Caleb Williams was driving on the highway Monday when he received a call.
Four members of the Chicago Bears' brass were calling to tell the 2024 first overall draft pick news he wanted to hear: They were hiring Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
“I don’t know if it was safe or not,” Williams said Wednesday, “but I gave out a loud yell and scream of just excitement.”
The road distractions only intensified as his head coach FaceTimed him.
It was fitting, perhaps, that Johnson called as his quarterback navigated the roads. Because for the years to come — Williams hopes the next "19, 17, 15 years," he said recently — Johnson and Williams will be traveling the NFL roads together.
The partnership is not insignificant in the Bears’ success luring arguably the most-coveted candidate of this NFL head coaching cycle to a franchise that has not won a playoff game since the 2010 season.
“There's no doubt Caleb played a large component into my decision,” Johnson said Wednesday in his introductory news conference at Halas Hall. “He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up-and-down rookie year.
“I really look forward to challenging him.”
Johnson said he believed the Bears’ roster potential far exceeds the 5-12 record it compiled this season as all three of its NFC North rivals advanced to the playoffs.
“Going into this season, I felt like this place was a sleeping giant,” Johnson said. “To be honest with you, I personally was more concerned about the Chicago Bears than I was about anyone else in this division. Now, there is a number of reasons why that did not unfold, which is why I'm here.”
As Johnson aims to elevate the Bears from “sleeping” to “giant,” he outlined his vision and his expectations for players, ranging from an accountability that will not shy away from calling players out to a work ethic expectation that will require late nights.
Johnson knows his predecessors transitioning from NFL coordinator to head coach have a long history of failure. But he believes the failures he’s already experienced in the NFL will help him discern the best next steps.
“I’m not necessarily coming from a program that is solely won the last 10 years,” Johnson said. “What I’ve seen in my time in the NFL in seven years in Miami, six years in Detroit is as much not good as I’ve seen good.
“So there are a number of things that I’ve experienced and I’ve seen that should help throw the red flag up and help with those initial decisions.”
How did the Bears land a candidate as coveted as Johnson?
The timeline of the Bears-Johnson marriage seemed suspect as news broke Monday afternoon.
Sure, the Bears had announced Saturday, Jan. 11, that they had completed a virtual interview with Johnson as they met with 17 candidates. But Johnson was not one of the candidates they had convened with in person by Monday afternoon, in the 40 hours since his Lions lost, 45-31, to the Washington Commanders in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs.
For a team that has cycled through head coaches and coordinators at an alarming rate (think: three offensive coordinators in Williams’ rookie year alone), were the Bears setting themselves up for success?
Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles insisted in Wednesday's news conferences that they determined their alignment. The Bears did sufficient legwork, they said, to move quickly once their favorite candidate was available.
“There's a lot of crossover with people that we’re really close to,” Poles said. “Actually, we found out that he worked in a small little cubicle that I did when I was at Boston College just a year after, which is kind of crazy to think about. But, yeah, a lot of our friends, a lot of people that we trust connected both of us.
“And then when we got on the call and spent time with each other, there was just a vibe to it that was awesome.”
Johnson generated interest from multiple teams including the Bears, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars. The Raiders own the most suspect route to a franchise quarterback, with just the sixth overall pick in a weak quarterback draft paired with no solid option in the building.
The Jaguars have 2021 first overall pick Trevor Lawrence at quarterback — but not only has he already signed a megadeal that eats up salary-cap space, Lawrence has a questionable roster of talent surrounding him.
In Chicago, Johnson saw a hyper-talented quarterback on a team-friendly contract around whom he was eager to build a system from “the studs.” The Bears’ 28th-ranked scoring offense and dead-last ranking in yardage worried the creative play-caller less than the chance to rebuild the system.
"Listen, it's clear that modern football in the NFL is quarterback driven,” Johnson said. “That is no secret. You can look at analytics right now, quarterback success is a higher predictor of winning and losing than turnover ratio, which has been for 20-plus years.
“Where I see my role is as a supporter of him. This offense will be calibrated with him in mind.”
Before his Wednesday introduction, Johnson had already discussed with Williams growth areas in scheme and technique for the quarterback. He made clear the duo needs to spend ample time together to streamline their visions.
“The play-caller and the quarterback have to be integrated,” Johnson said. “The quarterback needs to be able to see the game through the play-caller's eyes. In my opinion, that's the only way it works.”
Williams was thrilled to hear that, saying last week that his top two wishes for his next head coach were an offensive mind he could grow with and a coach whose fire and intensity could match the quarterback’s.
In Johnson, Williams sees “the competitiveness in his eyes — the fire in his eyes.”
The duo doesn’t just aspire to win games. They want to dominate opponents.
“We sat down and talked and had the same mindset about scoring and all these different things,” Williams said. “Sportsmanship is at the end of the game when you shake hands and be respectful in those ways. But when you're on the football field, you want the other teams to feel as if you've embarrassed them.
“Score an insane amount of points.”
With Williams under center, Johnson
Johnson's creative wrinkles, like the stumble-bum play he successfully executed against the Bears, are well-documented from his Lions tenure.
Data also resoundingly confirmed his productivity: The Lions ranked top-5 in scoring offense and total offense each of Johnson’s three years as offensive coordinator.
In 2024, Detroit leveraged the top scoring attack and second overall offense to a 15-2 record and the top playoff seed in the NFC.
Its disappointing loss to Washington didn’t erase three years of proven results.
Johnson shed more light on his philosophies as he looks to improve the league’s second-worst offense.
He explained his belief that his offenses should “make the same things look different and different things look the same.”
“We believe in multiplicity, that's both formationally and conceptually,” Johnson said. “We want the ability to morph, whether it's 50 runs in a game or 50 passes in a game. It does not matter. Balance to me is throughout the entire season, not necessarily in the game.
“We want the defense on their heels.”
Johnson turned down the Commanders' and others’ desire to hire him last year, citing skepticism about his suitors’ roads to winning and a desire to better prepare himself to manage all phases of the team once he took over. After spending more time last summer preparing his vision, and after he and his agent researched the Bears, he said he reached a point of comfort on both fronts.
“I talked about alignment last year when I came back to Detroit, and that was really important to me: to see that the structure setup was conducive to winning,” Johnson said. “All those questions were answered throughout the interview process.”
Bears fans began showing how they’d respond to the hire even before it was finalized.
At a restaurant for dinner recently, team president Kevin Warren received a drink from a Bears fan with a note. The message: “Please hire Ben Johnson.”
He saved it and put it in his drawer.
“I looked at it this morning,” Warren said. “I’m gonna 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.”