Bears coach search: Caleb Williams shares impression of Ben Johnson

The Chicago Bears are in the midst of their head coach search, and there's one name that feels like an obvious fit: Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.

Johnson, whose team just locked up the No. 1 seed in the NFC, has been connected to the Bears since last offseason, where reports surfaced he was interested in a potential job opening before the team opted to run it back with Matt Eberflus.

Johnson has worked wonders with the Lions offense, which is a top unit in the league -- averaging 33.2 points per game (1st), 409.5 yards per game (2nd), 6.2 yards per play (3rd), 263.2 passing yards per game (2nd) and 146.4 rushing yards per game (6th). But it's his work with quarterback Jared Goff that makes him an enticing option.

One of the biggest draws of the Bears' head coaching vacancy is quarterback Caleb Williams, who had an historic year in Chicago. Williams was asked about the possibility of Johnson as the next head coach, and he shared his impressions of the Lions OC, where there was plenty of praise for how he runs the league's top-ranked offense.

"Obviously, even watching last night (in a win vs. the Vikings) knowing kind of what they've going to be in certain situations and being able to go out there and execute and engineer," Williams said. "...I think he's been really cool to watch. During our game, I would sit back and watch and try and learn something. It was fascinating to watch because he always, like I said, he had wrinkles for counters and things like that throughout the game. I think he's obviously done really well. It'd be cool to see how that all goes down."

With the Lions having a first-round bye, the Bears requested to interview Johnson and his defensive counterpart, Aaron Glenn, this week. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero confirmed Johnson will in fact interview with Chicago this week, which is encouraging news. Reports indicate Johnson will be quite selective in this process, only interviewing with teams who he would seriously consider taking the job.

But the Bears will have some competition for Johnson, as he'll also be interviewing with the New England Patriots, who also have a young, rising quarterback in Drake Maye. So the Bears will have to do their best to convince Johnson they're the best option. Or hope it's Mike Vrabel or bust for the Patriots.

This article originally appeared on Bears Wire: Bears coach search: Caleb Williams shares impression of Ben Johnson