(670 The Score) Bears president Kevin Warren believed that his team’s head coaching opening would be the most coveted one in the NFL this hiring cycle. On Monday afternoon, it culminated with the most coveted candidate landing in Chicago.
The Bears are hiring Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their next head coach, sources told 670 The Score. It’s a hire that fits Chicago’s hope of landing a great candidate, as NFL Network insider Tom Pelissero told the Spiegel & Holmes Show on Monday.
“I think that it’s a dream hire for a lot of people, from the front office to the McCaskeys to Caleb Williams, who now gets one of the foremost offensive minds in the NFL working with him on a daily basis,” Pelissero said. “They knew that they needed to be bold. They knew that they were going to have to pay. There were going to have to operate maybe a bit differently than how the Bears have in the past. This really escalated starting this morning.
“He was not going to have to go through the whole second interview circuit and bounce around. He was going to have multiple opportunities. And credit to the Bears for stepping up. This was always the job. I’ve been very consistent about this saying it for a couple months now – he was intrigued by the Bears opening. He was willing to listen after the season. My understanding all along was that was the one that was going to make the most sense for Ben Johnson.
“It’s got to be an extremely exciting day in Halas Hall and throughout all the Bears’ fans.”
A press conference at Halas Hall is expected later this week to introduce Johnson as the 18th head coach in franchise history.