CHICAGO — Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has agreed to a deal to become the next head coach of the Chicago Bears, the agency that represents him, Priority Sports, announced on social media Monday.

Johnson, who has been the Lions' offensive coordinator for the past three seasons, will fill the position vacated when Matt Eberflus was fired on Nov. 29. Johnson will be the 19th head coach in the franchise's 105-year history.

Johnson, 38, was hired after the Lions, the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs, were defeated by the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Johnson is already building out his staff, with former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen being the leading candidate to be hired as Chicago's defensive coordinator. The Bears are also heavily pursuing Saints interim coach Darren Rizzi to serve as their special teams coordinator, sources told Schefter.

The Bears conducted a virtual interview with Johnson on Jan. 11 during the Lions' first-round bye. He also interviewed the Jacksonville Jaguars, Las Vegas Raiders and New England Patriots.

Chicago interviewed 17 candidates for its head coaching vacancy; three of those interviews were with former Commander/Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera, former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy and current Tennessee coach Eddie · George did it himself.

“We’re going to cast a wide net,” general manager Ryan Poles said on Jan. 7. “It’s going to be a diverse group. It’s going to be offense, defense, special teams, college, pro. Different backgrounds. We're turning every stone to make sure we're doing this the right way... there's going to be some names that you wouldn't expect that will surprise you because we're digging deeper than we've ever done before. "

The Bears followed the NFL's Rooney Rule after George's interview on Sunday.

Johnson has turned down team interest over the past few years, but will now take over as quarterback coach in Chicago from Caleb Williams, who said earlier this month that he was disappointed with Johnson's time in the Lions' offense. Very interested.

“I think during our games, I’m going to sit back and watch and try to learn something while I’m watching,” Williams said. "It was fun to watch because he always had issues with counters and stuff like that throughout the game. I thought he obviously did a really good job, so it'll be interesting to see how this all develops."

Johnson expressed similar praise for the performance he saw from Williams before the Bears lost 34-17 to Detroit in December. In two games against the Lions, the 2024 No. 1 pick has thrown for 681 yards and five touchdowns without an interception.

Known for his innovative play-calling, Johnson has coached a top-10 Lions offense the past two seasons, including a 15-2 record this season that ranked second and first in scoring. From 2022 to 2024, when Johnson served as offensive coordinator, Detroit's offense averaged 28.2 points per game, ranking first in the NFL. The Lions averaged at least 26 points per game in Johnson's three seasons as offensive coordinator, while the Bears have had four such seasons in the entire Super Bowl era (1985, 2006, 2013 and 2018) .

The Bears are 5-12 on the season and in last place in the NFC North standings. Since George Halas retired after the 1967 season, only one of the past 12 full-time Bears coaches has posted a winning record in his first season: Matt Nagy, He led Chicago to the NFC North title and finished 12-4 in 2018.

Johnson will be tasked with promoting Williams, just as he did with Jared Goff in Detroit. The season before Johnson takes over as offensive coordinator in 2022, Goff totals 46 snaps at quarterback. That number improved to 63 in Johnson's first season as OC, largely due to limiting Goff's sacks (his sack rate dropped 3% from 2021 to 2021). 2022) and get easier throws with game actions.

Williams posted a quarterback rating of 47 in his rookie season (28th in the NFL) and was sacked a league-high 68 times.

The Bears offense could benefit from the creativity Johnson showed in Detroit. Last season, the Lions ranked first in play-action usage (36 percent), while Chicago ranked 30th. Detroit ranks fifth in the rate at which it uses snap action, while the Bears rank 19th.

Johnson inherits a Bears team with the No. 10 pick (and four picks in the top 72) and a projected $74.8 million in salary cap space (the fourth-largest). Three key starters on Chicago's offensive line -- Coleman Shelton, Matt Pryor and Tevin Jenkins -- as well as wide receiver Keenan Allen are all pending free agents.