There’s no secret that a big reason why the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson as their head coach was to help build and develop second-year quarterback Caleb Williams.
Williams set the Bears franchise record for single-season passing yards this year, won the NFC North title, and renewed a real heated rivalry with the Green Bay Packers in his second year with Chicago. Earning plenty of praise for his NFL record seven fourth-quarter comebacks this year, Williams has been a topic of conversation and a lot of the growth points to the work that Johnson has done with him.
Following the Bears’ win over the Packers in the wild-card game, Williams discussed how his head coach has impacted his confidence, saying Johnson is his favorite for Coach of the Year award.
“I would say he’s helped with the confidence, because you go out there and you read the defense and you — obviously he’s — he has a track record of being one the best offensive coordinators,” Williams said. “Right now for me he’s top candidate for head coach of the year.”
Williams added that he believes that Johnson has helped the confidence of not only himself, but the entire Bears roster and the organization top to bottom.
“But you go out there and I have these meetings with him and our trust and relationship, our bond has grown, and so when you have that trust and you got somebody that has your back, has your six, the confidence goes through the roof,” Williams said. “Then you have the meetings and such belief in his play calling and your team and who is on the field with you, confidence goes through the roof. Then like I said, you have these meeting with him and he tells you this play is for this and just playing his offense, his scheme, and trying to play it well, keep the offense on the field, all these different things, and you go out there and you work so hard and you hit these plays and all these different things, confidence just keeps growing. So I would say yes. Yes, he’s helped with the confidence as a team, us as an organization, and also myself.”
The first year with the duo of Johnson and Williams has come with very successful and somewhat surprising returns. But, more than any tool or technique the Bears quarterback may have developed, his confidence could be the biggest factor moving forward.
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This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: How Ben Johnson has elevated Bears QB Caleb Williams’ confidence
Reporting by Mike Pendleton, Bears Wire / Bears Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
