INDIANAPOLIS – Bears general manager Ryan Poles has enjoyed working with new coach Ben Johnson and expects their partnership to pay major dividends in free agency and the draft.

"Our relationship has been outstanding," Poles said Tuesday at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis. "Everything that I learned about him through the interview process has played out really well in person as well.

"You could really tell that through the construction of his staff. Very thoughtful in everything that he does, strategic in terms of the setup and who he wants and the chemistry within the building and the different personalities and experiences that everyone brings to the group, which is really important.

"You can see how that's going to play out as we get into the offseason developing our players as well as to in season preparing week in and week out. I've been really happy with the staff. You can feel the energy in the room."

The staff includes defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who boasts 23 years of NFL experience, including six as a head coach and eight as a defensive coordinator.

"Guys like Dennis Allen bring a lot of different experiences into the building to help support Ben as well as the entire coaching staff," Poles said. "And then the energy we have on the offensive side as well, these guys are juiced up. It's a totally different feel these days for the group that's in there."

Poles thanked the Bears' football operations department for helping the new coaches make a smooth transition.

"I challenged them before we even got into the coaching search to be the best in the world at onboarding our staff," Poles said. "Coming from experience as someone that's coming from outside the organization in, how fast and how efficient and how well you're set up can be critical and essential to really just getting up and running, getting your staff going and all that.

"They did a really good job from relocation to getting the computer systems up and tutorials and really just getting our coaching staff to understand our roster both on the field and off the field. So really good start by them and I appreciate them for doing that."

Poles has met with Johnson, Allen and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle to discuss the schemes they want to run and the traits and characteristics they're seeking in players at every position.

"We also had an opportunity to review the roster to go through to see what fits, what doesn't fit, what changes we're going to have to make to be adaptable for players to be highly effective in this new scheme with the new coaches," Poles said. "Those conversations have been great.

"And then really, our pro staff did a good job getting them up and running on the free agent process so when we come here and start watching the draft prospects, we can start putting the puzzle pieces together and build this team the right way so we can get off to a hot start with this new system that we're in."

Poles lauded Johnson for his ability to identify and explain exactly what he's looking for in players on both sides of the ball.

"It's never going to be perfect," Poles said. "You can't have like a prototype at every single position. But as a front office, we want to be as close as possible with that. So, his ability to really give a clear vision of what he wants and needs to be successful has been really, really good.

"And you can just tell the high football IQ is on a totally different level than what I've seen and been a part of before, so it's really good."

Poles believes that that clear vision will enable the Bears to be aggressive in free agency—which begins March 12.

"I think the clearer the vision, the more aggressive you can be, and that's important," said the Bears general manager. "You want to be selective in free agency … but if there are certain players that kind of hit all the checked boxes that you need, there's really no reason to hold back. I feel like you can be aggressive in those situations."