In one offseason, Ben Johnson has transformed the Bears from a national punchline into an NFC powerhouse — a turnaround worth of NFL Coach of the Year honors.
“Our mission starting this spring is to win, and to win now. I get goosebumps just thinking about being the head coach of the Chicago Bears. I know exactly what this role and this responsibility requires, and I cannot wait to get to work.”
Those were some of the first words Ben Johnson spoke at the podium after the Chicago Bears introduced him as the 18th full-time head coach in the franchise’s 106-year history.
And in the months since, he has lived up to every syllable.
Johnson has done what many believed was impossible in Chicago. He has taken one of the NFL’s most chaotic, directionless franchises and turned it into a fully operational juggernaut — in one offseason. Through a masterful offensive scheme, a respected and cohesive coaching staff, and genuine leadership instincts, Johnson has the Bears tracking from worst to first.
This was a team that finished 5–12 last season and suffered a ten-game losing streak. Today? They sit at 9–3, winners of nine of their last ten, and hold the No. 1 seed in the NFC as the calendar turns to December.
A One-Year Transformation
No moment illustrates this seismic shift more clearly than Thanksgiving weekend. On Black Friday in 2024, Chicago fired head coach Matt Eberflus after yet another embarrassing loss to the Detroit Lions — and to Ben Johnson — marked by botched clock management and national ridicule.
One year later, Johnson marched the Bears into Lincoln Financial Field and demolished the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in every conceivable phase. A statement win for the entire country to witness.
On the field, the Bears play a refreshing, coherent brand of football. They have an identity again. They run the ball with purpose behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, paving the way for D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai while setting up Caleb Williams to thrive out of under-center play action.
Defensively, a unit ravaged by injuries has refused to fold. It’s been grim at times, but Chicago still leads the NFL with a +17 turnover margin — eight better than the next-closest team. That’s a testament to defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and to Johnson’s “next man up” culture that finally feels like something more than a bumper-sticker slogan.
Last season, the Bears ranked dead last in total offense. This year, they are sixth.
Last season, they finished 3–7 in one-score games. This year, they’re 6–1, repeatedly executing late-game drives that demand composure well beyond the age of their second-year quarterback and rookie head coach.
Doing More With Less
Here’s the part that should terrify the rest of the NFC most: Johnson is doing this without a dramatically upgraded roster.
Chicago spent money in free agency to rebuild the interior offensive line. After that? Most position groups are the same — or worse on paper.
The edge rush group is largely unchanged, but has declined due to untimely injuries. Montez Sweat and Austin Booker were already here. Meanwhile, the Bears lost Jacob Martin, Demarcus Walker, and Darrell Taylor, and their additions — Dayo Odeyingbo and Shemar Turner — suffered season-ending injuries before ever becoming meaningful contributors.
The defense has been decimated. Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards, and Noah Sewell have all missed significant time, forcing the Bears to elevate practice squad players into crucial roles.
Nahshon Wright is a one-year, $1.1 million contract, but has five interceptions and a forced fumble on the season.
D'Marco Jackson's career high in tackles for a season was 14 before 2025. After being cut and picked up by the Bears, he had 15 total tackles in one game while wearing the green dot for a win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The receiving room gained Luther Burden, Colston Loveland, and Olamide Zaccheaus, but also lost savvy veteran Keenan Allen. Accounting for injuries, the Bears might actually be fielding an overall worse roster than last season. At the very least, it's close.
And yet — Ben Johnson has them at 9–3.
Because he develops players. Because he maximizes personnel. Because he builds buy-in. Because he makes being a Chicago Bear fun again.
Johnson Over Steichen and Vrabel
Shane Steichen has the Colts in the playoff mix. Mike Vrabel has the Patriots at 10–2. Both deserve applause. But neither has done what Johnson has done.
The Colts are trending downward, and Vrabel — for all his success — took over a franchise that already understood winning. He returned to New England as a proven coach in a familiar building, and his cultural shift aligns with expectations rather than exceeding them.
Johnson walked into a franchise that had forgotten how to function, let alone win. He walked into a city conditioned to expect disappointment. He walked into a job with a young quarterback that is one of the most criticized figures in sports, a roster full of holes, and a national narrative already sharpening its knives.
And he's changed everything in ten months.
Chicago has had hot starts before — Fool’s Gold seasons that collapsed after Halloween — but this is not that. This is the first time in a long time the Bears show up each week looking like the better-coached team.
If you need one final data point: look at the Detroit Lions without him. Their offense suddenly looks disoriented, searching for the identity Johnson built.
Johnson is the most popular man in Chicago right now, and rightfully so. Fans already quote his iconic “good, better, best” postgame speeches in the city streets, and the belief in the building has become contagious to those who watch the team play. Why not these Bears?
In an unpredictable NFL season with a different looking playoff picture, who knows how far that belief — and that clarity of vision — can carry this team?
But one thing already feels certain. When it's all said and done, however it ends, Ben Johnson deserves to be on stage at NFL Honors accepting the 2025 NFL Coach of the Year award.