Chicago Bears receivers coach finds unusual ways to motivate players
There's nothing subtle about Chicago Bears wide receivers coach Curtis Johnson, whose unusual methods make him as entertaining as some of the players on the practice field.
"Coach C.J.," as he's universally known, is the coach most likely to be noticed by practice observers because of his in-your-face, vocal and hands-on style. His approach combines the encouragement of a parent, the antagonism of an obnoxious friend, the nagging of a shrew and the positive energy of self-help guru Tony Robbins.
One of his favorite phrases is "do it again," which is often repeated incessantly.
During one particular drill, receivers had to come around a tackling dummy, catch a pass and get both feet in bounds while taking a whack across the chest from a padded club swung by Johnson. Few were successful at first.
"DO IT AGAIN," Johnson yelled to rookies and veterans alike, getting on veteran Eddie Royal, Pro Bowler Alshon Jeffery and 2015 first-round draft pick Kevin White with as much gusto as undrafted rookies.
"C.J.'s a tough coach but he's a great coach," Jeffery said. "He's going to bring out the best in us."
The Bears hope to show some improvement over their preseason opener, a 22-0 home loss to Denver, when they face the host New England Patriots on Thursday night (7 p.m., FOX).
Nobody gets a break from the constant attention to detail and high-octane chatter that Johnson brings to every practice.
"I want them to (accomplish) what THEY want to," the affable Johnson said. "I want them to realize their dream. I don't want my expectations to be higher than their expectations of themselves.
"They tell me all the time, 'Stay on me coach.' Well, that's what I do. That's my job. My job is to get those guys better and make sure they're open for Jay (Cutler)."
Full disclosure: Body language and facial expressions would seem to indicate that not all Bears wide receivers want to be pushed all the time. But it's obvious Johnson is working as hard as his pupils to make them better, and he brings an element of humor to his nagging. So players respond - or at least they don't mutiny.
"My experience has been that if you can make a player better, he'll do about anything you want," Bears coach John Fox said. "C.J. is here for what we're all here for, to make our players better. He (is) amusing, to say the least. We do interviews at the Combine and his positional interviews are very entertaining."
Johnson is a coaching lifer, including the previous four as the head coach at Tulane, which followed six seasons as the New Orleans Saints' wide receivers coach. Before that, Johnson was the Miami Hurricanes' wide receivers coach for 10 years.
Saints wide receiver Marques Colston, a lowly, seventh-round rookie when Johnson was hired by the Saints, credits Johnson for helping him fashion a career that currently includes 711 receptions, 9,759 yards (13.7-yard average) and 72 TDs.
But, in the prima donna world of NFL wide receivers, some are sure to bristle at Johnson's approach. What happens when a player doesn't want to be pushed?
"Well, you get pushed anyway," Johnson said. "They can say what they want. There's a blueprint (for success), and you want to match that blueprint. I watch the guys around the NFL. I want our guys to be as good or better than all those guys. In order for us to do that, we need to do a lot of work."
Johnson's process works because he gets the stars to buy in, knowing the lesser lights will follow.
"The one thing I do is I push the top-end guys," he said. "Alshon, you'll hear (me yell) his name a lot. Kevin, you'll hear his name a lot. Eddie. Marc (Mariani). Those top-end guys get pushed, and so the other guys really tend to fall in line."
But almost always with humor, and in a positive way.
"Being from New Orleans, I just love to have a lot of fun and talk to guys," Johnson said. "I guess it's my personality. I try to get along with everybody. I try to push them hard and I joke with them and they can joke with me. I think we all got a pretty decent relationship."
At a recent practice Johnson spent 15 minutes zipping passes rapid-fire at a group of his guys. At one point Fox strolled by and made an offhand comment, which caused White to turn his head and drop a ball.
"Why did you drop that?" an incredulous Johnson asked.
Citing the presence of the head coach, White said: "He was right there and he said something."
"So what?" Johnson shouted. "He's gonna be at every game."
And then it was back to the drill, where Johnson fired balls low and to the left or right of each receiver, who was required to make the catch, bring the ball up and tuck it safely away under the correct arm. Woe to the player who caught a ball on his right side and moved it across his body to tuck it under his left arm.
"Why would you do that?" Johnson demanded. "Why?"
Lesson learned.
Johnson became available to the Bears when he was fired at Tulane, where he compiled a 15-34 record. The father of six uses humor to put a positive spin on that experience.
"I learned at Tulane that I never got any sleep," he said. "I learned at Tulane that my wife really hated me because I always gone; but now she loves me again. It was a great experience."
Asked how much fun he was having as an assistant with the Bears, Johnson said: "A lot. It's good to be an assistant coach again."
White says he's never had a coach like Johnson. Jeffery believes the Bears' group of wide receivers, under Johnson's tutelage, can be the best in the NFL.
"I hope so," Johnson said. "Then they would give me a raise."
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