Johnson a ‘special’ head coach
Odeyingbo isn’t the only one impressed with Johnson. Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower also was effusive in his praise for the new Bears coach.
“I can tell you for a fact we’ve got a good head coach here—a damn good head coach,” Hightower said. “I’m just telling you. I know what they look like. I’ve been around them.”
Since entering the NFL as an assistant coach in 2006, Hightower has worked with many head coaches, including Mike Shanahan, Gary Kubiak, John Fox, Matt LaFleur, Sean McVay, Mike McDaniel and Robert Salah.
“You kind of see who wants to grind, who wants to work, who has the Xs and Os down, who has great personality,” Hightower said.
Hightower admired Johnson when he was Lions offensive coordinator and has been even more impressed with the young coach since they joined forces in Chicago.
“Because he was on the opposing team, you always knew who he was, but I hadn’t worked with him,” Hightower said. “I knew from afar when I watched some of his press conferences, I was like, ‘the guy’s pretty sharp.’
“But then when you work with him and you can see the attention to detail and how he meticulously looks at everything no matter what it is, dives deep into things and has an eye—real head coaches have an eye for things when they happen and they’re able to anticipate stuff. And I’m just telling you, you guys just watch. We’ve got a good head coach. I’ve been around a lot of them. Damn good. Special.”
Hightower lauded two players who routinely excel at quizzes he administers in special teams meetings.
“Somebody who is really always on the details of quizzes is [veteran running back] Travis Homer,” Hightower said. “He’s extremely competitive and he is always front and center on that stuff. To stay in the running back room, with the rookies, Kyle [Monangai] is smart. It’s hard to [stump] him as well. He is on the details.”
Gearing up for joint practice
The Bears are looking forward to Friday’s joint practice with the Dolphins at Halas Hall. The workout will come in advance of Sunday’s preseason game between the teams at Soldier Field.
“[Joint practices] can be a little chippy,” Odeyingbo said. “They can be intense. You’re kind of defending your home turf, especially in this situation. Everybody is excited to get to go against someone else and someone you’re not trying to look out for because it’s not your teammate.”
“[Joint practices are] extremely valuable for coaches,” Hightower said. “Extremely valuable for players to get evaluated by two personnel staffs, two coaching staffs. [It’s] not a real game, but it’s kind of like the intensity is going to be up, so we’re fired up for it and I know Miami is the same, so it’ll be good coming up here soon.”