What does the latest Bears shakeup mean for Caleb Williams and Thomas Brown? A look at the duo’s climb

As Chicago Bears president Kevin Warren and general manager Ryan Poles addressed the media Monday, an NFC executive watched remotely with a slew of questions.

Why was this press conference delayed until three days after the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus, the first midseason firing of a head coach in franchise history?

Why didn’t the Bears fire Eberflus after the Washington Commanders cheated the Bears with a Hail Mary, and why did the franchise tear apart the leadership group that led the first overall draft pick of Caleb Williams’ rookie season?

Why are the Bears now naming the offensive coordinator to spearhead Williams’ recent improvement?

Only three games have passed since Chicago fired offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. Now the Bears have promoted Thomas Brown from passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator and interim head coach in less than a month.

The shuffle leaves Williams’ game planning behind his third offensive coordinator (albeit second play-caller) in just 13 professional games.

This was avoidable.

“If they had considered this in hindsight, they should have promoted Thomas to head coach, retained Shane and had Thomas work with Shane to simplify the process. [the] violation,” the NFC director texted. “Do that weeks ago, after the Hail Mary debacle. Thomas is at his best impacting the offense, but can focus on his role as head coach.”

The suggestion doesn’t put a damper on Brown’s performance as a coordinator. After Brown was elevated to play-caller, the Bears have risen from 24th in offensive EPA to ninth over the past three weeks, according to TruMedia. The Bears’ offense rose from 30th to 13th in total yards and from 31st to sixth in third-down conversions. Williams’ passer rating rose from 79.3 under Waldron to 118.2 under Brown.

But in a season where the Bears’ first priority should be supporting and developing their franchise quarterback, the decision to switch Williams’ direct line of contact once again raised eyebrows from multiple sources around the league.

Are the Bears jeopardizing Williams’ long-term development and therefore the future of their franchise? Brown found himself in a position a month ago where he wasn’t communicating directly with Williams. Now he is the main line of communication for Williams – and for all players and coaches.

Williams said he sees the move as an opportunity.

“I wouldn’t say it will affect my development,” Williams said. “I think this is a stepping stone to development, to be able to have all this in my first year. I wouldn’t say I’m happy with it. But having these moments is definitely something that will help me in the future.

“It’s not easy to continue and roll with the punches and keep fighting. But you have to do it.”

The Bears hope to do better than another incoming NFL team this year.

Jets took a similar risk and collapsed. Will bears?

In October, New York Jets owner Woody Johnson had an idea.

His franchise stood at 2-3 after a loss abroad that may have seemed to further embarrass Johnson when he appeared in the country he recently served as U.S. ambassador.

The Jets’ big acquisition of Aaron Rodgers didn’t work. Their kicker missed kicks. And even though they had lost their last two games by one point, they had still lost both.

So Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh, who finished his Jets tenure with a 20-36 (.357) record. The Jets promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to interim head coach, rewarding the strong presence leader of the team’s most successful unit.

The problem: This mid-season change shook up the defensive play calling and structure. Suddenly, the team’s most effective unit had lost the primary focus of its play-caller in Saleh and its everyday leader in Ulbrich.

The Jets have since fallen from fifth in defensive EPA through their first five games to 30th after Saleh’s firing. They’ve fallen from second-best scoring defense to 16th, from sixth and eighth in the red zone and third to 25th and 20th.

A talented group of hard-working players was unable to avoid the setbacks of the operational shake-up.

The Bears, who promoted the leader of the group that recently found success with him to interim head coach, are now taking the same risk.

It’s an uphill battle.

The Bears have lost six straight and now face five opponents with better records than their own, including four above .500. Williams, teammates and coaches alike have trumpeted improved communication and transparency as key tenets of their recent improvement. But Brown will now have more on his plate, competing with that clarity, and challenging Williams in a way he didn’t really need to before.

Certainly, Brown has outperformed in every Bears opportunity thus far. He presented himself as the most prepared and capable leader of the three from Bears Brass who spoke publicly this week.

But a franchise that billed itself this week as “the most coveted job in the National Football League this year” needs to take an honest look at the barriers it puts in place for its coaching staff and its top quarterback to succeed.

Brown, who emphasizes that he wants to manage rather than micromanage, downplays the concern.

“I am not the only person responsible for Caleb’s development,” Brown said. “He has a big role in that. It is clear that I now also have the task of taking the lead together with him and the team. His reaction was great. My job is to communicate effectively, to be honest and direct about what he does well and what he does not do well.

“I have exactly the same expectations for the team.”

What could be next for Thomas Brown in a new role

League sources were divided on what this opportunity could mean for Brown’s career.

One camp felt that continuing to right the ship as an offensive coordinator would have best advanced his career, a task of great magnitude, but one Brown has proven capable of coping even without offseason preparation offer. Is the transition from relatively behind-the-scenes passing game coordinator to offensive coordinator to interim head coach and play-caller realistic to master in a month?

It’s too early to know how seriously the Bears will consider him for their longer-term role in 2025, so Brown aims to keep his focus on the shorter term.

“I cannot complain about the fact that prayers are answered in a certain order, nor perhaps about what some people might say [is] not a uni-ideal scenario,” Brown said. “What I realized about this profession is: if you’re bad at your job, they’ll leave you. If you’re good at your job, they’ll give you the chance to stay. And if you are good at your job, you will be promoted. So my thought process was always to be the best I can be, not make it about myself and let the chips fall where they may.

“My goal is to make people and situations better.”

The second camp believed that experience with total organizational leadership and game management would give Brown an edge in strategizing for longer-term opportunities, in Chicago or elsewhere.

“He has a whole offseason to figure out what his plan is [brand new head coaches] I don’t know,” said a source close to a former interim head coach. “They think they know, but they really don’t know. And it will be Game 1 for them and then they will drink from the tap all year long and never get a break.

“This guy has eight months to map it out, knowing what it’s like.”

Brown wasted no time in diving into his liaison and management strategy after receiving the promotion on Friday, three days before his players were set to return to the building.

“I reached out to everyone on the team individually on Friday and Saturday,” Brown said, “to tell them my thoughts, how excited I am about our growth together and how much I need the entire group to respond appropriately .”

When the music stopped at the team’s facilities before Monday’s meet, players and coaches were attentive, Brown said. In that first speech, Brown preached responsibility, coachability and reliability. He reminded players that some thoughts don’t need to be shared outside the building, just as he doesn’t tell his well-meaning neighbors everything that happens in his house.

Brown announced wide receivers coach Chris Beatty as interim offensive coordinator even as Brown retained his play-calling duties. Brown also spoke this week with Los Angeles Rams head coach Sean McVay, whom he worked for from 2020 to 2022.

When it came time to prepare for the San Francisco 49ers, who are four-point favorites over the Bears according to BetMGM, Brown reminded the players that San Francisco will be physical and it should be.

He reminded Williams of the importance of mental toughness at quarterback.

“I try to tell him every day that he obviously has a very difficult job at quarterback and sometimes he gets frustrated,” Brown said. “Wednesdays are heavy installation days. Lots of verbiage, lots of warning criteria. So being able to understand how to challenge yourself, but also give yourself grace, breathe. And if you mess up, come back to the group and we’ll make it right. To breathe.”

The road to San Francisco and beyond won’t always be smooth. But Brown said he focuses more on achieving the personal best of each coach and player than on achieving a context-independent, objective measure of success.

“The goal is not perfection,” he said. “The goal is to be excellent.”