As a tribute to their North Carolinian head coach — and a nod to the Panthers, their Week 1 opponent Sunday — the Bears started every practice this week by blaring songs about the Carolinas on their speaker system.
There was the classic: James Taylor’s “Carolina on My Mind.”
There was a cover of “Wagon Wheel” by Darius Rucker, who hails from South Carolina.
And then there was Ben Johnson’s favorite, “Raise Up” by the North Carolina rapper Petey Pablo. It was released in 2001 — when Johnson was 15 — and was certified as a gold record. In the song, the rapper screams the name of his home state and encourages the listener to “take off your shirt, twist it around your hand and spin it like a helicopter.”
The Bears coach remembers playing the song at his wedding reception. Johnson, notorious for taking his shirt off after the Bears’ “Black Friday” win in Philadelphia last year, was quick to say that, no, he did not follow the song’s instructions then.
“Shirt stayed on,” he said with a smile Friday.
Johnson is starting his second season with the Bears by playing in his home state Sunday. Expectations are sky-high for Johnson, who last year took a 5-12 team with a fledgling quarterback and made it into a 11-6 NFC North champion. He led the Bears to their first playoff win in 15 years, managed to pick a fight with the Packers’ head coach and seemingly put quarterback Caleb Williams back on track toward becoming a fixture for the next decade.
Whatever he does for an encore, it will start in North Carolina.
Sunday marks his fourth game ever at Bank of America Stadium. The first three went poorly, with Johnson’s Lions losing to the Panthers twice by a combined 34 points in 2022 and 2020 and his Dolphins losing by 24 in 2012. This time, though, is special — he’s the head coach. His wife Jessica, whom he met in grade school, has peppered the head coach with the things she plans to do back in North Carolina. Both his family and hers will make the two-hour drive from the mountains of Asheville, where they grew up, to Charlotte for the weekend.
“I think it probably means more to my wife than it does myself, to be honest with you,” Johnson said. “She’s made some comments — and I’m like, ‘Giiiiirl, you do whatever you want to do. I’m good.’”
Taylor went to Carolina in his mind. Johnson, though, will remain inside his own mind even as his family — and team — come in for the game. This is a work trip, after all.
Johnson is never more busy — or intense — than he is the 24 hours before kickoff. He has meetings throughout Saturday while he whittles down the team’s game plan as the offensive play-caller. On Sunday mornings, he gets to the stadium early and locks himself in his office to make his final preparations.
“We certainly have the plays to bed at that point in terms of what we want on the plan,” he said, “and yet, the timing of those plays sometimes doesn’t get determined until the morning of.”
He’s focused — and emotionally distant — until kickoff. His own assistants know to steer clear.
“I feel a responsibility to those guys, to the coaching staff and to those players — I don’t want to let them down,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s different. It just so happens for me to make sure I’m at my best, I don’t like being distracted in any way, shape or form. …
“It’s my process of what gets me right for game day. ”
A quarterback from grade school through college — he walked on at North Carolina — Johnson loved the Panthers’ Jake Delhomme as a kid. He admired two Panthers stars who eventually played for the Bears, edge rusher Julius Peppers and receiver Muhsin Muhammad.
After a state title-winning stint at A.C. Reynolds High School in Asheville, Johnson walked on to play quarterback at North Carolina in 2004. He was listed as an “athlete” — and not a quarterback — his first year, though, and the team issued him No. 23.
That number is sacred, both in Chapel Hill and Chicago — it’s what Michael Jordan wore with the Tar Heels and Bulls.
“Everybody wore that number to the game,” Johnson said with a smile.
He was switched to No. 14 for his last three years. When he left UNC, Johnson got a job as a graduate assistant at Boston College, where he worked with linebacker Luke Kuechly. He was drafted in the first round by the Panthers and this summer was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It gave Johnson another reason to follow the team from his home state — one he’s been unable to beat on their soil.
“Yeah,” Johnson said, “I got a lot of favorites there.”