Ryan Poles explains why Ben Johnson is perfect head coach for Bears
Chicago Bears GM Ryan Poles loves the fire that head coach Ben Johnson has brought to the Bears-Packers rivalry.
The Chicago Bears -Green Bay Packers rivalry was revived last season with the arrival of Ben Johnson, who helped put the hate back into a rivalry that had lacked competitiveness from Chicago for a long time. For the last couple of decades, the Packers had completely dominated the Bears , winning 19 of 22 games from 2014-2024. So when Johnson said, in his introductory press conference, that he enjoyed beating Green Bay's Matt LaFleur twice a year, it was significant.
But he didn't just talk the talk, he walked the walk. The Bears won the season series, 2-1, including a thrilling wild-card comeback win that was one of an NFL-record seven fourth-quarter comebacks. But Johnson made headlines with his feud with LaFleur, which was ignited by a drive-by postgame handshake and a "F--- the Packers" chant in the postgame locker room.
While Johnson's actions didn't sit well with Packers fans, who suddenly can't stroll to two easy wins every season, Bears general manager Ryan Poles explained that's exactly why Johnson is the perfect head coach for Chicago. “That’s what you want to play for,” Poles said on Hoge & Jahns . “You want to play for a guy that’s not scared, that’s aggressive and someone that wants to compete.
It raises the level of both organizations to be completely honest with you. We needed that. I think we needed that jump start.