For the first time in three years, Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams won’t be starting from scratch during the offseason.

Williams has hardly had coaching consistency since the Bears selected him No. 1 overall in 2024. He’s been forced to learn two new offenses during his first two offseasons in the NFL.

But with most of the Bears’ offensive coaching staff that helped them reach the NFC Divisional Playoffs returning next season, primarily head coach Ben Johnson, Williams will have his best chance at developing over the next few months.

“Nothing’s changing, really,” Bears quarterbacks coach J.T. Barrett said. “Same thing. We still go back to the basics in making sure that we’re having a sound foundation of what we’re trying to do and what we want him to do, so nothing’s changing, really.”

It will be the first time Williams will work with the same play caller since his 2023 season at USC.

Williams started his NFL career working with offensive coordinator Shane Waldron during his rookie season before interim OC/head coach Thomas Brown took over later in the year after the Bears fired Waldron. Then Williams started from the bottom when the Bears hired Johnson last season.

It won’t be the same group from last season, however. The Baltimore Ravens hired away former offensive coordinator Declan Doyle this offseason, and the Bears promoted passing game coordinator Press Taylor to the position. Taylor will assume Doyle’s responsibilities, which include leading offensive meetings when Johnson cannot and making halftime adjustments.

But Johnson was confident there wouldn’t be a big gap from what the Bears did last season.

“I feel really good about the transition,” Johnson said in March at the NFL’s annual meeting. “[Taylor] was natural in front of the room, the opportunities that [he] got last year. Obviously, he’s been a coordinator before, that helps. That experience really helps. And he’s got the respect of the coaching staff as well. So whenever I’m not in the room, he knows exactly how to drive the ship so that we’re still being productive.”

That will be important for Williams as he becomes more comfortable in the offense.

That started to happen for Williams and the offense as the season progressed last year. But there were still plenty of moments where they came out slow because of miscommunication between Williams and his receivers. That forced Williams into hero mode, which contributed to seven comeback wins.

The Bears are hoping to fix those problems during voluntary workouts and training camp. Williams is spending less time learning terminology and concepts.

Instead, he’s taking ownership of Johnson’s offense.

“Now the information is not foreign to him,” Barrett said. “He has better understanding of why we do things and what’s the reason. For him, you’ll just be able to see a growth of operation and execution of the offense, just from the efficiency standpoint, and getting us in the right plays and being able to communicate. All of that is going to improve, being that he has more ownership of it.”

Williams also has a better relationship with Johnson.

“Nothing’s changing, really. Same thing. We still go back to the basics in making sure that we’re having a sound foundation of what we’re trying to do and what we want him to do, so nothing’s changing, really.”

—  J.T. Barrett, Chicago Bears quarterbacks coach

There were times during their first season together when Williams said he didn’t know if Johnson liked him. But as the year went on, the two built a stronger relationship, and Williams started to understand how Johnson was wired.

Williams and his teammates learned how intense Johnson can be at times. Williams looked forward to that intensity only increasing during their second year together.

“Coaching matters,” Williams said in April. “That’s something we always say. And then you have to have the person on the other side to receive the coaching. I think I did well this year. But one of the first things we talked about when we first met, I guess, two days after the game was, ‘It’s going to be more. It’s going to be more difficult. I’m going to push you more.’ And my answer is ‘Yes, sir. Let’s do it.’ You know what I mean? I have a goal. He has a goal. And those align with each other. And it’s making sure we get to that end game.”

The work has already started over the past month during voluntary workouts.

Coaches have spent time working with Williams fixing various parts of his game, including increasing his completion rate. There were plenty of moments last year where Williams attempted the harder pass in his progression instead of taking the easier option. Coaches want Williams not to work as hard at times and let his teammates make a play instead of going for the home run pass.

They’re conversations Bears coaches feel more comfortable having now compared to this time last year. They’re conversations the Bears believe will help Williams take a big step this offseason.

“He’s been great this entire time with being able to coach him up and look at it from a lens of these are areas where we’re going to improve,” Barrett said. “With that, he’s been great as far as accepting the coaching.”