Kirk Cousins’ Shocking Ben Johnson Story Proves Bears Struck At The Perfect Time
The common story you hear about great head coaches is that you often never see them coming. They’ll succeed as an assistant, but the credit is often given to the head coach or the talented roster. Only when the man runs his own team do people realize he’s the real deal. Apparently, that wasn’t the case with Ben Johnson. After being fired by the Miami Dolphins, he latched on with the Detroit Lions as a quality control coach in 2019. A year later, he was promoted to tight ends coach. Not long after that, whispers about him began to make the rounds in the NFL circles. Those quickly reached the ears of Kirk Cousins.
The former Pro Bowl quarterback has had the good fortune to play for some excellent offensive coaches in his long career. He happened to have some former teammates in Detroit when Johnson took over the tight ends. Cousins told CHGO that he quickly started getting excited updates from them.
“I remember he was the TEs coach in Detroit and I was getting whispers from guys who I had played with who were in Detroit. They were texting me like ‘This tight end coach is the real deal. He’s gonna be a dude someday.’ So people knew. Then he becomes the OC and they started to turn as a team once he did. Guys were texting me, ‘This is Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan. We got that kind of guy here.’”
The most likely culprit in this revelation was defensive end Everson Griffen. He was teammates with Cousins in 2018 and 2019 before being traded to Dallas. He then signed with the Lions in 2020, the same year Johnson was promoted.
Landing a Ben Johnson is all about timing and luck.
You have to understand that coaches of this caliber do not come around very often. There have been maybe a handful in that category in the past 50 years. Here is a breakdown of when they were hired as a head coach.
| Name | Year hired |
| Bill Walsh | 1979 |
| Joe Gibbs | 1981 |
| Andy Reid | 1999 |
| Sean Payton | 2006 |
| Sean McVay | 2017 |
| Kyle Shanahan | 2017 |
So typically, you’re looking at a gap of around 7-10 years when these guys pop up. The amount of luck involved in hiring one of them is uncanny. You need to have a vacancy at the right time and present a situation that they find intriguing enough to take over. One misstep and they’re ending up with another team. The Bears didn’t have a vacancy in 1979. The job opened a year after Gibbs jumped in 1981. They didn’t even interview Reid in 1999 despite having a vacancy. Lovie Smith was firmly entrenched in 2006, and the Bears wanted to give John Fox another year despite going 3-13 in 2016.
At last, after so many years of missed opportunities, they got that guy. Ben Johnson might actually be the best fit, too. His personality and coaching style seem to fit Chicago better than many of the coaches who have held that job over the past 30 years. Adding actual offensive genius on top of that is like hot fudge on a five-star dessert.
History paints a bright picture for the Bears’ future.
Great offensive minds who also turn out to be great head coaches tend to win a lot of football games. Walsh and Gibbs won three Super Bowls apiece. Reid has three Super Bowls. McVay won his ring in 2021. Payton got his in 2009. You also have guys like Jon Gruden, Bruce Arians, and Mike Shanahan, who were considered the brightest minds of their respective eras. All won at least one championship. People often forget that George Halas himself was considered an offensive innovator in his early days, crafting the iconic T-formation that won multiple championships in the 1930s and 1940s.
The simple reality is this. If the Bears keep the roster stacked with good talent moving forward, Ben Johnson will win games. He’s proven he knows how to innovate and motivate. Players respect him, and he understands the requirements of a head coach. There will be cutting corners on this team. Every detail matters. Either learn to embrace them, or find another team to play for.