Lions' OC Ben Johnson Gets Ringing Endorsement

Ben Johnson. Mike Vrabel. Ben Vrabel. Mike Johnson. It seems like every week, there is a new frontrunner for the Chicago Bears head coaching vacancy. Last week, Mike Vrabel was a name consistently being brought up after it was made known that Team President Kevin Warren and General Manager Ryan Poles were looking for 'leaders of men.'

This week, the Chicago Tribune's Brad Biggs wrote a story on Detroit Lions' Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson, another name linked to the head coaching vacancy on numerous occassions. Biggs also references John Schoop, the former offensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, who overlapped with Johnson during their days at the University of North Carolina.

“What I’ll say about that I will probably keep between Ben and I,” Shoop said. “But I’ll say this: It was some of the greatest years of my life. I absolutely loved it, and Chicago, when you’re coaching for the Bears, you experience every single emotion there is. And Ben is wired right and he has the foundation to really be able to handle that. He is grounded in something a little deeper than just wins and losses and I think he’s got the wherewithal to handle all that goes with that in a big city. It’s full throttle. He knows that.”

- Brad Biggs

There have been two schools of thought concerning this coaching search. The first is the leader of men/culture changer who can turn around a locker room, and the second is the offensive guru who can help quarterback Caleb Williams maximize his skillset. However, shouldn't the goal be to have both? If Ben Johnson can lead a team through adversity while providing Williams with expert coaching, wouldn't that make him the no-brainer candidate? He already seems to be a fan.