taking things more seriously. They will act as if what they do in practice can directly influence Sundays. If you can get 53 players thinking that way, the team’s performance levels up in a big way.

We saw that unfold last season. As things progressed, you started to see certain players becoming more vocal with one another. They discussed previous plays, what they did wrong, and the adjustments they should make the next time they got on the field. Then they would go out and execute it. This was true from quarterback Caleb Williams all the way down to special teams players. Ben Johnson knows it’s his job to hold the players accountable. That said, it is far better when the players start holding themselves accountable.

You saw this mentality with previous great Bears teams.

It was true in 1985 when you had leaders like Walter Payton, Mike Singletary, and Dan Hampton leading a core group that wasn’t shy about setting the tone. Then, 20 years later, it was more of the same with Brian Urlacher, Olin Kreutz, Lance Briggs, and Charles Tillman. Coach Johnson seems intent on building something similar with this new group of talent. It’s safe to say Williams is already emerging as one of them. Who else will join him? There are plenty of possibilities, including Colston Loveland, Rome Odunze, Luther Burden, and Dillon Thieneman.

You don’t have to be a star to fill the role. You just need to put in the work and play hard every week. If everybody follows that lead, the Bears will win games. They saw the proof of concept last season. Now it is about doing it consistently each week. Preferably for a full four quarters. Championship teams operate that way. Johnson knows this. He’s studied it relentlessly for years.