NFL Preview Week #15 Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson and Patriots Mike Vrabel contend for NFL Coach of the Year.

"Change is inevitable, but growth is optional.

-John C. Maxwell-

Is there "change" going on in the NFL? Or, is "passing of the guard" a better description? One has to ask after watching former Super Bowl coaches Andy Reid, John Harbaugh, Nick Sirianni, and Pete Carroll's teams struggle this year. Their teams will not be in the playoffs this year.

Life changes, whether we like it or not. Leadership, as in life changes, too. It's always been like that and it always will. Take a look at the NFL. Guys named George Halas, Curly Lambeau, and Paul Brown started the NFL. They were the originals. And they were replaced.

They were replaced by guys named Vince Lombardi, Tom Landry, and Chuck Noll and those guys were replaced by guys named Bill Walsh, Bill Parcells, Joe Gibbs, and Don Shula. They were replaced by Bill Belichick, John and Jim Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Pete Carroll, Mike Tomlin, Andy Reid, and Nick Sirianni.

After those guys are gone, a new generation is set to replace them. Sean McVeigh, Sean Payton, Kyle Shanahan, and Ben Johnson are "next man up"as far as great coaches are concerned. They demonstrate the ability to bring the one thing successful coaches bring to the NFL: leadership.

The Oxford Language internet dictionary defines leadership as: the action of leading a group of people or organization.

If becoming a leader only required reading a ten word definition out of a dictionary, we'd have a bigger problem on our hands. We'd have too many chiefs because anybody could be a chief and that can get dangerous. Just ask Chicago Bear fans about Marc Trestman. We'll stick with our goal of "no politics in articles" and avoid talking about Illinois governor JB Pritzker and Chicago mayor Brandon Johnson.

Life has taught us there's leadership. If you want proof, go to Amazon and you'll find a zillion books written about it. But you want the book on effective leadership because any blowhard can claim to be the leader. Once again we'll avoid politics and not mention JB Pritzker and Brandon Johnson, but we will mention Barry Switzer or Brian Billick.

When it comes to effective leadership and how to describe it, one must look at successful leaders. One such leader was Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower. Prior to being the 34th President of the United States, he held the position of Supreme Commander of Allied Forces during World War II. Eisenhower defined leadership as "the art of getting someone else to do something because they want to." That's quite a craft, because during wartime, the guy on the other team wants to kill you.

There's many other facets of leadership but they're too numerous to mention in this article (which I try to limit with little success to 800 words).

Ben Johnson's success mirrors Eisenhower's description of leadership. Johnson persuaded the players to buy into his plan and feel part of it. From the head coach down, everybody takes responsibility and Johnson can be seen at press conferences publicly admitting coaching and player faults. But Johnson does something very effectively: he gives credit to players where credit is due.

Johnson's ability to establish trust with players by maintaining his integrity where words and actions must match. To date, there hasn't been a press conference where he's wavered from this. Whether you're a player, fan, or ownership, there's no BS with this guy and he's earned the respect of everybody.

Former Chicago Bears Director of Player Personnel Greg Gabriel, who currently appears on the Chicago Bears postgame show on YouTube's "Barroom Network" channel, was asked if he knew how Ben Johnson developed his coaching skills. Gabriel replied, "No! I just think he's very strong willed and driven to be the best. (He) has the personality to demand the best, but not in a pricky way".

As usual, Greg Gabriel's assessment was spot on in accuracy. Ben Johnson's leadership is a breath of fresh air for Chicago Bear fans. As Joe Friday wanted to say in Dragnet, "Just the facts, ma'am not the flatulence".

This brings us back to Bears general manager Ryan Poles. Much maligned during his tenure as GM, Poles proved his ability to lead because when he hired Ben Johnson, he demonstrated the art of leadership by getting someone else to do something he wanted done (win a Super Bowl) because he wants to do it.

On that happy note, here's the Circa Million VII picks:

Chicago Bears (7-) vs Cleveland Browns. Last week, some fans took issue with Ben Johnson laughing during the press conference after the Green Bay Packer loss. Could the reason Johnson was laughing is because he knew his team was depleted and exhausted after a winning streak and yet, nearly came back and won against the Packers at Lambeau Field? Was he laughing because at that moment, he recognized the Bears are going to pulverize the Packers next week in Soldier Field? This Browns game is a warmup as the Bears won't "F.A.F.O." with the Browns as the Bears take a big lead in the first half and sit back and hold onto it in the second half. Note: If you don't know what FAFO means, go ask mom and dad.

Denver Broncos (+2-) vs Green Bay Packers. Point spread is a bit of a mystery asPackers off a tough win against hated division rival Chicago Bears and now travel to Denver. Packers will be playing in higher altitude with less oxygen on top of playing in SIXTY DEGREE weather. The Packers are exhausted and Bo Nix will have a career day throwing and running against the Packers.

Arizona Cardinals (+9-) vs Houston Texans. We screamed in agony after the lowly Cardinals showed up on our handicapping system as a Circa pick. The Cardinals were blown out by the Rams, 49ers, and Seahawks. Do the Texans have the firepower to blow out the injury plagued Cardinals? #NoTheyDon't

New Orlean Saints (+2-) vs. Carolina Panthers. Saints continue to improve and demonstrate to Panthers how tough the Saints will be next season.

Las Vegas Raiders (+11-) vs Philadelphia Eagles. This is a match up of coaches and we're on Pete Carroll. Something wrong is going on in Sirianni-ville.

Last week: 4-1

Season: 35-34-1