The Chicago Bears did not have to wait long to find their next head coach. They hired former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
The Bears hope Johnson can get them back to the postseason and hopefully to the top of the NFC North, which they couldn’t do in Matt Eberflus’ tenure. Johnson has already locked in his offensive (Declan Doyle) and defensive coordinators (Dennis Allen), which is a good first step.
Allen has a ton of coaching experience, including as a head coach with the New Orleans Saints, which should help Johnson. Meanwhile, Doyle is still young in his coaching career, but he's viewed as a "whiz kid" and he'll help Johnson create the game plan every week.
However, Johnson has to fill out the rest of his staff, which is also critical to the Bears’ success next season. The good news for Bears fans is that Johnson might keep some coaches from this season’s staff.
According to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune, tight ends coach Jim Dray, defensive line coach Travis Smith, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi, and safeties coach Andre Curtis were among the position coaches not dismissed and could be retained.
#Bears have a small handful of position coaches that were not dismissed and likely are potential candidates to be retained. TE Jim Dray, DL Travis Smith, LB Dave Borgonzi and S Andre Curtis are among those.
— Brad Biggs (@BradBiggs) January 27, 2025
Would expect team to clarify their situations in coming days.
Curtis was recently interviewed for the Dallas Cowboys' defensive coordinator job, but Dallas is on the verge of hiring Eberflus to fill that role.
That said, with Lions head coach Dan Campbell doing his best to keep his coaches, Johnson’s next-best choice is to retain a few of these coaches from this season’s staff who worked with many of these players.
Position coaches don’t necessarily get the attention that coordinators or head coaches do, but they play an integral role in a team’s success. With Johnson being a first-time head coach, he needs to have as many quality coaches around him as possible.