NFL Coaches Admit They Constantly Steal From Ben Johnson

They say the NFL is a copycat league. The key part of that is there is always somebody other coaches feel the need to copy from. Every era seems to have trendsetters. It was Don Coryell with his passing schemes in the 1970s, Bill Walsh with the West Coast offense, and Dick LeBeau with the zone-blitz defense. Elements of those innovations are still prevalent across the NFL today. The Chicago Bears haven't had somebody like that in town for a long time. One could argue it was Buddy Ryan in the 1980s with that creative "46" defense. Lovie Smith also revamped how teams approach forcing turnovers. George Halas with the T-formation in the 1940s was the last offensive mind to do such things. That may have finally changed with Ben Johnson.

Fans already knew the young coach was a well-respected offensive coordinator in Detroit. They haven't quite grasped how highly regarded he is around the league. Seth Wickersham of ESPN did tons of research on Caleb Williams for his new book. During that time, he spoke to coaches around the league about Johnson, who is becoming the young quarterback's head coach. Many of them admitted they steal loads of offensive concepts from him.

Ben Johnson is a perfect blend of old school and cutting edge.

He has a throwback style of offense built around running the football and play action. However, he mixes that with a bevy of creative passing concepts and gadget plays, making it a complete nightmare to defend. It feels like he's uncorking something new every week. Ben Johnson understands that predictability is the enemy of every offense. That is why he must never stop innovating and adjusting. He has the right mix of intelligence and open-mindedness to pull it off. Every offensive head coach the Bears have employed for decades has never fit that criteria.

Matt Nagy spent one year as an offensive coordinator and basically copied Andy Reid's system. When he took over, Marc Trestman hadn't been in the NFL for 10 years. Mike Ditka was a former tight end with zero play-calling experience or savvy. Johnson is different. He built this offense himself, and the NFL is doing everything possible to keep up.