Report: Chicago Bears make odd request of Ben Johnson

On Monday morning, the Chicago Bears made a formal request to interview Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson. The Bears made other requests to interview several head-coaching candidates, including Mike McCarthy and Arthur Smith.

Johnson is considered to be one of the top names on the market for the 2025 offseason. He has interviewed for head coaching gigs for the 2023 and 2024 offseasons but wound up remaining with the Lions. There have been mixed reports as to whether Johnson chose not to accept a head-coaching offer or if any such offer was made.

There have been multiple reports by ESPN and the NFL Network that Johnson doesn’t interview well. There are also serious questions about Johnson’s ability to lead a team, and whether those questions stem from said poor interviews also remains a possibility.

The Bears have questions for Johnson about his ability to lead that they aren’t asking from the rest of the pool of candidates.

The Chicago Bears make an odd request of Ben Johnson