Chicago Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown was only about a third of the way through his exit interviews with Bears players Monday morning when he met with reporters, so he hadn’t yet nailed down the day and time of his own interview with Bears leadership.
But at some point in the days ahead, Brown will meet with Bears President Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles to state his own case as to why he should stay with the team as its head coach.
Brown doesn’t need to be told that the results were not good in his five-game stint replacing Matt Eberflus, who was fired on Nov. 29.
Yes, the Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 24-22 on Sunday, their first win in the rivalry since 2018 and their first win at Lambeau Field since 2015. But they lost the other four games by a combined score of 108-45, and the Bears managed 246.2 yards per game in Brown’s five-game stint directing the offense while also overseeing the entire team.
Those results likely make him a long shot candidate among the many coaches the Bears reportedly have requested for interviews, including Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy, Minnesota Vikings DC Brian Flores, Miami Dolphins DC Anthony Weaver, Pittsburgh Steelers OC Arthur Smith, New York Giants OC Mike Kafka, Arizona Cardinals OC Drew Petzing and Baltimore Ravens OC Todd Monken.
Brown hopes Warren and Poles have been able to see how he conducts himself in meetings and practices over the last five weeks to gain an understanding of how he operates. But he also is excited to share his vision for the team moving forward.
The interview undoubtedly will be useful for team leadership to hear Brown’s perspective on all that went wrong this season as the Bears lost 10 straight games and were so ineffective that both offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and Eberflus were fired in the span of a few weeks.
On Monday, Brown used the same word that has been tossed around Halas Hall in recent weeks when describing what was missing this season — accountability.
Photos: Chicago Bears clean out their lockers after 5-12 season
“Shared accountability, shared responsibility and a collective mentality as far as how you move forward,” Brown said of what a successful organization needs. “The more I’m around — not just in the NFL but being in college (as a coach) — the more I think about how many people lacked the courage to face issues. (It) is shocking to me. And an organization and a team is built around alpha personalities or perceived alpha personalities and then we expect things to change without addressing them.”
Warren and Poles likely will also probe Brown for what he thinks needs to happen to get quarterback Caleb Williams on the right track to make a second-year leap in 2025.
Brown said Sunday after the win against the Packers that he and Williams have had “intense conversations” in recent days and weeks about what Williams needs to do to succeed moving forward, whether that’s on his watch or another coach’s.
And he indicated that one of the things Williams needs is “honesty.”
“One of the difficult parts about the quarterback position that I’ve found is people baby the quarterback too much and they worry more about being liked by the quarterback (rather) than tell him what he needs to hear,” Brown said. “It is by far and away the most difficult position to play, we all know that. But to whom much is given, much is required.
“One of the things we connected on at the beginning is I was honest from the get-go about what I wanted to bring to the table but also what issues I saw in him with my overall goal being about making him the best he can be. That is my goal in the role and in the roles moving forward.”
Williams said Sunday night he has welcomed the honesty from Brown.
“The way I grew up, I’ll always respond to challenges,” Williams said. “The way I grew up, I’ll always respond well to people that tell me the truth. I would say that’s what he did. Gotta keep growing, gotta keep going. No matter the situation and how I’m feeling, gotta find ways to be better, gotta find ways to have games like this where it’s tough and find ways to come out with a win at the end.”
In eight games with Brown as the play caller, Williams averaged 219.5 passing yards per game and had a 95.3 rating. He threw 11 touchdown passes and one interception and took 30 of his 68 sacks.
Brown said he believes his offense for Williams would look “a lot different” if he had a full year — including the offseason — with the quarterback. He said the “foundational piece” to help players succeed is formed in the offseason. Brown also didn’t work much directly with Williams before he was promoted to offensive coordinator, and he said he would have a better understanding of how the young player learns and communicates to help him now.
Brown, who has excelled in the public-facing aspects of his role as a head coach, has been forthright in discussing the challenges he encountered in moving from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator to interim head coach in less than two months. He noted Monday that “change happens over time (and) oftentimes when you’re making radical changes things get worse before they get better.”
He said he has grown more as a coach this season than in the last few years combined, when he was the offensive coordinator with the Carolina Panthers and assistant head coach with the Los Angeles Rams.
“Having a chance to learn, adapt, make adjustments on the fly when it comes to how you communicate with players and also being able to offer myself in a different light,” Brown said. “You go from being in the back of the quarterback room as the pass game coordinator to being the coordinator to being the head coach. It gives you a different perspective as far as how the group views you but also gives a glimpse of what it looks like when you have the opportunity to do it the right way from the beginning.
“So difficult? 1,000%. Probably more so than people are willing to admit and will ever put themselves in a spot that they actually ever do. But difficult is a part of life, and difficult doesn’t mean irrelevant.”
On the team’s official pregame radio show Sunday, Poles acknowledged the difficult situation that Brown was put in and said he has been impressed with the coach’s leadership.
“Just sitting in team meetings, meeting with him after games — he’s a truth teller,” Poles said. “He’s someone that does challenge our players to get better, creates accountability. So there’s a lot of really positive traits that Thomas has, and I’ve been proud of how he’s stepped up and led this team down the stretch here. And again, it’s not the results that we wanted in terms of wins and losses, but the traits of a leader, he absolutely has those.”
No matter where Brown ends up next, he hopes Williams can continue to grow.
“Of course, I’d love to continue to keep coaching him,” Brown said Sunday night. “I told him before, and even just told him in the locker room a minute ago, ‘I’m going to support you even if I’m not here.’ I want him to be the best he can be.
“A lot of stuff I’ve talked about, important to him, is not dependent on me being here. It’s about me being able to put him in a position to have growth, to understand leadership and put himself in the best spot to be successful.”
