How Ben Johnson's Chicago Bears staff is catching eyes around the NFL

INDIANAPOLIS - New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn is far from the first to speak highly of Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson.

Glenn noted at the NFL Combine on Tuesday how Johnson is far from just an offensive mind. 

"Ben's a very, very smart man. He knows offense inside and out," Glenn said. "The other good thing about Ben is he understands defense, also. So for him to get a chance to attack other teams, that's one thing he looks at quite a bit."

Johnson got a chance to reflect that sentiment with his finalized coaching staff.

That staff earned praise around the league at the combine for its makeup of coaches with varying experience.

The experience was the requirement for Johnson. He said Tuesday he wanted great teachers on his coaching staff, but what he didn't want was to hire coaches he was familiar with. That might work out in some instances, but it might not.

"It's somebody you really know you can trust, they're competent and they can coach. Those don't always go hand in hand," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said. "I think the worst thing you can do is just hire your buddy, but he's not real good at what he does."

Johnson didn't do that. He brought JT Barrett and Antwaan Randle El with him from Detroit, but there are plenty of coaches he has on the Bears' staff that came to Chicago with a great recommendation that landed them on Johnson's radar.

That's how Declan Doyle ended up in Chicago.

"I ended up calling John Morton, who took the OC job at Detroit. He'd worked with Declan the last couple of years," Johnson said. "I said, ‘Hey, how's Declan doing?’ Is he ready to be a coordinator? He said, 'Ben, listen, he's another Ben Johnson.'"

Doyle also got a glowing review from Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who hired Doyle from Iowa in New Orleans.

"He's a real, real sharp offensive mind, great thinker," Payton said. "We hired him at a young age coming from Iowa, and I don't think you get surprised anymore, because look, to his credit, he had a relationship and there was a confidence level just in visiting with a couple of the coaches."

Payton has plenty of connections to Johnson's staff. He worked with Doyle across two different teams, Bears' defensive coordinator Dennis Allen was a defensive coordinator under Payton in New Orleans and Bears' offensive line coach Dan Roushar goes way back with Payton.

Think back to the University of Illinois in the 1990s, back.

Payton and Roushar worked together at Illinois in 1996, and Payton later hired him from Michigan State to New Orleans as a running backs coach initially. Roushar was later promoted to offensive line coach.

Payton didn't need a personal relationship with these coaches to hire them. He wanted to see other skills.

"It was more than just a friend. Like, I didn't know Dennis Allen. I knew Dan," Payton said. "Sometimes, I mean, that's not the kicker at all, but they're really good teachers and they're guys that are going to get along well in the building. They have all those traits that we value."

The traits needed in Chicago teaching traits. It's what Johnson wants and it's what he brought to the Bears.

The focus in Year 1 will be teaching the system they eventually decide to put in place with the Bears and their players. After that, it's about maximizing what's learned.

It's clear head coaches around the league are taking note of what the Bears are doing, too.

"Chicago's helped themselves, obviously with a number of these guys," Payton said. "I'm happy for Ben and the staff he's putting together."