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LAKE FOREST, Ill. - In the psychology of first impressions, there is a concept known as the 7-second rule. The idea is that someone can assess whether another person is likable, trustworthy and competent within the first seven seconds.
Chicago Bears' head coach Ben Johnson was prepared for those seven seconds and much more.
He impressed the veteran players who arrived for the Bears' voluntary minicamp on Monday. He also set a lasting tone the veteran players understood immediately.
Johnson doesn't want his Bears to just win, he wants then to dominate.
Johnson doesn't want his Bears to dominate teams soon, he wants them to dominate teams now.
"We want to win. We want to win now," Bears linebacker Tremaine Edmunds said. "We're not waiting for anything."
Those on the outside looking in at the Bears would need much more convincing.
The Bears haven't made the playoffs since the 2020 season with head coach Matt Nagy, and Johnson marks the Bears' third head coach in four years after the team fired Matt Eberflus mid-season.
The Bears have lost at least 10 games in every season since 2021, too. This includes a 10-game losing streak that sapped all the goodwill out of Halas Hall.
Inside Halas Hall on Monday, Johnson began sowing the belief the Bears could win in 2025. It started with a first impression the Bears very gladly welcomed.
"This guy's the real deal," Edmunds said.
Still, some players need more convincing.
Johnson will be cornerback Jaylon Johnson's third head coach in Chicago since former general manager Ryan Pace drafted him out of Utah in 2020. He's not going to be excited just yet.
"I've been through too many times, man," Johnson said. "I'm going to get excited when we win in November, December and we change some things and get to the playoffs. That's when I'll be excited."
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Still, Johnson felt that sense of urgency in Johnson's words as he commanded his first team meeting.
"Having that dominate mentality is something that I took from the team meeting and it starts now," Johnson said. "It starts with the work that we put in. It starts with gelling and being cohesive and understanding what they're going to be asking from us."
It goes beyond Johnson's words, too. His actions show he wants to move from step to step right away.
He actually quizzed Bears quarterback Caleb Williams on what he talked about on Monday, less than 24 hours after talking about it.
"We went over a few things yesterday, talked about a few things, and Ben walked in this morning, flung open the door, made a grand entrance,"Williams said. "Then, we got to work of him testing us about what we talked about yesterday."
Getting started right away was a continuation for Williams, especially after some of the moves Johnson made this offseason in conjunction with general manager Ryan Poles to reshape the offensive and defensive lines.
The players took note of that before Monday. Now, they get to see their new head coach at work.
Phase One is off to a good start.
"What Ben has been able to do brings some excitement for me," Williams said. "Those have been the two main things of: I've had a year under my belt now of ups and downs and good and bad things like that. And then, the excitement of Ben being here and his creativity and all these different things."