The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus in the middle of the season last year, the first time the franchise has ever relieved a head coach of his duties in the middle of a campaign.
Ben Johnson, the former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, was tabbed as his replacement. As Johnson’s first training camp as a head coach gets underway, he’s letting his team know early that he’s not afraid to push them to see who has what it takes.
“I told the team last night this is where we will get a great chance to eval just who is here to survive through training camp and who is really wanting to thrive and become king of the mountain. So we will see who is out there to compete,” Johnson said, according to Nicholas Moreano.
Fans reacted to Johnson’s statement on social media.
“I’ll change my prediction that the players tune out this coaching staff by week 2 and not week 6,” one fan wrote on Twitter.
“This is my favorite quote out of camp yet, Johnson is such a psycho, I love it,” another fan added.
“We may hired a crazy man and I love it,” one Bears fan added.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Bears respond to their coach’s challenge.