Ben Johnson on solidifying his staff, developing a physical team |
INDIANAPOLIS, I.N. - This week marks an important milestone in Ben Johnson’s career as an NFL head coach - his first NFL Combine.
However, before reaching the Combine, Johnson also got his entire staff together which was his top priority when he became Chicago’s head coach back in January. “Putting the staff together, that was priority number one, feel really strongly about the quality of people that we brought in. Character, integrity, those were the first things we were looking for and then great teachers, great work ethic, demanding on and off the field,” Johnson said. “I think we checked those boxes with all the coaches that we brought on board and then as we’ve gotten going with the roster, (evaluations) of our current guys, the free agents coming up as well as getting into the draft prospects here. It’s been a great process. I can’t speak highly enough about (general manager) Ryan Poles and his staff. I’ve been able to sit in (on) some of their draft (evaluations) so far and to see how well that machine’s clicking, it’s just rolling on along. It’s very impressive to see and so, looking forward to seeing that grow as we go through the springtime.” Going through this offseason, it is incredibly important for Johnson to hear the diversity of perspectives from his new coaching staff to evaluate potential players. Between him and Chicago’s main coordinators, they have already started the evaluation process of their current talent and who they will be targeting through free agency and the draft. “We’re very flexible on both sides of the ball. (Defensive coordinator Dennis) Allen, myself, (offensive coordinator) Declean (Doyle), (special teams coordinator) Richard Hightower, big process,” Johnson said. “Everyone’s going to be heard in terms of what we’re looking for and we very clearly outlined what the ideal look would be in terms of attributes, height, weight, speed, makeup which is of critical importance for what we’re looking for. But at the same time, if it’s a good football player, we’re going to make it work as a coaching staff. So, there’s a balance going on with that and I think the dialogue’s been very, very, very healthy so far.” Perhaps Johnson’s best hire of the offseason was the acquisition of Allen who previously served as the defensive coordinator, and later the head coach, of the New Orleans Saints. While being a head coach did not seem to fit Allen, he has been a talented coordinator in this league for over seven years. Defensively, he and Johnson have a similar mindset of wanting to develop the pass rush while also having an elite secondary. “Talking with (Allen) has been very enlightening because we share the same mindset when it comes to defensive football, which is we want to affect the passer and there’s a lot of different ways you can do that,” Johnson said. “Certainly up front, the pass rush is the primary thing you think of but also, on the back end, it’s challenging the receivers and disrupting the timing and so, when we look at guys that are available, absolutely we want to upgrade the pass rush and we also want on the back end to be able to come up and lock down receivers as well. So, it’s that fine balance and marriage between the rushing coverage that we’re looking to augment.” Part of a winning football team has only been a physical team. Physicality starts at the line of scrimmage, but Johnson does not want it to end there. He wants the Chicago Bears to be physical at every level and always be around the ball. “We want a physical group. It starts with that and that’s (not) just the offensive line. That’s the entire team. (Allen) and I have been talking about what that looks like on defense. It’s going to look that way on offense. Starts in the trenches up front. We talk about finishing in a dominant position. We want to be around the football,” Johnson said. “The best football players, they finish around the ball and so, that’s what you’re going to see from our unit, the five guys that we roll into. And it’s not even just going to be five. Last few years, it ends up being six, seven, eight, nine guys end up playing (a) significant number of snaps. So, we’ve got to find those five best guys. But, we also have to get a good bullpen, if you will, ready to go in at a moment’s notice.”
