Thomas Brown was given a task no coach ever dreamed about. He had to take over an offense that had hit rock bottom in recent weeks from Shane Waldron, who’d been fired after just nine games. Quarterback Caleb Williams looked lost. He took way too many sacks, lacked aggression, and appeared to have shaky confidence. The offensive line was a mess, and the weapons weren’t being used to the best of their abilities. Brown had the dubious task of trying to fix all of that without an off-season or training camp to prepare.
Two weeks later, the offense is humming, and Williams is playing some of the best football of his young career. Facing the NFL’s #1 defense on Sunday, the rookie quarterback had 340 yards and two touchdowns passing. Though the Bears lost in overtime, it was the latest sign they finally have a franchise QB. Williams also seemed to suggest with his comments after the game that they have something special in Brown. His influence on the offense has been nothing short of stellar. It wasn’t hard to read between the lines.
Caleb Williams and others can sense something about Brown.
There have been rumblings for two years that the 38-year-old is on the fast track to becoming a head coach in the NFL. It’s only a matter of time. Some are wondering if that team should be the Bears. They already have him on the staff. Everybody knows Matt Eberflus is on borrowed time after squandering a 4-2 start to the season with a myriad of brutal coaching blunders. Rather than waste time and money with another coaching search, why not hand the job to somebody they’ve already seen interact in this locker room?
Brown clearly has Caleb Williams’ endorsement, which is the most important first step. Other players have expressed how impressive he is as a communicator and leader. His press conferences should remind many of guys like Mike Tomlin. He’s calm, confident, disciplined, and demanding. That he’s been able to produce results this quickly after hitting rock bottom against New England two weeks ago says everything. If Williams sending that signal doesn’t get the Bears’ attention, nothing will.
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I think it’s a bit premature to push Brown into the HC position. We’ve seen that he’s doing stellar work against the #1 defense in the NFL, and had the Bears offense playing all right against the Packers. But to have him as interim OC for two weeks and then make him interim HC for the final 5 games seems too quick. Additionally, the Bears will then have to have another OC, who may or may not call plays, which would add more confusion to the mix. Further, the Bears are on a short week, with their Thanksgiving day matchup… Read more »
The “win/loss record” IS the point.
Why not see what you have in Brown as a head coach? There would be no expectations on him to win, and you could see his leadership style in a challenging environment with the current team. You already have a Defensive Coordinator on staff who isn’t allowed to call plays. At this point, Eberflus has lost the team and the defense and can’t even call a remotely good game. He, too, is broken after the Hail Mary, just like Stevenson! Flush him, and see what you have with Brown. I guarantee Eric Washington would call a more aggressive game on… Read more »
If in fact that is the direction they’re thinking of going the next logical step would be to let Eberflus go and put Brown in place as interim head coach. He does impress and at least they can see what they may or may not have in a potential head coach as well as defensive coordinator with Washington calling the plays on defense instead of Eberflus. They already know what they have in Eberflus and it isn’t working. This would be best for the team rather than string it along with Eberflus IMO but hey I’m just a lowly fan…so… Read more »
Chemistry is a powerful force in team sports and you can see that developing between Williams and Brown. It would be very Bear to flush that simply because he hasn’t proven himself somewhere else first.