Ben Johnson was named head coach of the Chicago Bears on Jan. 21, 2025. Johnson is the 18th full-time head coach in the franchise's 106-year history, arriving in Chicago after leading one of the NFL's most prolific offenses with the Detroit Lions.
Johnson most recently served as Offensive Coordinator (2022-24) in Detroit, where his 2024 unit averaged a franchise-record 409.5 yards per game, helping the Lions average a league-high 32.4 points per game and accumulate 68 total offensive touchdowns – the most by any team in the NFL. Each of his three seasons coordinating Detroit's offense (2022-24), Johnson's group has finished in the top-five in the league in total offense each year, including a No. 2 ranking in 2024. Over the last two seasons (2023-24), no unit has averaged more points per game (30.1) or net yards per game (402.2) than Johnson's offensive unit with the Detroit Lions.
Following his promotion to Offensive Coordinator in 2022, Johnson helped the Lions secure eight wins out of their last 10 matchups to close out the year. One season later (2023), Johnson's group finished No. 3 in the NFL in total offense (394.8) and No. 2 in passing offense (258.9), finishing the season in the NFC Championship Game and as a finalist for AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year. With the aid of Johnson's leadership of the offense, Detroit accumulated a franchise-record 15 regular-season wins in 2024, ranking No. 2 in the NFL in both total offense (409.5) and passing offense (263.3), while owning the third-best red-zone touchdown percentage (69.4 pct.) and fourth-best third-down conversion rate (47.6) in the league. Johnson spent six total seasons with the Lions, starting in 2019 in an Offensive Quality Control capacity, before being elevated to Tight Ends Coach in 2020, holding that role for two seasons. In his first seasons coaching the tight ends, Johnson's tutelage helped second-year TE T.J. Hockenson earn his first-career Pro Bowl selection after ranking top-five in the league in receiving yards (third), receiving first downs (third) and receptions (fourth) among tight ends.
Prior to Detroit, Johnson served seven seasons on the staff of the Miami Dolphins, working under three different head coaches. Over his seven years in Miami, Johnson worked in the capacities of Offensive Assistant (2012), Assistant Quarterbacks Coach (2013-15), Tight Ends Coach (2015), Assistant Wide Receivers Coach (2016-17) and Wide Receivers Coach (2018).
Working with the Dolphins wide receivers, Johnson aided a group that featured Pro Bowl WR Jarvis Landry who set a franchise-record with an NFL-best 112 receptions in 2017, one season after helping Miami secure 10 wins and reach the postseason. As Wide Receivers Coach in 2018, Johnson helped guide WR Albert Wilson to accumulate an average of 12.9 yards after catch, the second-highest rate among all NFL players.
Prior to his time with the wide receivers, Johnson served as Assistant Quarterbacks Coach (2013-15), before being promoted to Tight Ends Coach following staff realignment in 2015. In 2014, QB Ryan Tannehill became just the second Dolphins passer to throw for 4,000 yards in a single season. Starting with the Dolphins as an Offensive Assistant in 2012, Johnson aided a unit that ranked fourth in the AFC in rushing touchdowns (15).
Johnson entered the coaching ranks as a Graduate Assistant at Boston College (2009-10), spending three years in Chestnut Hill, including the 2011 season as Tight Ends Coach.
A native of Asheville, N.C., Johnson was a walk-on quarterback at the University of North Carolina, earning degrees in mathematics and computer science. Johnson and his wife, Jessica, have three children – Emory, Kennedy and Halle.
