Ben Johnson Details Blueprint For Bears Caleb Williams Clutchpoints

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Nov 17, 2025, 5:37 PM

ben johnson details blueprint for bears caleb williams clutchpoints

Once the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach, the Chicagoland area averted their attention to the 2025 season. Next for the Bears is the offseason, including trimming their roster and re-tooling in free agency. After that, the Bears will be one step closer to competing in the 2025 NFL regular season, with many eyes on Caleb Williams and what he can accomplish in his second season after being... 1 pick in 2024. In the most recent installment of 1920 Football Drive — a behind-the-scenes video series put together by the Bears' media team — there was a section where Johnson gave an idea of what his... “Standing on the opposite sideline from [Caleb Williams] this year, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for not only the talent level that he possesses but also the type of person he is,”...

“This is going to be — really, I like to fancy it — the quarterback's offense. “We're going to tailor this right around Caleb Williams. It will not be — necessarily — what you've seen from me the last three years. We're going to find out exactly what our quarterback does well, and that's really where we're going to anchor on.” Not only did he lay out the plans for what he wants to do with their offense, but he also explained how he hopes other defenses will view the Bears under his leadership. The pairing of Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams and first-year head coach Ben Johnson could be one that not only changes the future of the franchise, but the trajectory of Williams' career.

Chicago selected Williams, a former Heisman trophy winner, with the No. 1 overall pick in hopes that he'll turn the franchise around and, for his own career, Williams wants to put himself among the elite at his position. In his rookie season, Williams threw for 3,541 yards, 21 touchdowns, and six interceptions, but the Bears as a team finished 5-12, as the quarterback worked with two separate head coaches, and three different... With Johnson now in place, both the quarterback and coach would like to see him get to the level he desires, and that's going to include tough coaching along the way. Making an appearance on the "Mully & Haugh Show," Johnson discussed his vision for Williams and why he's going to coach him hard to get him there. "The standard has been set, the bar has been set high," Johnson said.

"He has said he wants to not just be one of the best Top-5 quarterbacks in this league but he wants to have a legacy that lasts for a long time. So, we're coaching him that way. We're approaching that way, that's not going to change. CINCINNATI-TO-CLEVELAND — I now have six NFL training camps under my belt. Here’s what I have from Week 1, as we head into Week 2 with a full head of steam … Caleb Williams is going to be under a microscope.

There is absolutely no sugarcoating it. The Chicago Bears’ second-year quarterback had some rough moments Friday morning, and has had rough moments throughout the spring, too. New coach Ben Johnson didn’t tiptoe into Halas Hall. The two years he waited, and passed on other chances to become a head coach, gave the 39-year-old plenty of time to cultivate the plan he’s executing now, and it’s not for the faint... It’s detailed and designed to be difficult, and the trial by fire the players were going to go through was always going to be hotter on the quarterback. That started with what Johnson saw on tape from Williams while studying the 2024 season, and even going back to break down everything he did at Oklahoma and USC before that.

“I saw a guy with immense potential. Every week he made throws that made you drop your jaw a little bit. Hell, I experienced it when I was standing on the sideline when he played against us,” said Johnson, referencing his own experience in the NFC North. “But what you also see is a lack of anticipation at times, which—that comes with reps—you gotta do things over and over again. That’s not abnormal for a rookie quarterback. Since being hired on Monday afternoon by the Chicago Bears, Ben Johnson has been the most popular man on the streets of Chicago.

After being formally introduced as the 19th head coach in franchise history, Johnson hasn’t been reluctant to discuss why he decided to take the Bears job. “The people here, I’m talking about George McCaskey, Kevin Warren, Ryan Poles, I really felt a great vibe on the interview and the longer it went, the better I felt about the situation,” Johnson... “I saw a vision, I saw a direction, it gave me a lot of confidence that I was coming into a great situation as a first-time head coach.” As he starts the process of getting the Bears back to a respectable team and lays the foundation for a consistent winner, one of the major questions he’ll need to answer is how he... “We’re going to build this thing around him,” said Johnson. “The offense, conceptually, schematically, we’re going to spend a lot of time together and build it from the end in mind.”

In a business that’s relationship-driven, Johnson’s relationship with Williams will be one that is a determining factor for how the Johnson era plays out. As the Bears repeat the cycle of hiring a new head coach the season after drafting a quarterback, the hope is that this time, everything is different. Maybe the Bears will finally break a cycle that’s plagued the franchise for more than a century. After watching tape of Sunday's dramatic 24-20 comeback win over the Giants, Bears coach Ben Johnson spoke to reporters about three things that stood out to him: (1) Reiterating what he said after the game, Johnson marveled at Caleb Williams' ability to escape from pressure and produce big plays. Giants pass rushers appeared to have the Bears quarterback dead to rights on more than one occasion and Williams somehow eluded them.

He rushed for 63 yards on eight carries, including a go-ahead 17-yard touchdown with 1:47 left in the fourth quarter, while not being sacked in the game. "What he did yesterday in terms of evading the rush, that's a rare quality for most quarterbacks," said Johnson, who compared Williams to famous escape artist Harry Houdini Sunday night. "I don't know many others in the league that could've done it to the extent that he did yesterday." Johnson told reporters that it's a balancing act for Williams to know when to take off and run versus when to remain in the pocket for an extra tick before throwing the ball. Nevertheless, he has already established himself as an elite scrambler, leading all NFL quarterbacks with 26 missed tackles forced this season, according to Pro Football Focus. Developing quarterback Caleb Williams after the top pick of the 2024 draft’s rocky rookie season was seen as the top reason why Ben Johnson got hired as the Bears’ head coach and the halfway...

Williams closed out the first half with one of his best games as a pro. He threw three touchdowns, including the game-winner in the final minute, and caught another in a 47-42 win over the Bengals that moved the Bears to 5-3 on the season. That matches the number of wins that Williams and the Bears managed in 2024 and head coach Ben Johnson called winning “the No. 1 thing” when asked about how Williams is progressing during his Wednesday press conference. The quarterback’s play in a Week 8 loss to the Ravens wasn’t as successful, but Johnson said the overall body of work has shown the kind of growth he wants to see from Williams... “I do think he’s getting better every week,” Johnson said.

“There’s ups, and there’s downs. And some weeks are better than others, which we knew. But he’s in a lot better place now with his process than he was to start the season. The week isn’t necessarily smooth sailing always, but I think that’s to be expected with Year 1 in a new system. So he’s learning, and he’s spending a lot of time at it. I’m very pleased with his approach.

I think we’ve got the right group of guys around him to help support him. And so, I think we’re going to continue to see him take off here in the second half of the season.” If Williams pulls that off, it will happen against a stiffer schedule than the one they’ve faced to this point in the year. Only one of the Bears’ first five opponents currently has a winning record, but six of their final nine opponents are currently on the right side of the ledger and that number will go... Beating teams like that routinely is the next big step for the Bears and there will be few remaining questions about the quarterback if he does that. The Chicago Bears are turning the page in 2025, and at the center of that reset is new head coach Ben Johnson, who’s implementing a structured plan to develop Caleb Williams and reshape the...

Speaking with Mike Pendleton of Bears Wire, Johnson laid out how the quarterback room is adjusting to new leadership. “Everyone is different. I've been around a number of coordinators, a number of quarterback coaches,” he told Pendleton. “There's a process that I believe in, that we believe in, as an offensive staff… and we're going to stay true to that.” That “process” is already reshaping the Bears quarterback room. Williams, along with Tyson Bagent, Case Keenum, and Austin Reed, are being guided by Johnson, new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and quarterbacks coach J.T.

Barrett. The result is a more confident, faster-operating unit during OTAs. Johnson’s reputation as an offensive innovator precedes him. While with the Lions, he led an attack that averaged 29.0 points per game — success he hopes to replicate in Chicago. His play-calling empowers quarterbacks, something critical for a dynamic playmaker like Williams. Ben Johnson was hired by the Chicago Bears to transform an offense, to develop a quarterback and to improve a record.

Perhaps more importantly, however, he's switched something else: A season ago the Bears got off to a 4-2 start and were poised for another win until - you know - the fateful "Fail Mary" in Washington. After that the team spiraled to 10 consecutive losses. Included in that ugly streak were five defeats by one score, losses by 3, 1, 3, 3 and 3 points. The 23-20 loss at the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving led to head coach Matt Eberflus' firing. MORE: Bears shockingly drop in power rankings after miracle Week 9 victory over Bengals

Under Johnson, the Bears coughed up an 11-point, fourth-quarter lead in a three-point loss to the Minnesota Vikings in the opener. But since then, perfection. They won back-to-back games by the identical, wacky score of 25-24 by blocking a Raiders' field goal and then making one in Washington. Last week in Cincinnati they avoided what would have been a devastating collapse in a thrilling victory over the Bengals. Thanks to rookie tight end Colston Loveland and quarterback Caleb Williams, who this week attributed the calm under pressure to his head coach. The pairing of Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson is a boom-or-bust prospect for the Chicago Bears.

Together, the first-year head coach and second-year quarterback aim to break the team out of the offensive doldrums it has been in for decades. While at the NFL’s annual meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, Johnson spoke about a number of things, including his plans for helping Williams reach his potential. The new Bears coach emphasized a return to fundamentals, noting there will be a focus on footwork, as well as establishing consistent terminology and defensive identification. Johnson also highlighted the importance of aligning the playcaller’s perspective with the quarterback’s while also noting he aims to push his new QB a bit. “There’s a degree of Caleb being challenged a little bit more, I think,” Johnson said, per the Chicago Sun-Times. “Outside of his comfort zone.”

Ben Johnson Details Blueprint For Bears Caleb Williams Clutchpoints

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