Caleb Williams Discusses What He Wants in Bears’ Next HC, Dishes on Ben Johnson Prank

Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears warms up before the game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis., on Jan. 5, 2025. Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams knows what he wants from the team’s next head coach.

Appearing on the “St. Brown Podcast“ with Detroit Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and his brother, New Orleans Saints wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, Williams said he would like to work with an offensive-minded head coach, like current Lions Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson. Williams also shared the background on the viral moment in which he was contacted by a prankster pretending to be Johnson.

Early in the interview, the brothers asked Williams about the now-infamous video in which a group of teens pranked Williams by posing as Ben Johnson confiding in him that he was accepting the job as Head Coach of the Bears. Williams called the number on FaceTime attempting to confirm it was Johnson, only to see that he had been pranked. Amon-Ra expressed sympathy before Williams talked about the situation from his perspective.

“I reached out to Amon-Ra, and I asked Amon-Ra for Ben’s number,” said Williams. “I wasn’t going to save his number, because he’s not our coach and I wasn’t going to do all that. Or text him or anything. I was asking because I wanted to make sure it wasn’t, because obviously [there’s] so many fake numbers nowadays. I was asking him so I could see if it matches [the prankster’s] number.”

Amon-Ra explained that at the time, he dismissed the idea of Johnson going to Chicago and thought Williams was playing a prank. He did not look at his phone while he was eating dinner and didn’t see Williams’s message until 20 minutes later. By then, Williams had already called the prankster and followed up with Amon-Ra, confirming that it was a prank. He later saw the prank after it went viral on X (formerly Twitter).

“The text was so ... official,” Williams said. “I’ve gotten that text from college coaches and other coaches before—getting drafted and all of that—in different ways, so it looked mad professional. So I was like, ‘all right, I’m just going to reach out.’”

“Wait, Caleb, you actually thought Ben, in the middle of the season was gonna text you?” asked Amon-Ra.

“My reason was ‘cause they’re doing the interview thing, and I was on the game, so I wasn’t focused, and they were doing the interview the next day, and so I thought he already had the interview,” said Williams.

“I ain’t gonna lie, it was a classic prank. It was a grade-A, S-tier prank. I gotta give him props.”

Williams explained that he has had the same number for 15 years, but he got a new number as a result. He said that he was trying not to lose his composure while he was on the phone with the pranksters, knowing that he was being recorded to be posted on social media. “When I got off the phone I was fuming. I wanted to like smash some [expletive],” he said.

Later in the interview, the brothers asked Williams what he was looking for in the next head coach of the Bears. The number 1 pick of the 2024 NFL Draft said he wants a “strong-minded” “leader of men,” complimenting Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell. He also said he wants someone that has “a fire to him” to match his own competitive fire.

“Do you feel like you want your coach to be, like, offensive-minded, or [do] you want a big-picture [coach], then have the coordinators?” asked Amon-Ra.

“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, and so I can also learn and grow and things like that from him” Williams answered. “But if we get an overall grand-scheme coach, and is good with time management ... and then helping find the right guys to win championships. I mean, that’s the only goal that I have for my NFL career is to go win a championship.”

Williams said he would be happy with Johnson, but would be okay if it weren’t. Equanimeous said that Johnson was not staying in Detroit. Amon-Ra said he would “be sick” if Johnson went to Chicago, to which Williams invited Amon-Ra to sign with the Bears.