New Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson will not retain interim coach and offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
Brown has interviewed for the play-calling role with the Seattle Seahawks, who fired Ryan Grubb after one season.
Brown was promoted twice by the Bears in 2024, from passing coordinator to offensive coordinator and then to the interim coaching role when Matt Eberflus was fired in November.
Bears team president Kevin Warren established late in the season that Brown would be a candidate to remain head coach. But a different reality came to light at Johnson’s introductory press conference Wednesday at Halas Hall.
Team chairman George McCaskey revealed there was always one candidate — Johnson, who has been offensive coordinator of the Lions for three seasons and on the Detroit coaching staff since 2019 — based on the preference of his football operations staff.
“(GM) Ryan (Poles) says, ‘This is the guy we want,’ and I said, ‘Go get him,'” McCaskey summarized Wednesday.
Brown and Johnson are the same age (38) with much different degrees of success calling plays. The Bears finished last (32nd) in total offense in 2024, but Brown did push rookie No. 1 pick Caleb Williams toward consistently positive results.
Brown went 1-4 as head coach of the Bears, beating the Packers in his final game in January.
In addition to Brown, the Seahawks have interviewed Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley, Saints offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Vikings assistant OC and quarterbacks coach Grant Udinski for their OC role.
Brown played running back at Georgia and was drafted by the Falcons in 2008 before starting his coaching career in the college ranks. He worked for Georgia, Wisconsin, Miami and the College of Charleston and connected with Sean McVay as an offensive assistant with the Rams following one season as offensive coordinator at South Carolina.
Brown was hired as Panthers offensive coordinator in 2023 but moved on after Carolina made another coaching change.
The Athletic reported Thursday that in addition to Brown, the Bears are parting ways with defensive coordinator Eric Washington, interim OC and wideouts coach Chris Beatty, offensive line coach Chris Morgan and QBs coach Kerry Joseph.
