Things were lined up to happen quickly, now that the Detroit Lions' season is over. And indeed they have, with ESPN's Adam Schefter first to report the Chicago Bears are finalizing a deal to make Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson their next head coach.
NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has reported Johnson is set to fly to Chicago soon, and contract parameters are in place. So "barring a last minute snag", Johnson will remain in the NFC North with a Lions' rival.
Johnson was a holdover from Matt Patricia's coaching staff in Detroit. He was promoted to passing game coordinator with a reshuffling of the responsibilities of the offensive coaching staff in the middle of the 2021 season, and he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2022.
The Lions had a top-five scoring offense in all three seasons Johnson called the plays, including the No. 1-scoring offense in the league this season (33.2 points per game). In each of the last two years, Detroit had a top-six rushing offense and a top-two passing offense. This year, four Lions topped 1,000 yards from scrimmage (Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, David Montgomery, Jameson Williams).
Along with the Bears, Johnson had initial head coaching interviews with the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars during the Lions' playoff bye week. The Raiders had emerged prominently lately, but they won't even get a chance to talk to Johnson in-person.
Johnson had a total of eight head coaching interviews in the two hiring cycles before this year's, choosing to stay with the Lions rather than leave for a strained fit purely to have a head coaching job.
Ben Johnson to become new Chicago Bears head coach
Johnson elevated his stock as a head coaching candidate with the work he did reviving the career of Lions' quarterback Jared Goff. Goff's resurgence truly dates back to late in the 2021 season, when Johnson became passing game coordinator and then-offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn was demoted to run game coordinator as Dan Campbell took over the play-calling.
In Chicago, Johnson will work with a promising young quarterback in Caleb Williams. Williams is also surrounded by some nice skill position talent (wide receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze, tight end Cole Kmet, running back D'Andre Swift). The Bears have to prioritize Williams' development over everything else, and hiring Johnson is an obvious step to get that process on the right course.
Now the search can fully commence for who will replace Johnson as Lions offensive coordinator, led by internal candidates (Scottie Montgomery, Tanner Engstrand, Hank Fraley, Antwaan Randle El)