Bear Digest

Thomas Brown Connection What Caleb Williams Has Needed All Along

The new Bears offensive coordinator likes what he's been able to get out of Caleb Williams so far and the results have been dramatic, begging the question, why did this take so long?

Gene Chamberlain

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown watches Bears warmups at Solider Field prior to the Green Bay game.
Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown watches Bears warmups at Solider Field prior to the Green Bay game. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
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One dynamic going forward for the Bears if they do decide they need a head coaching change is what they would do with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.

He seems to have already developed a much-desired, strong, working relationship with Caleb Williams and this is something no franchise can take for granted. The Bears already had one situation with Williams and Shane Waldron that didn't seem to mesh.

"I think our connection and my playing ability and his coaching I think so far has connected pretty well," Williams said. "I think he's done a great job understanding me even though we haven't had many talks in the past and things like that, many opportunities to do something like that.

"So I think he’s done a good job understanding me and the players we have on this team. I think that’s going to keep growing."

It will if Brown is still part of the scene.

For his part, Brown made it entirely clear what he expected from the start and Williams has responded.

"I think, the first thing I did when I got the job last, two Tuesdays ago, is I called him and we had a one-on-one conversation so I could tell him what to expect from me, and also what I expected from him," Brown said. "And we had a mutual understanding from the get-go.

"I'm a pretty direct person. So I think that can come off different ways to different people, but he is not soft, which I appreciate. Me and soft people sometimes don't always see eye to eye, get along."

- Thomas Brown, Bears OC on Caleb Williams

"Obviously my approach, my demeanor, is different than some people, but it's always meant to bring out the best in him and so we had  to operate both with a little bit of blind trust."

He thinks he found a QB who knows how to take coaching.

"I'm a pretty direct person," Brown said. "So I think that can come off different ways to different people, but he is not soft, which I appreciate. Me and soft people sometimes don't always see eye to eye, get along.

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"But I think he likes being challenged, likes being coached."

Brown is not necessarily the tough guy coaching type, just real and honest with them.

"Definitely all about encouraging, uplifting our guys when it comes to doing things the right way, but I think it's finding a balance about we have made some great improvements, great strides, but being good is not to be confused with good enough," Brown said. "So, I can be better. He (Williams) can be better. The entire group can be better.

"So, I think it's about finding that balance, and also what each individual player needs."

Brown seems to know what types of things he can coach Williams to develop and what things are more natural.

One of the natural qualities is fearlessness and it became obvious at the end of last week's game, if it wasn't already this year when he was still standing after being bludgeoned for nine sacks.

"Yeah it was very obvious he had no fear, at all, which is the way we want to have him play," Brown said. "I think about being aggressive and taking calculated risks, so aggressive is not being reckless. It's two different things.

"So not putting the ball in jeopardy, did a really good job taking care of the football. Obviously making some tight-window throws, which is why you get drafted No. 1 overall to make those big plays. And again, when it comes to end of the game, end of the half, he's delivered. In a big way, which I think sometimes goes unnoticed because of the result, which I get, but that's a rookie quarterback who in my opinion hasn't even scratched the surface of how good he can be. And it's my job, my focus to continue to try to find ways to make him the best he can be."

The real question for the Bears and Matt Eberflus, in particular, is whether Williams could have benefited from having this relationship going a little earlier.

"Yeah, obviously, not having somebody jump in halfway through the season you get a better opportunity to understand them, build a relationship with them, talk to them more, be around them and their family a lot more, things like that," Williams said. "It would’ve helped, but that's not the situation.

"This is Week 3 with Thomas and us going out there and performing, and performing well helps our relationship. And us having the open communication that we have during the games, on the practice field and in the rooms is only building that."

Twitter: BearsOnSI

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Gene Chamberlain
GENE CHAMBERLAIN

BearDigest.com publisher Gene Chamberlain has covered the Chicago Bears full time as a beat writer since 1994 and prior to this on a part-time basis for 10 years. He covered the Bears as a beat writer for Suburban Chicago Newspapers, the Daily Southtown, Copley News Service and has been a contributor for the Daily Herald, the Associated Press, Bear Report, CBS Sports.com and The Sporting News. He also has worked a prep sports writer for Tribune Newspapers and Sun-Times newspapers.