PALM BEACH, Fla. — Ben Johnson has had a palpable pep to him this week, the enthusiasm of a new NFL head coach eager to get rolling.
Johnson is now just a week away from gathering his new team at Halas Hall for their formal introduction to his way of football life. He’s pumped to get that orientation process started with the coaching staff he assembled and a roster he and general manager Ryan Poles are still in the process of remolding.
Admittedly, though, Johnson has yet to map out his first speech to the 2025 Chicago Bears.
“I haven’t totally formulated what that presentation is going to look like quite yet,” he said with a smile. “I tend to like to procrastinate just a little bit. That’s where the best work tends to come out.”
This weekend, Johnson promised. That’s when his keynote address will crystallize.
The purpose behind Johnson’s message will be direct. Remember the echo of Johnson’s January words from his introductory news conference at Halas Hall? Get comfortable being uncomfortable? That sentiment will be expressed in various forms throughout the Bears’ offseason program.
“We’re going to be very, very clear with what we want,” Johnson said. “The communication is going to be crystal clear. The structure is going to be there from Day 1. We’re going to be organized and we’re going to be consistent.
“If we fail to meet the mark, the players are going to know about it. And when we do meet the mark, the players are going to know about it. That’s how this coaching staff is going to coach.”
As April arrived Tuesday, Johnson entered the NFC coaches breakfast not long after sunrise at the NFL owners meetings and spoke enthusiastically about all that’s ahead. Not far beyond next week’s spring minicamp — an extra session afforded to teams who have hired new head coaches — will be this month’s draft, which begins April 24. That should offer Johnson and the Bears their next potential springboard to becoming much more competitive rather quickly.
To that end, Johnson can already sense the opportunity. The Bears currently hold a wallet of seven picks, including four inside the top 75. The team is scheduled to go on the clock at No. 10 in the first round. The Bears will follow with a pair of second-round selections at Nos. 39 and 41, and then cap Friday night of draft weekend with the 72nd pick.
“It’s a great draft to have those Day 2 picks,” Johnson said. “With 39, 41 and 72, I think those are great value picks this year. You’re going to be able to find some really good players who can be contributors, maybe not on Day 1, but at some point over the course of this season.”
In March, the Bears used a combination of signings and trades to fortify their roster, adding at least five likely Week 1 starters to the mix with offensive linemen Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson, plus defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and defensive lineman Dayo Odeyingbo. Johnson not only felt energized by those acquisitions, he has appreciated the myriad options it should give the Bears during draft weekend.
“We’ve talked about that,” Johnson said. “We have a lot of flexibility in what we can do right now. So I think Ryan and I feel really good about the position we’re in.”
After 13 previous seasons in the NFL, Johnson has never been quite this immersed in the pre-draft process and hasn’t been shy in sharing his visions or expressing his wants and needs.
“Ryan’s done a phenomenal job in terms of listening to us (as coaches),” he said. “We’ll still go over our evals as a group. That’s coming up here in the near future. But we’ve been able to sit down, me and him. And the coordinators are involved in the process as well.
“It’s just been a preliminary round of (discussing) some of the top guys and what we thought just off the cuff. And it will be great to get the position coaches involved as well.”
Following the draft, the Bears will continue their climb. Their long, steep, demanding climb.
After three consecutive last-place finishes in the NFC North — and a 15-36 record since 2022 — the push to become regular playoff contenders seems as difficult as ever. But Johnson is leaning into that challenge, just as he has embraced the enthusiasm that his arrival has awakened — inside Halas Hall and across Chicago.
Still, the heavy lifting has just started. And the next month will be a critical time for Johnson to continue putting his fingerprints on things.
