John Shoop is proud of Ben Johnson

0:00Hey, I arrived almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped a video call, uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat, and of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once? Yep, story of my life. That's why I switched to D-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more, I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get D-Mobile. So many reasons to join D-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uclosepetextintelligence data of National Speed Score results in incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026.

1:25The Ocean moves us. Whether that's surfing a wave or taking in an inspiring view. The ocean feeds us. Sustainable seafood practices bring the ocean's bounty to our plates. The ocean teaches us. How our everyday choices, big and small make an impact. The ocean delights us as playful otters restore coastal kelp forests. The ocean connects us. Find your connection at monoraybeacquarium.org slash connects. Philosophically, what I believe in is similar to a blast from the past named John Schoep. That is to make same things look different and different things look the same. We want the defense on their heels. We're always going to be attacking on offense. We're going to make things very challenging on the defense each and every week.

2:26Welcome back. It's Han Patent, Chicago Sports Radio 1043, the score. Ruthie Polinsky in for Jared Payton today. Beautiful Friday morning in the city. It's a pleasure now to go out to the plumber's 911 hotline. Plumbing emergency call 1-833-plumb 911. Local 130 plumbers get the job done right the first time. Nurt Ben Johnson on the day that he was introduced as the Bears head coach back in January of 2025. Reference somebody that is I've known for a long time since he was a Bears offensive coordinator. And now it's a thrill that he is still in football coaching successfully. And he is the head coach of the Nordic storm of the European League, the European League champions coming off a championship season. John Schoep mentored to Ben Johnson. Join us now. John, how are you? Good morning, David. Good morning, Ruthie. Thanks for having me on. It's great to talk to you. You must have a lot of pride in what Ben Johnson accomplished in his first season as a head coach.

3:28You were the offensive coordinator at North Carolina. Ben Johnson was a walk on quarterback who apparently had all the answers to the test. And he obviously was an intense guy then. He's still an intense guy now, John. How I don't think you were surprised. So how have you felt seeing him succeed in this first season in Chicago? Well, it was amazing to watch. I mean, I'm a fan of the Bears like so many. And of course, to have your feelings invested in the head coach the way I do in Ben just it was exhilarating for me. I mean, that throw against the Rams that Caleb Williams had. You know, I won as crazy as anybody did. I think it's just how Ben drew it up, right? Right. Exactly. John, I'm curious when you see Ben sort of turn into, you know, I know you've known him for so long, but you see him sort of embody maybe everything he's ever envisioned of what a head coach should be.

4:28What has it been like for you to sort of watch it come to life, whether it be him with the death stare on the sidelines during the games or taking his shirt off in the locker rooms? Like what was what were all of those moments like for you for someone who's known Ben, you know, since he was just a young college player? Well, the shirt off was a little bit surprised for me. I'll say this, you know, this is Ben a fell is a very serious business and it's run by very serious people. And Ben is very serious about football, about offense, about relationships with players. He's such a mature person who handles just every aspect of the job, you know, admirably, but also just in a very professional manner, the shirt off with standing, you know, which

5:30was a blast to watch. We're talking with John Schoep, the former Bears offensive coordinator going way back to 2001 here on the score. And John, you remember people of a certain age, Bears fans never will forget that 2001 season. It was a long time ago, but I think it's an interesting historical reference because of what you guys did that year. You surprised everybody. Much the way last year the Bears surprised a lot of people. That was the run and shoot offense people will remember. You called the plays and then 2002 happened. And things fell kind of off track. And I don't know. There are a lot of things that contributed to it, injuries and otherwise, but if you had to talk to coaches, whether it's Ben Johnson or just anybody on that staff this year about handling success or getting to the point where you don't make the mistakes that sometimes teams do after a successful season, how would you address that? Yeah.

6:30Well, you know, I think coaches throughout the NFL and in college, you know, there's good situations and there's bad situations. In 2001 was a great situation. You know, that roster was really built by coach Jaron and Mark Catley, both of whom have passed on. And everybody was kind of pulling in the same direction. We had a formula for how to win games. Now that 2002 season, you know, the roster started to evolve. You know, Jerry Angelo, a very fine general manager, he came in in that 2001 season, but his fingerprints weren't really on that roster. And you know, our situation changed. I'm just not sure. Jerry and Dick kind of saw football the same way or had the same formula. And so the one benefit that has this, it seems like from the outside looking in, and trust

7:35me, I'm on the outside looking in, but it seems like everybody in that organization is pulling in the same direction. And you know, there's a lot of really good coaches in my opinion that are in rough situations. And sometimes, you know, going seven and nine is a pretty good coaching job. And then there's some coaches who I think are kind of average maybe, but they're just in great situations, right in the hotels of a great situation. And I think Chicago has a chance to have a great coach and an organization. It seems to me that's pulling all in the same direction. You know, to outsiders, that may seem like common sense, but, Daly, you know, inside, inside the room, inside the walls of a NFL building, it's really been more commonplace to me for people to have different agendas,

8:40pooling in different ways. And I think that's where Ben and Ryan Pohl, who I've never met before, but have deep respect for, they seem to be on the same page, pulling in the same direction. That's a tremendous advantage. And again, this isn't me making excuses or anything like that. It's just if the vision of the whole organization isn't aligned, doesn't matter how good of a coach you are. Right. The other thing I'll say in 2002, after 2001 is, you know, we also had to go play and champagne. And so having 16 away games really, because they were renovating should soldier field was, with tough, but I understand soldier field, the whole other topic. That's not. We're not going there with you coach. Coach, I wanted to ask you about what you think it's going to be like for Ben to go back to North Carolina this weekend.

9:41I think obviously someone who has deep roots there. And I know you have roots there as well. And you know, will he ever take a moment to get unsearius for a minute and reflect on maybe how far he's come? Well, you know, that's a good question to ask Ben. Yeah. You know, I, I, I, I, I, I rustish your, I'm a Nashville, North Carolina. And, you know, I'm just about a mile down the road from where is, his mom and dad live and, you know, his sister is the assistant principal at our, you know, local high school here. I'm sure there's going to be a big contingent of, you know, people from Nashville that are headed down to the game. Charlottes about two hours from where we are. I'm also pretty sure Ben's going to have his blinders on and isn't even going to look up until that last whistle. There may be some good pictures, you know, on Facebook that a sister sends me or

10:45something like that after the game, but I'm pretty sure there's not going to be any before the game. No one Ben. Will you be there? I'm not going to be there. I just got back. I just got back into town from Europe and, uh, well, figured, I better spend this first weekend here at home. Yeah. My wife. I think it's good. I think it's a good plan, John. I think that's as after a successful season in Europe. So you were the head coach of the Nordic storm of the European and you won the European league championship recently. Was that last weekend? Uh, it was August 29th, okay, final game. And, uh, you know, the, the European football alliance is the league that we're in. And it's about like our team would be a really good college level team. We'd beat a lot of college teams. Our team would probably be about a top 40 college team. It's professional football.

11:45Uh, it's really good football getting better every year. And this is my fifth year in Europe. And, uh, you know, it's, it's really fun. You know, the likes of Jack Del Rio were over there this season. Jim Tom Soule has been back and forth. You know, so there's more and more people from the NFL getting involved. Our defense coordinator was Mark Dalyone, who's a long time NFL coach as well. It's a good brand of football. Really fun. If you're ever over there, our season is in the summer. Come on over to Copenhagen. Hey, our rides almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped the video call uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch, Copenhagen, with the group chat. And of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once. Yep. Story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. Okay. Multi-tasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once.

12:48It's awesome. Say no more. I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile. So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uclav Speed Test Intelligence, the data of national speed score results in incorporating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026. What you're listening to presumably doesn't suck. So neither should your sound system. Sonos lets you listen seamlessly from room to room. Same great sound, expertly tuned, astonishingly clear. It's not magic, but it's not not magic. Hi, I'm Mike Sullivan, L.A. Car Guy. You already know that L.A. Car Guy.com is the best place to search our dealerships for a new car. But we also have hundreds of pre-owned and certified pre-owned vehicles available for every lifestyle and budget. Customize your search by make, mileage, or even monthly payment,

13:51whether you're looking for an SUV, a truck, a hybrid, or an EV. L.A. Car Guy.com is the perfect place to find your next car. That's a great ad job. You're a PE and the league football. So have you had any interaction with Ben since last season ended in terms of just congratulating him on the success in year one? And I imagine you said you lived down the road from his family. There's got to be a lot of local pride in what the Bears accomplished. Well, there's a lot of local pride. A lot more bear jerseys than hats and stuff like that around here. But I will say, you know, going into the championship game on August 29th, you know, I texted a lot of friends. There's still coaching some even playing in the NFL. And we put together a video of different personalities, wishing our team luck kind of sending them a message.

14:53And you know, one of my favorite ones was just Ben with that very serious attitude. Looking at every member of our team in the eye saying, you know, you've earned this now. Go get it. I mean, this message was really strong. So that's the last that I've talked to Ben and you guys know as well as I do. I could I could text Ben a hundred times here between now and Thanksgiving. He's probably not going to look at his phone until the end of the playoffs. No doubt about it. He's going to be all business. That's the intensity that I think we saw last year and what makes him such an excellent head coach. John, though, as as a coach as a guy that is an offensive genius and you look at and you understand the schemes, you understand the value of the quarterback at all the ways that you can get guys open. How how do you look at the Bears offense this year and their ability to be the kind of juggernaut that Ben Johnson envisions them being? What is about the Bears offense that you think makes it unique?

15:56Yeah. Well, I think they have a really creative run game. I mean, I got to tell you our staff just absolutely studied their run game. I must have watched their run game, their game against Philadelphia last year. I must watch that tape a hundred times because Vic Pagio is a pretty good coach too. And run wise, if you can run the ball in that league, you can protect your quarterback, you can put defenses and conflicts of assignment, you could do a lot of different things. And, you know, as long as they're able to run the ball and then the other thing that I just think is unbelievable. Caleb Williams can really throw the ball on the move. So some of those runs with play action passes off of it.

16:56It's one thing to do it when you've got a quarterback who, you know, is it can certainly play action and can certainly exercise, you know, the art of deception. But when you got a guy also that can pick up a third down with his feet, you know what? I was watching the Patriots the other night and I know Drake made through three interceptions in the fourth quarter. I know that, but he also picked up about two or three third down conversions in the first half that sort of a gun that really picks up a play collar. And I don't think there's a more intimate relationship in all the sport, in all a sport than a play collar in a quarterback. And it seems like, you know, from the outside looking in again for what it's worth Caleb's got bends back, bends got Caleb's back in the organizations all born in the same direction.

17:57So if you can run the ball, you can kind of protect your quarterback as well. And I think a growth edge for him for the bears this year. And I'm sure Ben's all over it is, you know, just some concepts from the pocket, you know, I'm sure Caleb's going to be just a lot better at true drop back passes with six or five man protections from the pocket. And but again, when your quarterback can run on third down and pick up a first down, it's kind of like finding money in your pocket. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Here we go onto the next one. It's awesome. It's really been a beautiful story and development to be able to watch sort of Ben and Caleb relationship start from where it was last year where there were certainly times where I think Caleb was scared of Ben and Ben was sort of like, Oh, what am I working with here? And to sort of see where they are now where they're just in lockstep. It's just been really cool to see coach.

18:57I wanted to ask you, if other than Caleb Williams, I would say, is there one player on the bears offense that you're really looking forward to seeing maybe take another step this year? Yeah. Well, of course, Caleb's fantastic and like any fan, I can't wait to watch him. You know, leveling the tight end, what Ben does with tight ends in their offensive staff. It's not just Ben. It's the whole offensive staff is so creative that as a coach, you know, I kind of like to watch. Okay. Is he in a three point here? He's in the two point here. He's detached here. He cracked in the end here. I mean, these guys can really paralyze edge pass rushers with just splits and techniques. So he's a fun guy to watch. And then like everybody else, I really think I want to pronounce his name correctly. Roman Duse, the wide out from Washington is, you know,

20:02due to take a big step, I'm really rooting for him to kind of be that first round draft pick wide out. I've ever reason to believe that it can be, especially with a guy like, you know, Ben and their whole staff leading them. So like everybody, I mean, those are kind of the guys that I watch and I got to tell you that running back to is number 25. Because he run harder. Am I crazy? Menongue. How many guys? Seven round pan. Out of Rutgers. Yep. Little guy. He kind of just runs, runs hard. I was helping my daughter, Mary Lizbeth with her fantasy football team the other day. I said, I can and he showed up on one of the list and I'm like, I'm going to tell you, I think Ben's going to hand that guy the ball down in the race. They love it. But this is you might want to think about John. He has a focus on high school. Oh knock on wood now. Son of a gun. He flumbles this weekend. David, the whole city of Chicago is coming down on you. You know that.

21:02I know that. I know that. That's OK. He's awesome. John is such a pleasure talking with you. Really appreciate your time. So many. The European Championship coach of the Nordic storm. John Shoop, former Bears offensive coordinator, have a great weekend. Enjoy the season. Look forward to talking again. Thank you so much, John. Thanks. I appreciate you all. John Shoop joining us here on the score. Hey, our rides almost here. Are you ready? Just grabbing my shoes. That's what you said 10 minutes ago. I just wrapped a video call uploading this giant file on my tablet, looking at my watch group and Nana's with the group chat. And of course, still lining up tonight's playlist on my phone. All at once. Yep. Story of my life. That's why I switched to T-Mobile. They have the fastest 5G network. OK, multitasker. I see you. Honestly, I never imagined I could do all this at once. It's awesome. Say no more. I'm totally switching. My post is taking way too long to upload. That's a sign you've got to get T-Mobile.

22:04So many reasons to join T-Mobile. Find yours at T-Mobile.com. Fastest based on analysis by Uglospeed Test Intelligence data of national speed school results in cooperating 5G download and upload speeds for the first half of 2026. Hi, I'm Mike Sullivan, LA Car Guy. You already know that LACarGuy.com is the best place to search our dealerships for a new car. But we also have hundreds of pre-owned and certified pre-owned vehicles available for every lifestyle and budget. Customize your search by make, mileage, or even monthly payment. Whether you're looking for an SUV, a truck, a hybrid, or an EV, LACarGuy.com is the perfect place to find your next car. The Ocean Delights us. Some marvel at the colorful world below the surface. The ocean feeds us. Others find nourishment in its bounty. The ocean teaches us. How our everyday choices impact even the deepest places.

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