Chicago Bears' Ben Johnson Named NFL's Assistant Coach Of The Year

"Listen, it's no secret that I was being portrayed as an offensive guru…..Whether I was quality control, position coach, tight end coach, receivers coach, coordinator, I'm whatever the job requires me to be.”  Ben Johnson said when during his initial press conference in Chicago. "And so that's where I really wanted to let those people know on every call that I had, that there was more substance than maybe I articulated in any media session or what you might see on the sideline."

Johnson's words signal his grind from the bottom to the very top of the chain of command, but also that he’s a true assistant and servant. Where other coaches may have been able to use previous success as a player or prior relationships to begin in a much more substantial professional role, Johnson built his way up from the ground floor to the assistant coach of the year and now a head coach. 

Johnson has reaped the benefits financially as well. The first-year head coach reportedly signed a six-year, $65 million contract with the Chicago Bears after accepting the job, beginning to assemble his staff. The deal made Johnson the seventh-highest-paid head coach in the league and places his annual salary above established coaches such as Baltimore's John Harbaugh, Detroit's Dan Campbell, Minnesota's Kevin O’Connell, Buffalo's Sean McDermott, Philadelphia's Nick Sirriani, and others.

Johnson has come a long way in a relatively short amount of time, but he’s done it the hard way.