After being hired as Chicago Bears head coach last offseason, Ben Johnson wasted no time as the man in charge, immediately getting to work with quarterback Caleb Williams in building him from the ground up.
Johnson and general manager Ryan Poles wasted no time or words in talking about their plans for Williams going into the 2025 season, making it clear that things weren’t going to be easy for the second-year quarterback. When training camp and preseason started, reports from the media in attendance stated that Johnson was coaching Williams extremely hard, but in hindsight, that coaching style may have brought the most out of the former No. 1 overall pick.
Recently, Poles made an appearance on SiriusXM’s NFL Radio and was asked about what he felt led to the season that Williams had in Year 2, and without hesitation, the GM credited Johnson’s coaching style for the success.
“He set the tone early,” Poles said. “Communicated clearly what the expectations were and Caleb was all-in for it, and that’s what he was looking for. It’s one thing to say it but then when we got on the practice field, you could see that come alive. If it wasn’t done the right way, we were going to do it again. When we were in our exit meetings, Caleb was kind of laughing about it, doing a long drive drill and starting it over five times. [Johnson] was going to make sure it was done the right way and you could see growth through that.”
Poles knew Johnson was his guy, and in turn, Johnson knew he had to set the expectations for his team and Williams as the potential franchise quarterback. All parties answered the call in 2025 and have built a path and foundation for the immediate future of the Bears, with Williams and Johnson working together to bring out the best in one another.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Ryan Poles explains how Ben Johnson set the tone early for Bears
Reporting by Mike Pendleton, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
