NFL analyst gives insanely contrarian take about Bears' decision to hire Ben Johnson

It's a good time to be a Bears fan. That doesn't happen very often, which makes this week all the more enjoyable. The Bears managed to do what has alluded them for so many years: they managed to make the right (i.e. obvious) decision.

And now the Ben Johnson-Caleb Williams pairing is an actual reality, and not just a loud talking point your most annoying Bears fan friend won't stop talking about. Johnson's set to be introduced as the Bears' next head coach sometime this week, and for the first time in a hot minute, there's some hope that the Bears could, you know, actually capitalize on their potential.

Hiring Johnson has been the easy decision for the Bears since, like, early September, and now that it's officially happened, the contrarians are here. Because, apparently, 2025 is the year that pairing a young exciting QB with a young, offensive-minded head coach is no longer a good idea? It was news to me, too. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky went on First Take (I know, I'm sorry, the clip's not that long) to explain why the slam-dunk decision to hire Johnson is, actually, bad. But first, let's take some deep, calming breaths before we go any further.

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ESPN's Dan Orlovsky thinks, actually, a smart offensive mind for Caleb Williams could be a bad idea

"Here's the hesitation I have," Orlovsky said. "We don't have a lot of evidence in the NFL, specifically over the last, maybe, 6-7 years, where a team has a young quarterback and they go chase the offensive-minded head coach, and it works. We're way too in love with that in the NFL. And that's what gives me hesitation on this one. The only one that I could sit here and claim a victory, a win, a good, is when the Rams went and got Sean McVay for Jared Goff after his rookie season ... We actually have a lot more evidence, recently, of the defensive-minded head coaches, it actually working out better for the young quarterback. So that gives me hesitation ... "

I mean, whatever. I don't think there's any point in even trying to argue this with a bunch of PFF stats. He's on First Take – it's quite literally his responsibility to be a contrarian about it. Orlovsky's also been on record for a while now about how he doesn't love the Johnson-Bears fit, so I guess I can appreciate sticking to your guns.

However, I feel like I don't need to tell you that you actually do not have to listen to him, or take what he says seriously, ever. If you want to keep being happy that the Bears hired the guy that every team wanted – and the fact that said guy chose the Bears – there's nothing stopping you from that. There's a very specific reason why *that* is the opinion that the social team at First Take clipped for social. They know how Bears Twitter reacts to literally anything.

Ben Johnson: still the Bears' coach. Dan Orlovsky: still the Bears contrarian. Time is a flat circle.