Bears quarterback Caleb Williams revealed a couple of things during an appearance on the St. Brown Podcast this week.
Williams told Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother Equanimeous that he recently fell for a prank text from a group of teenagers who were posing as Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson asking to speak about the vacant Bears head coaching job. Williams said he texted St. Brown to check if the number was correct, but wound up responding and finding out it wasn’t before the wideout got back to him. Williams called it “a classic prank” that left him “fuming” and later moved on to discuss what he’s looking for in the team’s next head coach.
It sounds like Johnson, who has interviewed with the Bears, would fit the bill.
“Selfishly, I want an offensive-minded guy so I can build with him and be with that coach for the next 19, 17, 15 years, and so I can also learn and grow and things like that from him and what he’s seen and what he’s gone through with other QBs or been around,” Williams said.
Williams isn’t locked in on that side of the ball, however. He said he wants someone “strong-minded, a leader of men” while referencing Lions head coach Dan Campbell and then circled back to reference Chicago’s Thanksgiving loss to St. Brown, Campbell and the Lions in Detroit. That was Matt Eberflus’s final game as the Bears head coach and it ended with him bungling clock management.
“If we get an overall, like, grand scheme coach, and is good with time management, good with the clock, good with helping control the game — it’s a big factor, obviously,” Williams said. “In our game when we played the first time at y’all place, big factor was being able to help control the clock. And then helping find the right guys to win championships. That’s the only goal that I have for my NFL career is to go win a championship and championships.”
The opportunity to work on developing Williams in his second season and beyond is seen as a big draw to the Bears job, but it remains to be seen what direction their search will ultimately take.