The Magnificent 7

Seven people who had the biggest impact on the Bears’ resurgence in 2025: 

1. Ben Johnson 

The rare authority figure who made everyone at Halas Hall better (with the possible exception of president Kevin Warren). Before hiring Johnson, general manager Ryan Poles acquired Nate Davis, Lucas Patrick and Ryan Bates outside of the draft to upgrade the offensive line. After hiring Johnson, he acquired Joe Thuney, Drew Dalman and Jonah Jackson. Caleb Williams went from a league-leading 68 sacks before Johnson to 24 in 2025 with Johnson. The offense improved from 28th in points and 32nd in yards before Johnson to ninth and sixth in 2026. The Bears went from 5-12 and disarray in 2025 to 11-6 with a playoff victory over the Packers in 2025, with the arrow pointing up. The most notable Bears failure in 2025 might have been the only thing Johnson did not have his hands on — the stadium deal. Johnson can’t do everything. 

2. Lovie Smith 

So typical of Bears dysfunction that their most successful head coach since Mike Ditka still made his biggest contribution after getting fired. It was Smith as coach of the Texans in 2022 who thumbed his nose at management and beat the Colts in improbable fashion in Week 18 to hand Poles and the Bears the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. That led to the trade with Carolina for their 2024 first-round pick, which led to the Bears drafting Williams, which surely made the Bears’ job so appealing to Johnson. And the rest is history. 

Only the possibility that Poles still could have made the trade with the Panthers from the No. 2 overall spot (though with a lesser overall package) prevented Lovie from being No. 1 on this list. 

For the record, Smith was 81-63 (.563) in nine seasons as the Bears head coach from 2004-12). He was 3-3 in the playoffs, including a 39-14 victory over the Saints in the NFC Championship Game before losing 29-17 to the Colts in Super Bowl XLI (a playoff loss where the Bears have the most memorable highlight — Devin Hester's touchdown on the opening kickfoff; much like the Bears' loss to the Rams, with Caleb Williams' spectacular fourth-down 14-yard touchdown pass to Cole Kmet that went 45 yards in the air.)

3. Caleb Williams

Bears fans have been fooled before by quarterbacks who can make spectacular throws and plays but are dogged by inconsistency and fundamental playing-quarterback issues (Jay Cutler and Justin Fields, and to a lesser degree, Mitch Trubisky). But Johnson’s upside was so spectacular, it trumped the downside that is usually the ruin of developing quarterbacks. In desperate times, Williams not only lifted his game, but those around him — a big reason why the Bears won seven games with fourth-quarter rallies. 

It should be noted that Williams and the offense also failed five times in fourth-quarter rally situations. And also failed to close the door in the fourth quarter against the Steelers, surviving in part because Mason Rudolph and not Aaron Rodgers was at quarterback for the Steelers. So there’s a lot of work to be done before Williams ascends to the “it” factor level of elite quarterbacks. But while Johnson still is making a quarterback out of Williams, we’ve already seen glimpses of Williams making a coach out of Johnson, with plays made out of his innate will and athleticism more than design. That’s the step that gets you to the top. 

4. Ryan Poles 

He drafted Williams and hired Johnson, but those were two moves any of us would have made — like putting “X” in the middle square to start a tic-tac-toe game. And it was Poles’ own mistakes that put him in position to get both — hiring Matt Eberflus less than 48 hours after he himself was hired in 2022, and sticking with Eberflus after the 2023 season, knowing he was going to get an elite quarterback prospect in Williams. The disaster that ensued — the in-season firings of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Eberflus, and the 10-game losing streak in a 5-12 season — aligned the Bears with Johnson’s availability, and arguably created the desperation that compelled the Bears to break the bank for the best candidate in the 2025 coaching cycle. 

Still, Poles get due credit for building virtually the entire roster. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson and tight end Cole Kmet are the only players Poles inherited from Ryan Pace, and Poles signed both to long-term extensions. Pre-Ben Johnson, Poles traded the No. 1 overall pick to Carolina for DJ Moore and eventually Williams among others. He drafted right tackle Darnell Wright, cornerback Kyler Gordon, safety Jaquan Brisker and wide receiver Rome Odunze. He signed All-Pro safety Kevin Byard (and cornerback Nahshon Wright). 

But his biggest contribution might be in setting aside his ego to create a productive GM/coach working relationship, with Johnson in the lead role publicly and — partially, if not totally — in roster building.

5. Jayden Daniels

Don’t laugh. You can’t underestimate the impact Daniels’ Hail Mary touchdown pass to Noah Brown in Week 8 had on the Bears’ future. Without it, Eberflus' Bears are 5-2 with four consecutive victories, and feeling great about themselves with games against the 4-4 Cardinals and 2-7 Patriots up next. Instead, they imploded and lost 10 consecutive games, with Waldron fired in Week 11 and Eberflus in Week 13.

And it was Daniels who sparked the Commanders’ upset of the Lions at Ford Field in the divisional round of the playoffs in 2025 — making Johnson available earlier than expected. There’s no telling what happens if the Bears have to wait until after the NFC Championship Game or the Super Bowl to talk to Johnson again, especially with the Bears unwilling to do the back-channel negotiations that often finalize a deal in those circumstances.  

And furthermore, Daniels also played a part in accelerating the Bears’ momentum in 2025 with a fumbled snap and turnover that led to Jake Moody’s game-winning 38-yard field goal as time expired for a 25-24 victory in Week 6 that pushed the Bears over .500 at 3-2. 

6.  Dennis Allen

The Bears’ defense was leaky most of the season — 23rd in points allowed, 26th in yards — but could have been a disastrous mess with injuries and subpar performances (Jaylon Johnson, Kyler Gordon, T.J. Edwards, Terell Smith, Dayo Odeyingbo, Tremaine Edmunds, Shemar Turner). Allen, a veteran defensive coordinator with an impressive resume, made the most of that and at times turned a weakness into a strength, with an uncanny league-leading 33 takeaways — many of them at key moments, and some by unsung players. Poles had more success with backups he acquired on defense (Nahshon Wright, C.J. Gardner Johnson, Austin Booker, D’Marco Jackson) than starters (Dayo Odeyingbo, Shemar Turner). That’s a credit to Allen. 

7. George McCaskey

George’s decisions from the top helped create the mess the Bears have been since he became chairman in 2011 — only two winning records in 14 seasons prior to 2025. But while everything bad about the Bears starts at the top, everything good starts at the top as well. 

It’s sometimes difficult to discern George’s hands-on role in key football decisions — he says he stays out of football decisions, but always seems to be in the room when those decisions are made. But at some point he had to green light paying Ben Johnson the reported $13 million a year — almost triple what the Bears reportedly were paying Matt Eberflus ($4.5 million). And in the last year, McCaskey has recognized that extraordinary measures needed to be taken — like firing a coordinator and head coach in season (which the Bears have never done before), and paying $13 million a year for a first-time head coach. And he did what had to be done.

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