It didn't take the Chicago Bears long to pounce on Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson after the Lions were eliminated from the NFL Playoffs in stunning fashion at the hands of the Washington Commanders on Saturday night. On Monday afternoon, Johnson was hired to become the 18th full-time head coach in Bears franchise history, giving Chicago an offseason victory following a regular season in which victories were awfully hard to come by.
In accepting the job with the Bears, Johnson makes history over 60 years in the making, becoming the first Detroit Lions coordinator to leave his post for a head coaching job since 1963, when former Lions defensive coordinator Don Shula left Detroit to take over as head coach of the then Baltimore Colts. Shula was the defensive coordinator in Detroit in 1961 and 1962, helping to lead the Lions to a pair of Playoff appearances. In each of those two seasons, Shula coached Detroit to a top three scoring defense.
Shula then became the youngest head coach in the NFL at the age of 33 when he took over for Weeb Ewbank in Baltimore. Shula would go on to win 75 percent of his games as the Colts head coach, leading the team to a pair of Championship Game appearances, including Super Bowl III, a game in which Baltimore lost to the New York Jets as 18-point favorites. However, the greatest success of Shula's career came after he left Baltimore and began coaching in Miami, where he won back to back Super Bowls in 1972 and 1973.
Like Shula, Johnson is young (38 years old) and likely has a long career in coaching ahead of him. Shula would go on to be a head coach for 33 years, ending his career as the winningest head coach in league history. This would be considered the pipe dream outcome for the Bears, who have hired four different head coaches in the last dozen years.
Unlike Shula, hopefully Johnson's success is with the franchise that gave him his first shot. For the sake of Chicago Bears fans, it would be ideal if history did not repeat itself in this instance, because a seven-year tenure in the Windy City would only take us to the eighth year in the career of quarterback Caleb Williams, who will hopefully just be entering his prime at that point.