The Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears won't be tied together often unless they're set to play each other or a coach or player was with one team and ends up with the other one or some random news falls into our laps. This is an example of the latter.
While appearing on 670 The Score, Bears reporter Brad Biggs of The Chicago Tribune brought up how Zac Taylor wanted to get Ben Johnson in the building even if it meant hiring him to coach the defensive side of the ball.
"That was one of the takeaways I had from a conversation with Bengals coach Zac Taylor... [Taylor]'s toyed with the idea here at least 20 times of trying to bring Ben [Johnson] in on my staff in Cincinnati as a defensive position coach... He was looking for any way he could to get Ben in the building because he had such high regard for him as a coach and knew that anything he was tasked with he would do at a super high level."
Zac Taylor wanted Ben Johnson on his Bengals staff in a defensive role
Johnson was named the Lions offensive coordinator in 2022 and rose up the ranks quickly, leading Jared Goff and the Lions offense to new heights during his time in Detroit. Johnson was one of the most coveted coaches in the 2023 coaching cycle but opted to stay in the Motor City where the Lions lost just two games in the regular season and were as dominant as they were because of Johnson's playcalling.
Following Detroit's divisional round loss to the Commanders, Johnson officially hit the head coaching market and ultimately accepted the Bears head coaching job. So far, it's been going well, as Johnson has the Bears in first place not just in the NFC North but in the entire NFC playoffs.
According to Biggs, the conversation he was alluding to took place in January so this isn't exactly recency bias based on what Johnson's done as a head coach. Taylor clearly saw potential in Johnson and it's a little frustrating that he was only considered as an option for the Bengals on defense and not offense. Just imagine what he and Joe Burrow would have been able to accomplish together!
As we all know though, Taylor has been the Bengals' playcaller since taking over as the Bengals head coach in 2019 and that's a position he doesn't plan to give up. Imagine had he been flexible on that and given Johnson a chance. An offense led by Burrow at quarterback and Johnson as the offensive coordinator would have been darn near unstoppable.
Even if Johnson had accepted a role as a defensive position coach, one would have to think he'd have taken to the job well. He's clearly not just a great coordinator but a great coach as well and maybe he'd have been able to make a different name for himself had things played out that way.
At the end of the day, everything worked out for Johnson the way it was supposed to. He served as the Lions OC for three years and now looks to be righting the ship for the Bears organization in Chicago. It hasn't even been one full year but the 39-year-old head coach looks to have been hyped up for a reason and Zac Taylor wanting him on his staff isn't the least bit surprising. Too bad it didn't happen.