The Chicago Bears suffered some losses to their coaching staff this offseason. Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle took the same position with the Baltimore Ravens, getting the opportunity to call plays. Running backs coach Eric Bieniemy returned home to the Kansas City Chiefs, once again becoming their offensive coordinator. Head coach Ben Johnson knew he had some work to do in order to get the staff back up to strength before the meat of the offseason began.
His first move was bringing in veteran Eric Studesville as running backs coach, a job he has held and thrived in for over a decade with multiple NFL teams. Next, Johnson promoted passing game coordinator Press Taylor to replace Doyle as offensive coordinator.
The only thing left to do was make some minor tweaks. Will Lawing, a former teammate of Johnson from North Carolina and Boston College’s offensive coordinator, joined as an offensive analyst. Then came a surprise. Former wide receiver Isaiah Ford was also added as an offensive quality control coach.
Ben Johnson spent two years getting to know Ford.
He was the assistant wide receivers coach with the Dolphins in 2017 when Miami drafted the receiver out of Virginia Tech in the 7th round. Johnson took over as receivers coach the next year. Unfortunately, Ford never got any opportunities to play. Still, he must’ve made a pretty big impression. Coming out of college, the receiver was lauded for his high football IQ, as former Hokies receiver coach Holman Wiggins noted in 2017.
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“His football intelligence is through the roof,” Wiggins said. “We got into the room and draw it on the board and then go out on the field and he already had it [learned]. That gave us the flexibility to move him around.”
He wasn’t alone. Even after Johnson left in 2019, new Dolphins head coach Brian Flores immediately appreciated how sharp the young receiver was.
“Smart. He knows multiple positions. He’s where he’s supposed to be really a majority of the time. He’s dependable, he’s accountable, and he’s gotten open and made some plays in some critical situations.”
Ford also graduated with a degree in sociology, which is the study of human behavior and interaction. You combine that with his obvious football knowledge, and it probably wasn’t hard to see that he was destined for coaching after his playing days were done. Johnson almost certainly filed that in the back of his mind after leaving Miami. Seven years later, he finally got the chance to give Ford his opportunity to start the next phase of his football career. It’s a pretty cool story.
