Expectations are everything in coaching, and the Bears saw that clearly in the two coaches they hired before bringing in Ben Johnson this year.
Many forget that despite how underwhelming Matt Nagy’s tenure was, he left with a winning record — joining Lovie Smith as the only coaches after Mike Ditka’s run to do so. There were virtually no expectations of Nagy upon arrival in 2018 coming off a brutal 5-11 season. He and the Bears stunned the NFL by going 12-4, taking advantage of a world-class defense, and Nagy beat out future Hall of Famers Andy Reid and Sean Payton for Coach of the Year.