Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson has shown his competitive nature throughout the 2025 NFL season, and he doesn't plan on changing anytime soon.
Ben Johnson is unapologetically himself.
It's one of the many traits that stand out about the Chicago Bears' head coach. Throughout the 2025 season, Johnson had some moments that highlighted his character as a competitor.
Start at his Bears introductory press conference when he said he enjoyed beating Packers head coach Matt LaFleur twice a year.
When the regular season started, the Bears found themselves trailing 14-9 to the Las Vegas Raiders at halftime. CBS sideline reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala asked the Bears' head coach about his takeaways for the offense, which scored just six points off three takeaways from Chicago's defense.
"That it wasn't our brand of football, we're capable of a lot more," Johnson said. "We're hitting the reset button here at halftime, and we're going to come back and establish our identity here in the second half."
Kinkhabwala followed up by asking, "Do you need to change what you're doing?"
Then Johnson, who later admitted he heard a statement as opposed to a question, responded with this: "I don't know, you think so? We're going to be just fine."
Johnson regretted the moment and said he would do a better job going forward in his Monday press conference after the Bears' 25-25 victory over the Raiders.
Fast forward to NFC wild-card round between Johnson's Bears and the Green Bay Packers. After being down 21-3 at the half, the Bears pulled off the comeback to defeat the Packers, 31-27, to end their NFC North rival's 2025 season.
Moments after the final whistle, Johnson went viral for his drive-by handshake with LaFleur. In the Bears' locker room shortly after that moment, Johnson's three words characterized his true feelings for the Packers' organization: "F--- the Packers."
Although Johnson's actions may anger some people, that's Johnson in a nutshell, and he doesn't plan on changing anytime soon.
Johnson sat down with The Bigs' Herb Howard at the NFL's annual league meeting and was asked if he believes people misunderstand him in anyway.
"Um, I didn't come into this league or take this position to necessarily make friends," Johnson said. "That's the not the case. I love what I do. I love who I'm doing it with. That's the most important thing to me, and everything I do is with them in mind."
Johnson's serious mentality is represented in how he coaches his football team. The Bears' head coach wants his staff and players to forget about last season's success and to prepare for the challenges that will come this year.
The Bears won 11 games in the regular season, clinched the NFC North and won a playoff game under Johnson in Year 1, and there is no reason to believe he will change who is as a competitor moving forward.