Chicago Bears fans were excited to see the team hire former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson to become the next head coach this offseason. After a disastrous few years under Matt Eberflus, the fanbase is happy to see a new voice in charge after seeing his offense in Detroit tear up the Bears’ defense and the other teams in the division.
When Johnson was hired as the Bears' new head coach, his first task was to put his coaching staff together for the upcoming season. As we know, Johnson hired Eric Bieniemy to be his RBs coach, Dennis Allen to be his defensive coordinator, and Declan Doyle his offensive coordinator.
However, before hiring Doyle, Johnson did homework on another potential OC option, who was also getting interest from the Detroit Lions.
John Morton was checking into his hotel in Cabo when he got a call from Dan Campbell about the Lions OC job. He hung up, & Ben Johnson called about joining the Bears staff.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) August 31, 2025
On the new faces in Detroit & how they 'may be exactly what we needed' https://t.co/zG7nAMWBb7 via @freep
Ben Johnson Wanted to Poach John Morton from Dan Campbell
According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, the new Bears head coach called John Morton on vacation to gauge his interest in seeing if he wanted to join his staff in the Windy City. Before Johnson made that call, Birkett reported that Lions head coach Dan Campbell put in a feeler to join his staff to become the new offensive coordinator.
The Lions' head coach and Morton have a history together going back to their time with the New Orleans Saints. Morton also worked with Campbell and Johnson in Detroit as a senior offensive assistant before the 2022 season.
Morton was also getting interest from Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who was trying to keep him in the Mile High City. However, Morton ultimately decided to return to Detroit to take Johnson’s job as offensive coordinator.
Even though Johnson came up short in his pursuit of Morton, Bears fans should take solace that the first-time head coach will do whatever it takes to have the best team or coaching staff.
It didn’t matter that his old team was trying to gauge interest; Johnson still wanted to see if he could make a pitch to convince him to come to Chicago. Now, Johnson and Declan Doyle will hope that they can have the best offense in the NFC North this season.