Accountability Must Breed Success for Bears

The HITS principle of Matt Eberflus and a standardized approach to it must account for their lack of talent in Year 1 of the rebuild.

It's not much to base a season on, at least for a horde of victory starved fans.

Players understand it better because they will address it every day at practice.

The Bears couldn't spend much in free agency and were limited by their lack of a first-round draft pick, so their rebuild's success on the field in Year 1 essentially hinges on quality control. 

The players must live up to a vague term.

"I got one word: standards," Eberflus said. "That's it."

Players must live up to the standard in their movement on the field and at practice. Loafing in any way isn't tolerated.

Players will be getting graded and coaches will make those who cut corners well known to everyone.

"I think we know the standard from just watching and paying attention to our coaches," defensive end Trevis Gipson said. "How they go about things–detail oriented, always on time, early, even at times. They push us hard. They tell us don't walk from drill to drill, and they're not either.

"They're sprinting, jogging, whatever the case may be. So I think us learning and seeing how they go about things is rubbing off on us and obviously keeping us detail-oriented, and things like that."

It's part of Eberflus' HITS philosophy. They constantly evaluate and have standardized grading of individuals on plays at practice from video review.

"You get put on the board, and the whole defense knows, and I think that's just ... it's just the morale," Gipson said. "It's just holding each other accountable, and knowing that when you do mess up or when you do not give effort like you should, everybody on the team is going to know."

It might sound high school-ish or junior high-ish. In fact, it's kind of hard to see how some veterans set in their ways, like Robert Quinn, would adapt to this standardized scrutiny.

Players who were under Eberflus in Indianapolis raved about it, though, particularly linebacker Darius Leonard.

Gipson called it refreshing, even necessary.

"I love it, I actually love it, because you can't cut corners now," Gipson said. "Not that you ever able were to, but just in life, when people hold you accountable, they're always watching you, and you get sorta skeptical if you're walking down the street knowing someone's watching you, looking over your shoulder–it makes you want to do right, not have to worry about that."

Rookie Jaquan Brisker found it's like at Penn State.

"You know, just coming from the school I came from it prepared me for this moment," Brisker said. "So you know, when coaches say run to the ball, or get your body right, you know college did a great job of doing that so I'm kind of used to that."

The HITS principle stands for hustle, intensity, taking care of/taking away the football and smart play. So standarized hustle at practice is all part of it.

"In our principle, our core principle we believe in, OK, we have to measure and standardize everything we do, right?" Eberflus said. "So, we standardize effort. We standardize intensity. We standardize taking the ball away and protecting the ball and we standardize how we're smart in situations.

"So, those are all measured. So, when we look at the tape we don't walk by mistakes. We look at it and say, 'OK, that's not the right effort we're talking about.' Or that is the right effort we're talking about. Man, that is the standard."

To what degree exceeding a standard for mental discipline and hustle makes up for their roster's shortage of top talent is uncertain, but it is just about all the Bears have going for them this year.

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