Commanders OC details special relationship with Bears’ Ben Johnson

Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson is looking to build on their promising campaign last season, wherein they topped the NFC North and ended their four-year drought in the playoffs in his first year in the Windy City.

It quickly became apparent that Johnson was the right man for the job. Getting hired by the Bears was a long-overdue promotion after doing various roles with the Miami Dolphins and the Detroit Lions since 2012.

Washington Commanders offensive coordinator David Blough could attest to the work ethic of Johnson. In 2019, they joined the Lions on the same day, with Blough as an unknown quarterback and Johnson as a quality control coach. Blough, who played in Detroit until 2021, still has a vivid memory of how his special relationship with Johnson started.

“I walked outside of the hotel we all stayed at there in Detroit, and I ordered an Uber. He came down and he saw my bag tag and said, ‘Hey, Purdue Football.’ He said, and I’ll never forget this, ‘Did you play for John Shoop?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘So did I, at North Carolina,'” recalled Blough on “NFL Spotlight with Ari Meirov.”

“We met that day, and we were both learning Darrell Bevell’s offense together. Ben got there at the end of training camp—and this was not his job since we had a quarterback coach—but every Saturday night, he took me through the entire game plan.”