Nobody would’ve thought tight end Cole Kmet would be somebody who expresses deep frustration with teammates in public. However, circumstances seem to have forced his hand. A couple of months ago, he suggested with little subtlety that too many players in the locker room weren’t taking practice seriously enough amidst the Chicago Bears’ losing streak. Nothing has changed over the final stretch to dispute such a claim. If anything, it has only reinforced what he said.
Dan Wiederer of the Chicago Tribune spoke to players in the locker room about their thoughts on who the next head coach should be. While no names were mentioned, there was certainly a common theme. Accountability was brought up a few times, as was discipline. However, it was Kmet who went the deepest of all. He went so far as to say the coaches weren’t the only problem. He believes a lot of the players added to the locker room by GM Ryan Poles are toxic and unable or unwilling to maintain a winning standard.
It was pretty blunt.
“We need a culture shift for sure,” Kmet said without hesitating. “And I know a lot of people get caught up in wanting this hot name or that hot name. But I would hope that management upstairs would just be looking for the best possible head coach.”
That coach, Kmet believes, should have an immediate understanding of how to raise the bar inside Halas Hall, how to establish standards and expectations and make certain everyone involved upholds them.
No questions asked. No wiggle room allowed.
“It’s about command over the locker room,” Kmet added. “It’s setting a line, then finding the guys who will hold that line and then depending on those guys who are holding the line to establish (an environment) where everyone else falls in line.
“But you want that line to be set first by the head coach. Then you find the players in the locker room who will uphold that.”
Cole Kmet, fair or not, points out something important.
Yes, the coaching staff failed at their job. However, it also falls on the players to police themselves to a degree. This season is an ugly reminder that the locker room culture isn’t nearly as strong as Poles wanted everybody to think. One of the reasons those teams of the mid-2000s were so good was because they had a core of undeniable leaders like Olin Kreutz, Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Charles Tillman, and Lance Briggs. Not only were they good on the field, but they were willing to challenge others in the locker room when they weren’t pulling their weight.
Jaylon Johnson and Cole Kmet seem to be the only two who have been vocal enough to raise such concerns. Nobody else has stepped up. Caleb Williams is a rookie. He isn’t yet in a position to say such things. Look at Poles’ draft picks in recent years and ask where the leaders are. Jaquan Brisker might be the only name to pop up, and he’s been out for months with his concussion issue. Kyler Gordon? Darnell Wright? Gervon Dexter? All have played well but don’t seem interested in seizing a greater leadership role.
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This is a failure at the top.
I need to be in a room where a GM looks at the FA class of o-lineman and says “oh yeah, we need Nate Davis and Lucas Patrick!”
Absolutely correct Scooby. Bowers is 10 times better than Kmet and would have made significant impact compared to Odunze. Another Poles oops….Bears fans always love guys from Notre Dame. Not sure why? When has anyone from Notre Dame actually been really good?
No offense ManGod, but you should have started your sentence with “I hope”. Everything is fluid currently, Kmet offers a solid set of hands and a decent catch radius. You know who else offers those 2 things? Me. Neither of us are quick enough to work the middle of the field. If we do not have the right personnel to run the west coast offense, either we get those players, or we get a new offense. I’ve said it exactly one bazillion times already, the TE is the top of the triangle offense we run. Kmet is not dynamic enough… Read more »
@jmscooby, Ben Johnson would immediately utilize C Kmet in the scheme each week, why, because the defense can’t afford to uncover DJM,RO,or KA still protect against DS, RJ, or CW breaking loose on a long run. Have you not noticed that when C Kmet is fed the ball 7-10 times a game the Bears win or are hugely more successful as an offensive whole? B Johnson utilizes his TE’s to the team’s advantage because he knows defenses are not able to contain them when they have 2-3 WR’s and RB capable of breaking games open as well, and those skill… Read more »
Pointing to the players brought in is easy because they are visible, but seeing the lack of development in rookies and UDFAs indicated a real lack of accountability on the coaching staff. And that inequality was really apparent. Coaches are the “teachers” and the “bosses” of their position group or their side of the ball. When an offense doesn’t control the ball, or doesn’t score points, constantly blaming players for “not executing” week after week or month after month, assigns NO accountability to the coaches. None of the position coaches were demoted, or reassigned, or replaced, for years, and yet… Read more »