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Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson.
Chicago Bears cornerback Jaylon Johnson evidently has a few specific coaches in mind amid the team’s search for a new head coach for the 2025 NFL season.
During Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football broadcast of the Bears’ 6-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, NFL sideline reporter Kaylee Hartung revealed Johnson “went so far as to name names” when she asked him what he wants in the Bears’ next head coach.
“The conversation all Bears fans want to hear about the future of this organization, and Jaylon Johnson went so far as to name names when I asked him what he’s looking for in a new head coach,” Hartung said. “He said he wants an offensive guy in the role to give [quarterback Caleb] Williams stability as he grows, and he proceeded to name Ben Johnson, Kliff Kingsbury, Joe Brady — coaches he called masterminds.”
Johnson’s desire for an offensive-minded coach aligns with what ESPN’s Adam Schefter has reported the Bears will prioritize during their 2025 coaching search. His mention of Johnson — the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator — also lends credence to the reports that the 39-year-old offensive play-caller will be a top candidate for the Bears’ job.
That wasn’t all that Johnson said, though.
“He also said this team needs a leader of men, like maybe [former Tennessee Titans head coach] Mike Vrabel, coaches that bring something [like that] to the table,” Hartung continued. “But candidly, he said he feels there’s no right answer.”
Ben Johnson Has ‘Interest’ in Speaking With Bears
Jaylon Johnson might be correct in saying there is “no right answer” for the Bears’ vacant head coaching job, but Ben Johnson has certainly emerged as one of the most popular answers given his background and success as Detroit’s offensive play-caller.
According to Schefter, there is also mutual interest between the Bears and Johnson.
“I think he has interest in the job, whereas earlier on I don’t know if that was going to be the case,” Schefter told The Pat McAfee Show on December 26, doubling down on his previous report. “I think that there is enough there that he is going to have interest in, at the very least, talking to them and seeing whether or not it is worth pursuing.”
The Bears’ head coaching job should be attractive to numerous candidates during the 2025 hiring cycle. ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler has even reported that he gets the “sense it is the best job available” for reasons that range from the team’s history and tradition to the ample cap and draft resources it possesses to continue building this offseason.
Whether enough of the right things will appeal to Johnson, though, remains to be seen.
Bears Can Request Interviews Starting on January 8
Fervor about the Bears’ next head coach has only intensified in the month since the team fired Eberflus from his post, but fans will need to wait roughly two more weeks before the team can formally get the ball rolling on their interview process.
According to NFL rules, the Bears cannot request interviews with candidates that other NFL franchises currently employ as coaches until January 8 and must wait until three days after their team’s final game of the 2024 regular season to start interviewing them. That includes not only Johnson in Detroit but also other offensive coordinators such as Kingsbury in Washington, Brady in Buffalo and Liam Coen in Tampa Bay.
The NFL rules also have more restrictions in place about when the Bears — and other teams seeking head coaches — can hold in-person interviews with their top candidates. The process could extend into February if the Bears’ top choice reaches the Super Bowl.
That said, the Bears are free to start interviewing candidates who do not currently hold coaching positions with other teams. For instance, Pete Carroll and Vrabel — who both occupy advisory roles with teams — are eligible for interviews, if the Bears want to talk.
