I can’t believe the title here either, don’t worry. Since Sunday’s news, I’ve mostly just felt excitement about finally landing the head coach EVERYONE was hoping for this offseason; but today, after watching our new coach’s introductory press conference, a new feeling crept in. Gratitude. For as long as I can remember, the Bears family business has “tried to win” by preaching loyalty and always going after the personalities they connect with emotionally. Trubisky was selected over both Deshaun and Mahomes in part due to his old beater of a car that made him seem like a humble, blue-collared grinder. Elite arm talent and pocket awareness were not the most touted aspects of our #2 overall pick – his humble demeanor was. Not hating on the guy AT ALL, but I don’t think asking for a bit more critical thinking to go into franchise-altering decisions is very much to ask.
After the Mitch/Nagy pairing didn’t work out, we jumped ship for JF1 but stuck with Matt Nagy because the personal relationships he had formed led to our executives not being willing to make a hard personal decision for the benefit of the team. Year 1 with Justin wasn’t great and we waved goodbye to Pace and Nagy. Enter Bill Polian and the infamous search team advising George and on who to bring in. We land on Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles who lands on Eberlose again in large part thanks to a personal connection the two of them had.
We know how the next few years went. We ended the JF1 era on a sour note and dealt him to Pittsburgh so we could select our favorite boy, Caleb. But wait! Despite the fanbase clamoring for Eberlose to be canned, he was retained! Reports have since come out that Poles was willing to move on from him but was blocked by ownership because of the bad look a short tenure would have and – you guessed it – everyone loved Matt Eberflus the man! We’d like to win yes, but how could we hold a bad coach accountable if we like him so much? He was SUCH a sweetheart!
This feels sacrilegious to say, but we might owe all the quitters on our team and George some thanks. The pathetic product we put on the field paired with us fans finally meeting rock bottom and losing any bit of faith we had left on the team seems to have actually struck a chord within the Bears Org…. I mean listen to this, I’m actually thankful for George right now:
Keep talking, George – wow! Seems like he heard the fans pleas for him to stay out of football decisions and just sign the checks. Poles firmly planting his flag on Ben Johnson is expected and wonderful to hear as well (Kevin Warren, just focus on turning Arlington Heights into a Bears Mecca). George is talking like an owner who wants to win now. Speaking of winning now… how about this opening statement to his players:
I think I’m tearing up right now. When is the last time we’ve seen a Bears coach get up in his introductory press conference and command so much respect? They always seem to be filled with cliches and are delivered in a pretty uninspired tone. Not today. When Ben Johnson walked into HQ yesterday to receive his welcome, I could feel the magnitude of the moment through the screen. He walked into a room off 100+ people he’d never met, and instantly became a respected boss who injected a sense of purpose and excitement into everyone present.
He followed that up with a rousing introduction speech that presented him as an extremely confident, capable, and respected leader. Any doubts people had about the “leader of men” rhetoric are surely gone and have been replaced with feelings of hope and excitement within everyone who holds the Bears in their heart. Ben Johnson made me want to run through a brick wall today – I can’t wait for next season already. We’ve said the Bears are back before, but dare I say this time feels markedly different than all the rest.
Bear Down – let’s keep our win streak against the Packers alive. Ben Johnson: 1 Matt LaFleur: 0