The past 10 years have been rather disappointing for the Bears, only two playoff appearances in the last 10 years, and both of those years they weren’t able to make it past the wildcard. But many Bears fans are looking forward to this season, due to some big offseason moves. From what’s basically a whole new coaching staff to Pro Bowl regulars picked up out of free agency, this season could very well be one to remember.
November 29th, 2024, was the first glimpse of hope for Bears fans when head coach Matt Eberflus was fired midway through the season. Bears fans were relieved hearing this news. Eberflus was infamous for his terrible clock management and overall bad coaching. After Eberflus was fired, offensive passing coach Thomas Brown was moved up to the head coach position. Brown’s coaching wasn’t all that bad, he led the team to a late season win against the rival Green Bay Packers, and had the offense in decent shape. However, everyone knew that Brown wasn’t going to be head coach for long. Almost immediately after the Eberflus firing people started throwing suggestions out for who they thought the new coach should be. Former Seahawks coach and Super Bowl winner Pete Carroll, Former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel, and Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson were all in contention.
On January 21st, it was made public that successful Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson would be the new head coach. Johnson has been a significant factor in the Detroit Lions success throughout the past few seasons – with a league leading 33.2 points per game in 2024, he’s never led an offense that went below fifth in the league, when it comes to points and yards. Johnson isn’t the only new coach hired this season; the Bears have almost completely reshaped their coaching staff with new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and new defensive coordinator Dennis Allen. There have also been additions of quarterbacks, wide receivers, and special teams coaches. Johnson also plans to reshape the Bears offense. He specifically says he wants to focus the offense around Bears Quarterback Caleb Williams. He did this same thing with Jared Goff and this made Goff, who was never considered a big threat, an offensive weapon.
Another concern the bears have had is specifically in the lineman. Last year the Bears set a new team record with 68 sacks allowed, and they also led the league in sacked percentage – they would get sacked on around 10.7% of pass attempts. This was one of the Bears key aspects to their failure. Fortunately, in the offseason, they have aimed to change this problem. The team greatly strengthened their interior offensive line by picking up two skilled lineman. Jonah Jackson, former Ram, was picked up on March 12th by the bears. Jackson was drafted in 2020 and has played for the Rams and the Lions. He is a former Pro Bowler and has experience in the Playoffs from his 2021 run with the Lions. The other notable Offensive Line pickup was veteran guard Joe Thuney. Thuney has had the job of protecting two of the best Quarterbacks of the 2000’s: Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady. Thuney is expected to bring big things to Chicago as he’s played in five super bowls during his career. The Bears also picked up some players on the defensive side of the line. Interior threat Grady Jarrett signed out of free agency to the Bears on March 12 this expected to do big things for the team.
Another big pickup is Dayo Odeyingbo, defensive end. Odeyingbo logged a whopping eight sacks during his 2023 season, and should be doing the same with the Bears. With the main interior problem of the Bears fixed, they have also picked up some skill players. The wide receiver room got a big new addition:Olamide Zaccheaus. Zaccheaus is expected to be the new wide receiver three behind Rome Odunze and DJ Moore. The team also signed some players to extensions including defensive back Kyler Gordon and linebacker TJ Edwards.
On the other hand, there have been lots of mixed opinions on the recent draft, where the Bears took a questionable first pick and some other decent second through seventh rounders. In the first round the Bears took Michigan tight end Colston Loveland. While many hoped for an offensive lineman or a running back, all the top options the Bears were predicted to pick were taken by the time they got on the clock, so it was really a toss up. Even though the pick was disliked by many, fans are starting to believe in whatever Ben Johnson might be planning. “I think Ben Johnson will make Loveland successful,” says lifelong Bears fan Matthew Rapacz. Other rounds of the draft consisted of players all around the field. The most memorable being Wide Receiver Luther Burden, who is expected to make some big plays. All of these draft picks do seem to be adding up to Ben Johnson’s coaching, last year he would often run a double tight end scheme and now the Bears have two star Tightends to work with.
“I’d grade the offseason at a B+” says fan Danny Simon. I myself would say that it could be graded in the A range. His offseason really has me, and lots of other fans, fired up and ready for this next season.
