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The QB–Coach Partnership Transforming the Bears
It wasn’t instant chemistry. It wasn’t a fairy-tale pairing from Day 1.
Patrick K. Flowers
December 24, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 4 minutes
If you want to understand why the Chicago Bears feel different today, why their offense has matured week by week, why the franchise finally looks like it has a long-term identity, you start with the relationship between Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson.
It wasn’t instant chemistry. It wasn’t a fairy-tale pairing from Day 1. It was work — real work — the kind that builds something durable. Williams admits now that during training camp, he genuinely wasn’t sure whether his new head coach even liked him.
“It took me a while,” he said with a laugh at his weekly media availability at Halas Hall. “Throughout camp at certain parts, it felt like our relationship was pretty fragile… from my perspective, it was like, ‘geez, this dude doesn’t seem like he likes me.’”
But what changed everything, and what defines the relationship today, is what Williams learned next.
“He doesn’t have to like me,” Williams said. “And you start figuring out that’s just him. He cares so much about the sport. He cares so much about us. He cares so much about winning.”
That realization became the foundation. The hard coaching wasn’t personal; it was intentional. It was the standard Johnson held himself to — and demanded of everyone else.
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