NEWSLETTER
Thomas Brown has been a breath of fresh air.
I’ve been extremely critical of the Bears coaching up until this point of the season. The team is 4-6, and if not for a poorly handled Hail Mary against the Commanders and a non-blocked field goal against the Packers, we could be talking about a 6-4 squad in the thick of the playoff race in the NFC.
But I’m not the only one who’s been critical, though. Multiple times throughout the year, especially on the offensive side of the ball, we heard players voice their frustration that they weren’t being coached hard enough or that little things in practice were being let go of instead of addressed. Sure, Shane Waldron had issues calling the plays and getting his best players the ball, but it feels like his issues in practice and the meeting room were just as prevalent.
Since taking over as the Bears offensive coordinator, Thomas Brown has said all the right things. And his opening act on Sunday against Green Bay was impressive. He spread the ball around to all of his playmakers, and got Caleb Williams to get the ball out quickly, the banged-up offensive line looked solid, and his playcalling felt like it had a purpose.
While we noticed the difference in playcalling on Sunday, Cole Kmet gave us a look on his podcast this week behind the scenes of what Thomas Brown has been like, and it appears that the new offensive coordinator is passing the test in practice and in meetings as much as he did calling plays against the Packers.
Cole Kmet takes us behind the scenes for Thomas Brown’s first week as offensive coordinator with the Bears⬇️
“He demands a certain standard in terms of the way we practice and the way we operate.” pic.twitter.com/BFx7JTBffV— CHGO Sports (@CHGO_Sports) November 21, 2024
He demands a certain standard in terms of the way we practice and the way we operate, and I think guys really bought into that this week. And that became really evident from his first presentation to the team, and his first presentation and talk to the offense. And I think guys are really bought in on what he wanted to do. His main thing was get playmakers the football, and players make plays.
Cole Kmet via CHGO
Thomas Brown Is Doing Simple Better
It doesn’t sound like Thomas Brown is coming in and trying to reinvent the wheel. He doesn’t appear to be trying to be everyone’s friend or the most popular coach. He’s not trying to come in and be the smartest guy in the room. He’s doing what I wrote about earlier this week – doing simple better.
On the field, he’s figuring out ways to get ALL of his playmakers the ball, and doing so efficiently. He’s not asking his offensive line to do too much. He’s not asking his quarterback to go through multiple reads on pass concepts that don’t make a lot of sense. ‘Get your playmakers the ball’ is a very simple concept, and Brown is doing simple better.
In practice, he’s coaching players how they want to be. It felt like every other week during the Shane Waldron era we had players saying that bad practice habits were being allowed to form or they weren’t being coached hard enough. Now, when mistakes are made, they get corrected. Every team should have a standard at practice. Whether it’s warmups, individual drills, team time, or anything else, have a standard and hold players to it. If the standard isn’t met, you work until it is.
All of these quick fixes Brown seems to be making feel so simple. It makes me wonder how the Bears went 10 weeks without addressing them, and quite frankly it makes me a little bummed they’re being made too late. Unfortunately, a playoff run doesn’t seem to be in the cards this year. But the silver lining can be that Thomas Brown keeps Caleb Williams’ development on the right track and that the team starts to re-form these good habits.
Here’s a clip from Brown’s media availability today that stuck with me. Everything he mentioned is something players have asked for. He said they challenged the players to “do more, give more, be accountable, and practice harder.”
Why it has taken the Bears coaching staff this long to have this approach is beyond me, but I’m glad that at least through a week and a half, Thomas Brown is finally coaching his players how they need to be coached.
“There are no attaboys in this game. We play the game to win and we came up short.”
Thomas Brown on his 1st game as OC. pic.twitter.com/cU9V83YnnK— Marquee Bears (@BearsMarquee) November 21, 2024
