The Chicago Bears suffered a crushing overtime defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams in their divisional round matchup, but that still doesn’t take away from what the team managed to accomplish in Ben Johnson‘s first year as their head coach. In the blink of an eye, Chicago became one of the most dangerous teams in the league, thanks in large part to Johnson’s exceptional work with the group.
Still, the Bears weren’t perfect last season, as evidenced by their failed comeback against the Rams. As a result, Johnson is already at work trying to figure out how to get his team to take a step forward in 2026. And according to a recent report, it sounds like he’s bringing his longtime friend and former North Carolina Tar Heels teammate, Will Lawing, to Chicago to be a part of his coaching staff.
Bears Hire Ben Johnson’s Longtime Friend Will Lawing
Johnson built himself up as a top head coach candidate during his time as the Detroit Lions‘ offensive coordinator, but he’s been working as a coach since 2008, when he was a graduate assistant with the Boston College Eagles. Johnson eventually found his way into the NFL with the Miami Dolphins in 2012 before latching on with the Lions in 2019.
During his time in football, Johnson has made quite a few friends. That extends to his playing days at North Carolina, where he walked onto the football team alongside Lawing in 2004. Similar to Johnson, Lawing has been coaching for well over a decade now, with his most recent experience seeing him work as Boston College’s offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
Over the years, Johnson and Lawing have remained in touch, and now, it seems like they will be seeing a lot more of each other moving forward. That’s because reports emerged on Tuesday indicating that Johnson had hired Lawing to join his staff for the 2026 campaign in an undisclosed offensive role.
“Boston College coach Bill O’Brien said offensive coordinator Will Lawing is leaving to join the Bears in a yet-to-be-announced role,” Patrick Finley of the Chicago Sun Times shared in a post on X.
Ben Johnson Looking to Take the Bears to the Next Level in 2026
GettyHead coach Ben Johnson of the Chicago Bears.
What Lawing’s role will be with Chicago is unknown, but he could end up being a replacement for Eric Bieniemy at running backs coach after he left to return to the Kansas City Chiefs as their offensive coordinator. Lawing has quite a bit of experience working with the offensive side of the ball, so he should excel in whatever role Johnson ends up assigning him to.
It’s not much of a surprise to see this duo reunite, given their ties to each other, but it will be interesting to see what other moves Johnson makes to his coaching staff as departures begin to reveal themselves. The goal is to help Chicago emerge as a de facto Super Bowl contender in Johnson’s second year in charge, and how he builds out the rest of his coaching staff could play a big role in determining how the Bears fare in 2026.
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