The Chicago Bears interviewed Mike McCarthy for their next coaching opening this week. In fact, according to the latest information coming out of Halas Hall, it comes down to McCarthy and Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
No matter who the Bears choose, it’s important that they succeed. If it comes to McCarthy and Johnson, both coaches have their pros and cons, but what matters most is that the powers that be in Chicago must believe that the next head coach will be an asset to quarterback Caleb Williams.
Frankly, Williams’ development should be the only thing that matters in this decision, as the Bears have devoted too many resources to too many quarterbacks over the years who have failed to make this No. 1 pick not doesn’t work too.
In the NFL, you either have a quarterback or you don’t. If you have one that can rub shoulders with the stars of this league, you have a legitimate chance to win the Super Bowl. If you don’t have a star quarterback, your chances are slim to none.
The Baltimore Ravens days of Trent Dilfer are over. Yes, defense is still important and the role of role players around a quarterback is important, but the ultimate asset on the road to a Super Bowl is a star quarterback.
You don’t believe it? Here is the last handle Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks: Patrick Mahomes (three times), Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady (three times), Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson. These are star quarterbacks who won it all at different stages of their careers, but the fact remains that they were star quarterbacks who hoisted the Lombardi Trophy.
This is the type of quarterback the Bears believe they have in Williams, or at least they hope so, so the next head coach in Chicago has to be the person who can best get Williams to live up to that. potential.
As such, Johnson seems like an extremely intriguing option. He’s currently the hottest player in the NFL as the man orchestrating the league’s most explosive and entertaining offense in Detroit, but he also comes with risks. Namely, he has never been a head coach before. Many great coordinators have tried their hand at the head coaching position and failed.
Meanwhile, McCarthy brings three desirable traits that make him the best option for Williams and the Bears. 1) He has plenty of experience as a head coach 2) He knows what it takes to win the Super Bowl and 3) He has a history of developing a quarterback.
Mike McCarthy makes sense for Caleb Williams and the Bears
We are in an era where youth and enthusiasm rule the NFL coaching landscape. It’s not quite the same as when everyone who had a cup of coffee with Sean McVay got a coaching job, but the current NFL offensive landscape favors young, innovative minds.
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That’s not a bad thing either. Johnson is 38 years old and his playbook is currently setting the NFL on fire with the Lions.
That said, the experience and wisdom of an NFL head coach still has value. Keep in mind that McCarthy took his first head coaching job with the Green Bay Packers in 2006, when Johnson was 20 years old. He wasn’t even legally allowed to drink yet, and McCarthy was coaching a Hall of Fame quarterback, Brett Favre, and was about to coach another future Hall of Famer, Aaron Rodgers.
McCarthy has 18 seasons of head coaching experience, not to mention his time as an assistant coach and offensive coordinator. He started in the NFL in 1993 as the offensive quality control coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. Johnson was seven years old at the time.
McCarthy knows the ups and downs of the NFL and he knows what it takes to be a consistent winner. Even after a disappointing 7-10 season with the Cowboys, his overall coaching record is 174-112-2. Oh, and let’s not forget, as mentioned above, he won a Super Bowl in his fifth season with the Packers.
That Super Bowl win and the fact that he presided over the transition from Favre to Rodgers in Green Bay makes him uniquely qualified for the Chicago gig. The Bears aren’t going from greatness to greatness like the Packers did, but they are trying to get the most out of a young, talented quarterback and that’s exactly what McCarthy did with Rodgers in Green Bay.
Rodgers still praises McCarthy.
“A heck of a ball coach, a hell of a ball coach,” Rodgers said on the Pat McAfee Show. “What he did this year with the amount of injuries they had, I thought it was incredible. Hearing the guys talk about him, I wasn’t surprised. Anyone who played for Mike, getting to know him a little bit and feeling the big heart he has, it’s special.
McCarthy is a proven quarterback coach with a proven track record of winning. We haven’t even talked about Dak Prescott, who was the Cowboys’ 2023 MVP candidate under McCarthy.
McCarthy is exactly the type of coach who could help Williams thrive not only now but in the long term, making him the best fit for the Bears.
