Ben Johnson Exhibits Remarkable Similarities To Coaching Legend.

Ben Johnson hasn't proven anything yet. You need to win football games to be called a good head coach. He is about to embark on that mission just over two weeks from now. That said, there are usually signs early on if a guy has the traits necessary to make it in the NFL. People talk about the ability to hold a locker room's attention and motivate grown men. Others think it is the mastery of Xs and Os. It is always a combination of the two. However, there is often much more to it. One trait that too often gets overlooked with great head coaches is their uncanny obsession with details.

Joe Gibbs famously spent his nights sleeping at the team facility after watching hours of game film. Bill Belichick was notorious for finding even the smallest weaknesses in opposing players and crafting ways to exploit them. One person who has seen guys like that in action is Case Keenum. He told Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune that Johnson exhibits those same qualities.

Quarterback Case Keenum is on his eighth team and 14th head coach (counting interims). The coaches who harp on the details the way Johnson does are those who succeed. They’re the ones who help the players understand why a detail is critical to the play.

“It’s the coaches I’ve been around that are detailed about split and how you line up and where you got to get to and when you got to be there and everybody on the field trusting that guy to be here on that time, whether it’s blocking for me, blocking for him, lining up here to adjust to get defender’s eyes over here so we can block him this way or different ways of doing a lot of plays I’ve run before,” he said, “but I’m like, ‘Oh, that’s why we do that. That makes a ton of sense.’”

Keenum would know.

He played for Gary Kubiak in Houston, who went on to win a Super Bowl with Denver. Kubiak learned from Mike Shanahan, somebody else with a reputation for details. However, after listening to the stories about Johnson for months, it's becoming clear he's starting to resemble someone even more prestigious.

Ben Johnson sounds so much like Shula.

The all-time leader in wins didn't last 33 years in the league by accident. Everybody who played for him understood he did not accept cutting corners. Either you did things the right way or were off the team. His rise was similar to Ben Johnson. He spent a few years as an assistant before becoming a coordinator in 1961. He immediately produced a dominant unit. After two years, he was hired as head coach of the Baltimore Colts. Shula went on to win two Super Bowls and reach six. If Johnson wired the same way, the Bears are in store for exciting times ahead. Time will tell how many players are up to the challenge he lays down. It won't be surprising if names you're seeing now don't stick with the team in the next couple of years.