LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Chicago Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren rattled off what he believed are the organization’s attributes in attracting a head coach.
Some were eye-roll-inducing (“best fan base in the world”), but his belief in Caleb Williams as a franchise quarterback and the fact that the Bears have ample salary-cap space and strong draft capital — now that is how you build a football team. That’s the type of infrastructure already in place that a Mike Vrabel or Ben Johnson might like.
Listening to the Bears’ three decision-makers outline what went wrong and how they plan to fix it on Tuesday might not have instilled much confidence in fans, or prospective head coaches. At Halas Hall, it rarely does. But the cards the Bears do hold are Williams, the makings of a competitive roster and the resources to add to it.
General manager Ryan Poles oversees that football operation, and it failed in 2024. How Poles sells this roster and fixes the mistakes of the past season will go a long way in attracting the Bears to coaching candidates and setting the team up to finally win.
“Looking back at the season, we’re not happy with the results,” Poles said Tuesday. “It has been a long season where those Mondays have been very, very difficult to review after we have come up short. And I have to take responsibility as the leader of the football operation for that. And I also have to make sure that we find solutions to make sure that we don’t make that mistake again and we can continue to improve.”
Here are five takeaways from what Poles said Tuesday as the Bears embark on their fourth coaching search in 10 years:
1. Caleb’s potential
Sometimes, new coaches like the opportunity to draft their own quarterback. The Bears are hoping that, unlike in 2018 or 2022, this new head coach will be thrilled to work with Williams and help him ascend.
“Looking at Caleb, I thought he did some really good things, but I also know that there’s so much more left in him, in his game and his skill set,” Poles said. “I loved the flashes that he showed. I loved the two-minute drills and his ability to put the team in a position to win games multiple times this season. That’s a championship-caliber trait. But I also know there is so much more left in him and his game and his skill set.”
Williams’ potential is getting more attention than what we saw during his rookie season because there weren’t enough flashes or wins. That can be chalked up to several things, including the decision to hire Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator.
After needing clarification for the “disruption and stress” that took place during Williams’ first NFL season, Poles alluded to the Waldron-Williams mismatch.
“I think there (were) some hiccups there,” he said. “And again, that’s part of the ownership piece that I’ve got to take.”
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Part of Williams reaching his potential will involve taking fewer sacks. Poles will be tasked with constructing a better offensive line (more on that in a bit), but there’s no question where Poles sees room for improvement.
“Some of those things do fall on Caleb,” Poles said. “I think he’s mentioned that to you guys in terms of getting us in a position to pick things up and also getting the ball out on time. And that’s part of being a young quarterback. You’re trying to figure out the coverages and you’re seeing a lot of different things, but you’re also trying to be right and that releases some of those sacks. So, there’s a lot of learning to be done in that situation.”
Now, that came in response to a question about the offensive line, but it’s no secret that Williams has to do a better job of getting rid of the ball quickly. A lot of other things will ameliorate that process, too, like a better offensive line, game plan, etc.
When Poles was asked about his accomplishments as GM, he did highlight the quarterback position.
“He hasn’t even hit close to his ceiling and hit a lot of milestones that haven’t been hit here in a very long time,” he said.
It’s a low bar, but it’s true, and Williams is the most important selling point for the Bears over the next few weeks.
Caleb Williams DART to Keenan Allen for the 45-yard TD
📺: #DETvsCHI on FOX
📱: pic.twitter.com/PdKvpgQ5d4— NFL (@NFL) December 22, 2024
2. Too much focus on ‘outcome’
Poles had to do a lot of soul-searching about his team over the past few months to figure out where things went wrong. One theme he said popped up during exit interviews with players was philosophical.
“We have to change back to our process over outcome,” he said. “I think this year with the excitement of the season, it was very much outcome over process. Winning, expectations, all of those things — which, goals are fine, you never want to back down from that — but the detail, the accountability, the competitive poise in critical situations, finding an edge to win games is something that we came up short with.”
How and why the team got to a more outcome-focused mindset, and why that cost them, isn’t necessarily clear, but the Hail Mary in Washington could provide some evidence.
That loss certainly lingered, and then the Bears’ inability to come through when they had opportunities in close games the next month was apparent.
“As a front office, we’ve got to continue to add talent to this roster, we have to make sure the players we bring into this building also fit the culture that we want so we can continue to make strides forward,” Poles said. “I’m disappointed just like our fans are, but I’m not discouraged. I believe we have a strong core of players that we’re going to connect to the right staff as they come in to make the progress that’s needed.”
The Bears front office has to figure out why this season went so wrong, before and after the firing of coach Matt Eberflus. (Quinn Harris / Getty Images)
3. Culture vs. winning
The topics du jour over the past two months have been accountability and details. It didn’t seem like we’d get to that point after a summer when everyone lauded the culture in the building.
To Poles, it’s not so much that they have the wrong players from a personality standpoint, it was about not having the right setup to handle adversity.
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“I strongly believe culture is people,” he said. “You all spend time with them. That’s a really good locker room and they’re really good guys. I think there’s some foundational things that you have to address from the beginning to kind of hold the standard throughout the entire year.
“I believe when you go through struggles, some of those things get difficult. Guys are struggling with just being down and losing games and I think that’s some of the things we saw.”
Now, it can certainly be argued that a good group of players would have handled losing better, but it did go back to Poles’ theme that things were shaky from the start. It’s on him, Warren, McCaskey and the rest of the staff to figure out how they let it get to that point.
4. One glaring weakness
Poles probably spent too much time talking about Williams’ role in the unacceptable number of sacks. It’s true that Williams, who’s the first to admit it, played a major role in that issue. So did other players and coaches. But there’s no question the offensive line needs to be better.
“All were involved, and that’s a place to look into as we move forward because obviously you don’t want your quarterback hit that much,” Poles said.
When discussing the players he’s hopeful for, Poles mentioned right tackle Darnell Wright, “a guy that continues to get better every single year.” Using a top-10 pick on Wright reflects the philosophy of building a team inside-out, but Poles defended some of the personnel moves that don’t, noting that what’s available to a team isn’t always in line with the ideal way to construct a roster.
“Obviously, I believe in (building a team in the trenches) and I definitely think we have all of the assets that we need and from a draft, free agency, I think some things line up for us to care of some of those deals,” he said.
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5. ‘The Tez Effect’ and injury updates
Usually we get a lot of roster updates at this end-of-season news conference. In a normal year, we probably would’ve asked more about Wright and defensive tackle Gervon Dexter. We would’ve gotten more details on Williams and Rome Odunze, or nickel cornerback Kyler Gordon and his contract situation.
Instead, and understandably, those conversations were limited. The one player who was asked about specifically was defensive end Montez Sweat, the highest-paid player on the team who finished with 5 1/2 sacks while playing less than 60 percent of snaps.
“From Montez, we had a good conversation,” Poles said. “I know he’s disappointed in himself and wants to get better. I know and he knows he’s capable of much more. Also as we continue to build the defensive line, adding more talent on that will help. When we looked at some of the chip numbers and the double teams, he did get a fair share of that, too. And the way that you defeat that is to add more talent to create more one-on-one matchups.”
Hopefully for Poles and the Bears, potential head coaches still view Sweat as the “multiplier” that he wasn’t in 2024.
As far as injuries go, Poles said that left tackle Braxton Jones recently had surgery on his ankle. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings had his pec repaired — Billings is already out of his sling. Cornerback Jaylon Jones had shoulder surgery.
The optimistic news is that safety Jaquan Brisker and offensive lineman Ryan Bates, both of whom landed on injured reserve with concussions, are “feeling back to themselves.”
“I’ve got faith in all those guys,” Poles said, “that they’re going to be back ready to help us next year. I don’t have a specific timetable for their returns, but they’re headed in the right direction.”
(Top photo: Nam Y. Huh / Associated Press)
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