New Bears coach Ben Johnson can help GM Ryan Poles on personnel if they establish partnership
The looming threat to the Bears’ pursuit of coach Ben Johnson was the allure of the Raiders offering him a tremendous amount of power by having input — perhaps even outright say — on who they’d hire as general manager. They have a trove of salary-cap space, and Johnson essentially would be the one to decide how to spend it.
He turned that down in favor of what figures to be much more of a partnership with general manager Ryan Poles, who just finished his third season running the Bears and has a 15-36 record. There’s no doubt Johnson hit him with tough questions about missteps in their one-on-one interview during the hiring process, and that kind of honest dialogue would be a precursor to how they’ll collaborate on the roster.
Johnson felt comfortable enough with Poles to take a leap of faith into a situation that otherwise looked ideal with a high-potential quarterback in Caleb Williams and a wealth of assets to make upgrades.
“I’m a low-ego guy, low-maintenance guy,” Johnson said. “The whole control factor, I don’t need that. I just need somebody that I can trust.
“When I’ve seen it not work, there’s been dysfunction and an element of disconnect between the GM, the head coach and other executives. I did not feel that here.”
Johnson and Poles can both claim to be low-ego, but both have a ton at stake in getting this right. Poles needs the Bears to make clear progress to reinforce his job security, and Johnson was picky about head-coaching jobs because he didn’t want to become another Matt Nagy or Matt Eberflus who were out after a few seasons.
Poles has gotten some right, some wrong. He misfired in trading for Chase Claypool, trading away Roquan Smith, signing Nate Davis and hiring and retaining Eberflus. He also cleaned up the major mess Ryan Pace left in terms of the salary cap and draft assets, stocked the Bears with young cornerbacks and landed a quarterback who most around the NFL — including Johnson — believe will become a star.
Among the Bears, Raiders and Jaguars, the Bears offered Johnson the best combination of current talent and future assets. Considering where they were when Poles took over in January 2022, that’s impressive.
Given the leverage Johnson has as the top candidate on the market and the recruiting war to get him, and considering that Poles is only a couple months removed from having to fire Eberflus and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, this is going to be more of a partnership, rather than Poles overseeing Johnson.
“We’re going to spend a lot of time together,” Poles said. “That was part of our interview process: How do you handle discrepancies when it comes to player acquisition? He answered it perfectly. It’s spending time and watching tape together to figure out what direction we need to go.
“We’re going to have different opinions, but it’s coming together, watching tape and figuring out what’s best for the organization. That part is going to come easy.”
It’s rarely as easy to merge philosophies as people think it will be, but the upside for Poles is that Johnson will be more of an asset to him on the personnel side than Eberflus, Waldron or Luke Getsy ever were because his track record is stronger than theirs.
So when the Bears look to allocate their projected $66 million in cap space (fifth in the league) and spend their three draft picks in the first two rounds (Nos. 10, 39 and 41), it’s vital that Poles gives Johnson equal say — and perhaps even defers to him. The Bears’ surest path to success is to supply Johnson with the players he wants, starting on the offensive line.
And if Johnson wins, so does Poles.