Bears coach Ben Johnson returns to North Carolina for Week 1 matchup with the Panthers

LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson returns to familiar territory in Week 1.

Johnson leads the Bears into North Carolina for their season opener against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. The 40-year-old Johnson grew up in Asheville and was a walk-on quarterback at the University of North Carolina, earning degrees in mathematics and computer science.

Of course, the hard-driving Johnson is a little too busy to appreciate the moment. He said the trip probably means more to his wife Jessica than it does to him.

“She’s made some comments and you’re like, ‘Girl, you do whatever you want to do. I’m good,’” Johnson said Friday with a chuckle.

“The busiest time of my week is really Saturday and Sunday morning, and so I don’t have a lot of time to think about that. Away trips, I’m kind of meetinged up, you know, from start to the end, which is good. It’s my process of what gets me right for game day, and everyone’s a little bit different.”

Asked about his favorite Panthers growing up, Johnson listed Julius Peppers, Jake Delhomme and Muhsin Muhammad. He also has a connection to Hall of Fame linebacker Luke Kuechly; he was an assistant coach at Boston College during Kuechly's time at the school.

“To see him go to Carolina and have the career that he had and still the impact that he’s making right now, making the Hall of Fame and all that, is pretty cool to watch,” Johnson said. “Yeah, I got a lot of favorites there.”

Johnson took over Chicago in January 2025 . The Bears lost his first two games, and then won four in a row on the way to an 11-6 record and the franchise's first NFC North title since 2018. Led by quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears posted an NFL record seven wins when trailing in the last two minutes of regulation, including a thriller against Green Bay in the wild-card round.

As Johnson pondered the road back to the playoffs and a longer postseason run, he took a closer look at applying the team's success at the end of games to the end of the first half.

“I think the big jump that we would love to make is the end-of-half situations,” he said. “Just finding a way to score some points before halftime and limiting the retaliatory drives that can be a response there. That has been something we have talked about since the springtime and throughout camp. We’ll see if we can bring that to life or not.”

That analysis included Johnson looking at his own decisions in those situations.

“That’s where it starts is you’re second-guessing yourself and whether you made the right calls or not,” he said. “Whether you’re helping guys get open or you’re helping the pass protection or whatever that is, making sure you’re doing your part.”

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