Bears legend Devin Hester optimistic about Chicago's offense under new coach Ben Johnson

After years of offensive inconsistency and a 14-year playoff win drought, cautious hope is building again for the Chicago Bears -- and this time, it's rooted in the arrival of Ben Johnson. The Bears' new coach and offensive architect arrives from the NFC North rival Detroit Lions with a reputation as one of the NFL's brightest play-callers. And no one may be more excited than Hall of Fame return specialist and Bears legend Devin Hester, who believes Johnson's presence could finally unlock the franchise's long-awaited turnaround.

"I feel like the biggest talk that's going around is our new [coach]," Hester said, via Doug Farrar. "The fans, and I'm pretty sure everybody in the organization is ready for an exciting year as far as offense goes."

The Bears have ranked in the top half of the NFL in scoring just once over the past 11 seasons, including a dismal 2024 campaign where they finished 28th in points per game (18.2) and dead last in total offense (284.6 yards per game). In stark contrast, Johnson's Lions ranked top five in both scoring and total offense in each of the past three seasons -- culminating in 2024 with the NFL's No. 1 scoring attack at 33.2 points per game. Detroit had a top-five scoring offense just once in the previous 24 years before Johnson's arrival in 2022.

That kind of turnaround is exactly what Hester hopes Johnson can replicate in Chicago, where a talented young core -- including second-year quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams -- could finally bring the offensive identity the team has long lacked.

"We see what he did in Detroit, a program that was not so highly televised the last two years, three years," Hester continued. "They're in the playoffs every year and potentially fighting to make it to the Super Bowl. So, and that's just the offense alone we're talking about with Detroit. So, we're thinking we bring that over here to Chicago, man, with a great city and a great fan base and with offensive weapons that we have, you know what I mean, we put this together. Who knows where the Chicago team could go?"

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Hester, who played the first eight seasons of his career in Chicago, became one of the most electric returners in NFL history, earning three first-team All-Pro selections and setting multiple league records -- including most return touchdowns (20) and most career punt return touchdowns (14) in a career. He famously opened Super Bowl XLI with a 92-yard kickoff return for a touchdown before the Bears went on to lose to the Indianapolis Colts.

Since Hester's final season with the Bears in 2013, Chicago has made the playoffs just twice and failed to win a postseason game. With Johnson at the helm and a franchise quarterback finally in place, Hester appears optimistic this could be the start of a long-overdue new era in Chicago.