Bears 9.0: Thomas Brown HC audition, offseason/draft prep

[MalagaBulls]

Prior thread almost at 2K posts.

Lots of storylines left in this lost season with 5 games remaining:

1. Brown gets to audition for HC.
2. Caleb's continued growth.
3. Our draft position going forward.
4. Off season prep for FA & the draft.

Read on Twitter

[Michael Jackson]

8.0 is locked move conversations here.

[Jvaughn]

I kinda feel for Thomas Brown. Really feels like he's going to be a lame duck coach. Not really sure if Warren is going to legitimately give him a shot at the job, regardless how we finish. Teams got to be under pressure to bring in an established talent at HC.

[dougthonus]

I kinda feel for Thomas Brown. Really feels like he's going to be a lame duck coach. Not really sure if Warren is going to legitimately give him a shot at the job, regardless how we finish. Teams got to be under pressure to bring in an established talent at HC.

We shouldn't give Thomas Brown a shot regardless of how he finishes, but that's no reason to feel sorry for him.

Prior to this year, he was OC for one of the worst offenses in the league for a single year (Carolina), and had lower coaching jobs prior to that. With him showing improvement this year as OC for the Bears and getting an interim shot at HC gives him an amazing opportunity to grow his name/brand even if he doesn't get the job. I would wager he was no where near a HC candidate prior to this, so any success he shows is going to be great for helping him land a better job in the future, even if his next step is to probably repeat as an OC somewhere.

I'm also sure he gets a huge bump in salary by being interim HC, so monetarily its a great thing that happened for him.

For the Bears, no need to care about Brown at all. He was unlikely to be back next year in any scenario they fired Flus, so he's in the same boat, with more money and more opportunity. This is the first year he's been with the Bears, and he took the job knowing it was a good chance to be a lame duck position. We should have zero concern about his career vs the best outcome for the team. Anyone coaching in the NFL knows what a slippery slope it is and how the job market works.

[Almost Retired]

Poles and Caleb should be the guys that pick the next HC. Warren should stay in his own lane and do his lobbying and deal making to make a decision on the new Stadium. Warren has enough on his plate, and I don't read much about progress being made on that front. Lakefront or Arlington Heights. Pick one. Find a way to finance it because the city and the State can't afford to pay for it. Chicago has a multi Hundred million deficit this year, pension funding issues out the wazoo, and Pritzker has said no to state funding. And the government should not be using tax money to help fund private enterprise. 99% of the citizens of Illinois will never plant their asses in the new stadium to watch a game. They couldn't afford to. So why should they be taxed to pay for it. So Warren needs to work his end of the organization. Let Poles and Caleb find a new HC that Caleb can mesh with. If Poles blows it Warren can get involved and fire him.

[panthermark]

I kinda feel for Thomas Brown. Really feels like he's going to be a lame duck coach. Not really sure if Warren is going to legitimately give him a shot at the job, regardless how we finish. Teams got to be under pressure to bring in an established talent at HC.

I feel a bit sorry for him as well. He is getting a ton of exposure, which is good for him. And lots of folks are saying great things about him, but it would suck to do a good job here in an emergency situation, and probably get booted anyway because of a reset.

He was OC in Carolina last year for only a few games, and that was because of a similar situation where people were getting fired above him and he was in a dumpster fire of an org.

[patryk7754]

Prior thread almost at 2K posts.

Lots of storylines left in this lost season with 5 games remaining:

1. Brown gets to audition for HC.
2. Caleb's continued growth.
3. Our draft position going forward.
4. Off season prep for FA & the draft.

Read on Twitter

Interesting to see what the priority will be outside of the locker room between draft position or actually playing like a playoff team.

Our record with just a regular coach would be significantly better. The past three games would probably have been won by someone else. If Thomas Brown lives up to the hype and the team is functional and he can actually make common sense, in game decisions, then I would not be surprised if we won out.

Three of our last five games are division games. We should have beaten the packers, and should have at least gone in OT against the Lions and Vikings (and like i said, we have just some average joe HC, we probably win those games). The 49ers look horrible and we probably had a good chance to beat them even with Eberflus and the Seahawks would be a tough grind it out game but our defense can turn Geno over. I don't expect to win out, I don't think it would be surprising. It might not even have anything to do with TB, the players might just play better than ever just because of the joy of having Eberflus gone.

[molepharmer]

fwiw - According to today's Austin Mock's model at The Athletic, he has 7 teams finishing at 5-12, Raiders at 4-13 and Giants at 3-14. If that would actually play out, I'd assume the Bears tough schedule would move them to the back of the line at pick #9. Basically all 5 of the current 3 win teams get to 5 wins, Jags win 3 to get to 5 and Bears win 1 to get to 5.

Bear's draft position got no help from any of the bad teams this weekend winning. Almost amazing how bad teams find a way to lose when they're in a position to win. Bears, Raiders. NE, Panthers and Jets all messed up late chances of winning. The only 4 win (or less) team to win was Dal. Clev (3-8) has the last chance tonight.

Wonder if T Brown will do a Monday presser like Flus always did; would be a 'must see'

**** edit add - Noticed a tweet saying Warren, Poles and Brown will speak today starting at 11:45 CT

[patryk7754]

I've seen a few reports about likely candidates already and none really imply that there's a real chance of us keeping Brown. A few reports I've seen....

Maybe the most important: I think it was a headline on reddit (with a reliable source) that the bears are ready to break the bank for the franchise changing coach

From CBSsports: The bears will be in search of a "leader of men: for he coach and they could surprise a lot of people by pursuing a College coach, specifically Marcus Freeman. Im not sure how I would feel about that. He has all the characteristics of a CEO type but I don't think that's translated enough on the field for me to be comfortable to hire him. I don't think I'd want any college coach, but my top choice would be Dan Lanning

Not really a report, but I learned this weekend that Poles and Brian Flores were college teammates. Flores checks almost box for head coach for me but I just can't get over how he completely mishandled the QB situation in Miami. Williams should be priority one or two when hiring a coach and Flores was so terrible with Tua, he''s automatically crossed off my list.

Rich Eisen said that during last off-season, Ben Johnson wants the bears jobs and that played part in him not taking a job because he was sure the job would open up. I believe I also heard Adam schefter say Johnson is "very interested" in whats going with the bears.

Not directly about a coach but I've seen a few times that Warren basically doesn't want a HC that has dominant personality and someone who would be willing to challenge him. That seemingly crosses of guys like Belichick, Carol, and Vrabel

Not a report, but I've seen a few websites having Joe Brady as the betting favorite for the job.

For me, it basically comes down to Thomas or Ben Johnson...I've been fully sold on Ben Johnson for basically two season now. TB would have an uphill climb to convince me but I've definitely open to hiring him full-time. If the results are there on the field and all the players (not just Williams) go to bat for him, then it would be very difficult to let him walk.

Side note: It would be interesting if the players really want to keep Brown but Poles decides to move on. It would be a repeat of the Fields situation. I wonder how that would play out in the locker room

[Chi town]

Watch this video of TB. Dude does seem to have that all business Tomlin vibe.

https://www.dabearsblog.com/2024/brownaudition

[jnrjr79]

I kinda feel for Thomas Brown. Really feels like he's going to be a lame duck coach. Not really sure if Warren is going to legitimately give him a shot at the job, regardless how we finish. Teams got to be under pressure to bring in an established talent at HC.

We shouldn't give Thomas Brown a shot regardless of how he finishes, but that's no reason to feel sorry for him.

Prior to this year, he was OC for one of the worst offenses in the league for a single year (Carolina), and had lower coaching jobs prior to that. With him showing improvement this year as OC for the Bears and getting an interim shot at HC gives him an amazing opportunity to grow his name/brand even if he doesn't get the job. I would wager he was no where near a HC candidate prior to this, so any success he shows is going to be great for helping him land a better job in the future, even if his next step is to probably repeat as an OC somewhere.

I'm also sure he gets a huge bump in salary by being interim HC, so monetarily its a great thing that happened for him.

For the Bears, no need to care about Brown at all. He was unlikely to be back next year in any scenario they fired Flus, so he's in the same boat, with more money and more opportunity. This is the first year he's been with the Bears, and he took the job knowing it was a good chance to be a lame duck position. We should have zero concern about his career vs the best outcome for the team. Anyone coaching in the NFL knows what a slippery slope it is and how the job market works.

This is off to me. Brown was the Assistant Head Coach under McVeigh, in addition to being a position coach, which is significant in terms of how McVeigh saw him. He'll have called plays for the Panthers and Bears and will have now had limited head coaching experience. Contrary to the "I would wager he as nowhere near a HC candidate prior to this," he was interviewed for multiple head coaching openings in recent offseassons (Dolphins, Texans, Titans).

In no way do I just want to do the easy thing and say Brown gets it if the season ends on a pleasant note. But the idea that you'd just categorically take him out of the mix rather than let him compete for the job among other candidates seems like incredibly narrow thinking to me.

[dougthonus]

This is off to me. Brown was the Assistant Head Coach under McVeigh, in addition to being a position coach, which is significant in terms of how McVeigh saw him. He'll have called plays for the Panthers and Bears and will have now had limited head coaching experience. Contrary to the "I would wager he as nowhere near a HC candidate prior to this," he was interviewed for multiple head coaching openings in recent offseassons (Dolphins, Texans, Titans).

In no way do I just want to do the easy thing and say Brown gets it if the season ends on a pleasant note. But the idea that you'd just categorically take him out of the mix rather than let him compete for the job among other candidates seems like incredibly narrow thinking to me.

Maybe I'm underplaying his resume a bit. He's had 1 full season as a coordinator, and all his other seasons are below coordinator status, though you are right about being RB coach + assistant head coach, that's a weird set up to me, so not sure of his responsibilities under McVeigh, and I agree that McVeigh must have liked him a lot and saw good potential in him to do that.

That said, 1 year as an OC, no previous HC experience, and 2 years as a RB + Assistant HC seems on the weaker side to become a HC in general. The one year he was OC, he led the worst offense in the league, and though I'm not pinning that disaster on him, it sure isn't a feather in his cap, I mean it literally couldn't have gone much worse.

That said, you're right that I've overstated my point. I'm completely fine giving Brown a chance to win the job. I have some concern that we'd overrate a dead cat bounce and seeing "oh this is so much better than it was under Flus" that we overrate whatever has happened.

My preference would be to hire a Harbaugh like candidate if one emerges, someone who is coaching gold and will cost a gazillion dollars and you don't have to think about it one way or the other about whether he's good, but the reality is that there is likely no such candidate like that out there, so I'm probably being unfair if we're going the coordinator route, Brown should get as much a shot as the next guy.

Ben Johnson's got 3 years as an OC of one of the best offenses in the league and a huge surprise story, so I think that's a stronger resume than Brown, but if Brown were to have this team kicking butt down the stretch as interim, he should have a fair shot to interview.

[Dresden]

I was never sold on Harbaugh as a HC, seeing how badly things ended up for him in SF. He has a limited shelf life- at the end of his tenure here, despite his success, it was almost unanimous that he had to go- players, the front office, they all were tired of him. I'm waiting to see how long he lasts in LA. Maybe he's learned to get along with people better. But it wouldn't shock me if that doesn't work out so well.

[Dresden]

If TB does get the HC job, it will be critical who he picks to be his OC. Hopefully what he's seen this year about how Caleb and the team perform, he'll have a good idea of what OC will mesh well, and be able to implement a system that plays to their strengths.

[Dresden]

I keep hearing about how the Bears have never fired a coach mid-season, but from what I can recall, it was pretty unusual for HC's to get fired mid-season until about 10 years ago, and it almost never happened prior to 30 years ago or so.

[patryk7754]

According to Stacy Dales, Brown didn't talk to Williams until he became OC

[patryk7754]

I think my top three candidates for the 1st pick are these players (assuming we don't address these prior to the draft)

1. Will Campbell, OT
2. Mason Graham, DT
3. Abdul Carter, Edge

I think we should address all our OT needs before the draft. I don't want to risk drafting a rookie and he can't play for 2/3/4 years if ever. I also think Mason Graham has the potential to be the best player in the draft so If we can fix our OL before the draft and potentially grab the best player, that would be something that sets us over the edge. On top of that, I think JT Tuimoloau is the most well rounded edge in the draft and every mock I've seen has him going at the top of the second round (although, I would be surprised if he doesn't go top 20). If we can manage to do those three things, I think we will be contending for a SB next season.

[Chi town]

According to Stacy Dales, Brown didn't talk to Williams until he became OC

I’ve heard this repeatedly.

I don’t they it at all. How did he not?

[panthermark]

According to Stacy Dales, Brown didn't talk to Williams until he became OC

How is that even possible?

The passing came coordinator does not talk to the QB? Are they not in meetings or film study sessions together?

Are any other franchises like this?

[patryk7754]

According to Stacy Dales, Brown didn't talk to Williams until he became OC

I’ve heard this repeatedly.

I don’t they it at all. How did he not?

Stacy said Brown felt like there were "too many cooks in the kitchen". Probably saw what was going on with the Panthers and learned a lesson. So he decided to be in the background. But he was still paying attention and as soon as he became OC, started pointing things out to Williams that he was doing poorly. Things like footwork and how he hands the ball off. Something that apparently wasn't happening with Waldron