Newly minted Chicago Bears coach Ben Johnson held his first press conference on Wednesday afternoon, during which he praised Chicago's roster, poked fun at some divisional rivals, and spoke more candidly and in detail about his plans to fix an ailing franchise.

To that last topic, he discussed his plans for working with quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft believed to be the panacea for the Bears' playoff hibernation. Though his rookie season wasn't the solution Chicago hoped, the 23-year-old still showed lots of potential and could be molded and developed into something better with the right leader at the helm. Though Johnson was in the mix for vacancies with the Las Vegas Raiders and the Jacksonville Jaguars, his choice to go with Chicago was thought to have something to do with Williams; the Raiders are currently without a franchise quarterback, while the Jaguars have Trevor Lawrence, heading into his fifth season in the league.

Well, Johnson openly confirmed as much on Wednesday, when he said there was "no doubt" that Williams was a "large component" in his decision.

"Modern football in the NFL is quarterback-driven," Johnson said. "That is no secret. You can look at analytics. Right now, quarterback success is a higher predictor of winning and losing than turnover ratio, which has been for 20+ years. ... So, there's no doubt Caleb played a large component into my decision. He is a phenomenal talent that had, as many quarterbacks do, an up-and-down rookie year."

The former offensive coordinator then detailed how he plans to work with Williams and build Chicago's offense around him.

"Where I see my role is as a supporter of him. This offense will be calibrated with him in mind. This is not simply a dropping of a previous playbook down on the table and starting there. No, we're ripping this thing down to the studs and we're going to build it up with him, first and foremost, and then with the pieces around him next.

"I really look forward to challenging him and pushing him ... to continue to grow and develop," he said.

Here are those comments:

Williams is no doubt psyched about Johnson's hiring; when describing his ideal next coach on an episode of Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown's podcast, he mentioned lots of what Johnson is known for, especially having come from the school of Dan Campbell.

"Strong-minded. A leader of men," Williams proposed. "I think that's a cool thing about what y'all got over there in Detroit [in head coach Dan Campbell]. ... Selfishly, I want an offensive-minded guy so I can build with him and be with that coach for the next 19, 17, 15 years. I can also learn and grow and things like that from him."

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bears' Ben Johnson Shares How He Plans to Work With Caleb Williams.