The Chicago Bears’ hiring of head coach Ben Johnson came with much fanfare last offseason. Johnson proved he was worth the hype.

Johnson raised the Bears to levels they hadn’t experienced in years last season. Chicago had many firsts, including its first playoff appearance since 2020, its first NFC North title since 2018 and its first playoff win in 15 years. He also brought a fun energy to the team that fans embraced.

Now Johnson will be tasked with a tough follow-up act in his second year. He’ll need to lead the Bears to sustained success, something they haven’t accomplished in some time. His test next year will be to return them to the playoffs in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2006.

Johnson sat down with Shaw Local Chicago Bears reporter Michal Dwojak at the NFL’s annual meetings in Phoenix this week for an exclusive 1-on-1 interview and touched on various topics, including his first season, quarterback Caleb Williams and more.

How different do you feel compared to a year ago when you were at these meetings?

Johnson: Oh, shoot. Well, I’ve got a lot more clarity on our roster. The guys, I’ve been with a lot of them for a year now, and so I know who they are as men as much as I do as what they put on tape as players. I think that helps me a lot, just knowing what the locker room is going to look like, those guys in there. I feel strongly about some of these young players that [I] hadn’t had a chance to develop relationships with. But now that I’ve been with them for a year, I know they’re going to take a major step forward going into the either their second or third years as a Chicago Bear. So I think that’s probably the biggest difference is just knowing what we have at hand more so than anything else.

Did you give yourself a moment to reflect on last season, and if so, what did you learn about yourself?

Johnson: Yeah, I try to. I like to think I’m critical of myself as the year goes on. There’s certainly things I could have done better from coaching the entire team, time management, how I allocate the resources, things of that nature, but all the way down to offensive play calling. So I can’t say off the top of my head just one area where I’m focused on. I do know that I need to spend more time [with] defense and special teams going forward, especially now that we’ve got the bones in place of what we want the offense to look like. I feel strongly about that staff that I’ll be able to free up a little bit more to coach the whole team. So feel really good about that.

You mentioned that earlier in the day. What makes you feel like you want to be more involved in those areas? Did you see any sort of issues there?

Johnson: No, I mean, you do whatever is necessary with the time that you got. So I felt like I needed to spend more time with the offense, and because of that, I hired two experienced coordinators on defense and special teams that I felt really, really good about. Now that, like I said, we got year one under our belt and feel good about the foundation that’s in place, that now allows me to coach the whole team and bring this thing together the way we we initially envisioned.

You quickly embraced the other parts of being an NFL coach outside of the X’s and O’s. Did you know that was important heading into the job or is that something you learned as the year went on?

Johnson: Well, we’re in the entertainment industry, so I tell the players that all the time. I don’t think we should shy away from it as coaches either. If anything, I think our fans enjoyed it. That’s part of our jobs, is to make sure we got people coming and watching our games. I wish you knew it was going to be a sellout every every week. Fortunately here in Chicago, we got such a phenomenal fan base, it probably will be no matter what. I like to give the people something to talk about.

Has that been fun given Bears fans didn’t know too much about you outside of the X’s and O’s?

Johnson: Do you know what any coordinator truly is going to be like? You know? I think that it’s a whole different role. Now as the head coach, I’m doing everything I can to to help our players play their best on Sunday. There’s a number of ways to get that done. Fortunately, I’ve been around some really good coaches in my journey that have taught me so much about how you can elevate a locker room. So I’ve tried to tap in on some of those methods.

Caleb recently described you as a “unique cat” and a “mad scientist.” How would you describe yourself as a head coach?

Johnson: Oh, shoot, I don’t know. I just like to think I’m a sound football coach. I am rooted in the fundamentals. I get the mad scientist part. But there’s nothing more beautiful than seeing a well-blocked run play with 11 guys all on the same page and playing with the right pad level and technique across the board. I think there’s really not a better image than that in the game of football.

Is artificial intelligence a tool that you think you could use as a coach?

Johnson: Yeah, no, I think that’s something that we certainly need to look into. It feels like that’s the way things are going. I know it’s a phenomenal tool, especially when you look as a coach, your biggest enemy is the amount of time in the day and trying to figure out where to fit everything in. The way that AI is so efficient at getting things done, if we can tap into that through a game-planning process or whether that has to do with how we practice and the statistics behind lowering injuries for our team. I think there’s a number of utilities for it that we got to continue to explore.

So you haven’t really embraced it yet?

Johnson: Do I have Chat GPT on my desktop? The answer is no. But we’re working on it.

You and Caleb have shared some jokes at each other’s expense this offseason. Where is your relationship with him?

Johnson: I think we’re in a really good spot. We communicate on a fairly regular basis. I think we took some good time apart and now he’s itching to get back in this building so that we can get back to work. Really excited about the plan we’re going to have in place. I know we’re still working through the finer points of that, just so we can maximize our time with him. But I think I’m more encouraged than ever of who he can become, especially after watching all these cut ups. I think there’s just so much that he can continue to get better at. He’s going to feel that from us when he steps into the building. I think the cut ups are going to show, golly, as great as last year was, there’s so much more to be had. As a guy that wants to be one of the best to ever play, I think this should be music to his ears.

How do you shepherd him to reach those goals but also help him balance those expectations?

Johnson: I think he’s got a good a good foundation, a good mindset and a good approach. He knows that there’s going to be as many bad days as there going to be really good days. But the consistency is really what separates the goods from the greats. You come in the building with the same mindset every day. You’re never too high up. You’re never too high down. Some performances might be better than others, but at the same time, your approach and how you conduct your business, particularly with your teammates, is really going to resonate and it’s going to be consistent throughout. So I feel good about that with him. Because he openly says that he wants to be one of the best, I think it’s one of the best things you can hear as a coach, because it allows you to be really detailed, really demanding. Well, you say you want to be, this is what the best look like. You can reference some of those guys in the past that have become legends. The [Tom] Bradys of the world. The Peyton Mannings of the world. The Aaron Rodgers of the world. Some guys that traditionally play the game a little bit different than what Caleb has known. We can try to draw him into that realm and expand his game a little bit by sharing what some of those old guys look like in their prime. I think it’s a beautiful thing and I think it helps us in the long run.

How has Caleb grown as a leader, and what are you looking for from him in that regard this spring and summer?

Johnson: I think it’s natural for any football team that the eyes go to the quarterback position and so I think he’s naturally been that. He’s always been that. And yet, I think we can all, myself included, continue to grow as leaders. It always goes back to, man, what am I doing to help the people out around me? It’s about them. The more I can lift them up, that’s just going to rise the tide, and all these ships are going to be better off for it. The whole organization is gonna be better off for it. I think every decision we make, we need to know that, one, eyes are gonna be on us, but two, we just need to have it within the lens of how are we helping the people around us get better?

He is one of a few younger players who are considered “Gen Z” that you have on the roster. Do you have to approach them differently than maybe older players?

Johnson: I think the biggest change that’s happening right now is that these guys come through, all the [Name, Image and Likeness] guys that at a split second they hit a little adversity, they can hop in the [transfer] portal and go somewhere else to find more playing time or find something more of their life. I think that changes the dynamic a little bit. But I think it’s a partitioned question a little bit, because when you’re up in front of the room, yeah, you are going to treat everybody the same and consistent. But each individual, how they tick is different. I think that’s part of the art of coaching is you’re coaching the person as much as you are the player. And so the more you know about how the person’s wired and what makes him go, the quicker you are to reach him. So from a big picture lens in front of the team, yeah, you’re consistent. And yet, one-on-one setting, you can get a little bit more. You’re not as cookie-cutter if you will.

When you get back together as a team in the spring, how do you make sure the players move on from last year and start from scratch?

Johnson: Yeah, I don’t think we’re going to have a big issue with it. I think our staff is going to show them a lot of urgency when they get back in the building. We got a number of new players on this roster too, between the guys that left, the new additions and free agency, the draft picks that are going to come in. I don’t know the exact number, but there’s not going to be as many guys as you think that were here a year ago. So I don’t know that it’s going to be a huge issue. But yet, we’re going to be on top of it if we see anybody not putting in the work with which we expect. So I think that’s it’s just something we’re going to be on the lookout for.