New Bears Coach Ben Johnson Throws Shade at Matt LaFleur

Ben Johnson helped Jared Goff establish himself as one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks.

Now, he’ll try to do something similar for Caleb Williams.

Johnson finalized an agreement to become Chicago’s head coach, the Bears announced on Tuesday.

“Having been on the opposing sideline, I can attest to how passionate Bears fans are about this city and their team, and I am honored to be their head coach,” Johnson said in a statement.

This will be the first head coaching job for the 38-year-old Johnson, who was widely considered the top candidate on the market after spending the past three seasons as the Lions offensive coordinator under Dan Campbell. He joined Detroit’s staff in 2019 following a seven-year run as an assistant with the Miami Dolphins.

Johnson also threw some shade at the Packers coach: ““I know this is the toughest division of football right now. There’s three teams that made the playoffs this year. I’ve got tremendous amount of respect for the coaches and the players in this league having competed against them for the last six years. Dan Campbell, Kevin O’Connell, talking about two guys that are up for coach the year awards as the season ends here. And to be quite frank with you, I kind of enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year.”