Can Bears' Thomas Brown be the rare NFL interim coach with staying power?

LAKE FOREST, Ill.

On first-and-10 from the Chicago Bears 43 with 21 seconds remaining against the Minnesota Vikings , quarterback Caleb Williams hit on a pass over the middle of the field and over two defenders to receiver DJ Moore that he never did in practice.

It became one of Williams best throws this season.

The Bears wouldnt have tied the game and had a chance to win without it.

Advertisement Caleb knew the concept, quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph told The Athletic days later.

He knew the situation.

And thats one of those where theres no hesitation.

He felt the coverage close and collapse inside and he let it rip.

And thats the way you got to play the position.

Arrogance is confidence under control, and thats the way hes playing the game now.

Just under control, playing with confidence, letting the ball rip.

The Bears didnt win that day at Soldier Field.

They havent won since Oct.

13 in London.

But its an example of how Williams has improved with Thomas Brown as his play caller and leader of the offense.

During the Bears 11-point comeback in the final minutes against the Vikings, Brown told Williams to go be Superman.

Brown, now the Bears interim head coach, later said Williams was playing without fear, which is how he wants him to play.

Thats how you got to play the game and thats how hes coaching the game, Joseph said of Brown.

Thats how hes coaching the offense.

Go play without fear.

Be free, know your assignments, go have fun, let it loose.

And the last couple weeks, weve been able to do that.

If that continues over the next five weeks, the exhaustive search and wide net for the Bears next head coach that general manager Ryan Poles and team president/CEO Kevin Warren promised doesnt have to happen.

The Bears already have Brown in place for Williams.

GO DEEPER Greenberg: Kevin Warren shows he's in charge as Bears try to find latest coaching savior History hasnt been kind to NFL interim head coaches.

Theyve had little success or staying power.

But Browns situation with the Bears and his background make him different from previous examples.

First, Brown is coaching Williams, the first pick in this years draft.

The Tennessee Titans , Miami Dolphins and the Houston Texans have interviewed Brown for past head coach openings, and hes likely to be a candidate again this offseason.

And Brown has the strong endorsement of Sean McVay after serving as his assistant head coach for two seasons in Los Angeles, including the Rams Super Bowl-winning season.

Advertisement He has always been a guy that has had incredible command, McVay told reporters last week.

Hes been a great competitor.

He kind of demands respect from people hes around just by the way he carries himself.

...

There are certain people, when you watch, youre like, Man, theyre a little different in terms of the competitiveness, the spirit, the never-say-die attitude.

And then just his overall presence in general is impressive.

Former Rams left tackle Andrew Whitworth , now an analyst for Prime Video, shared his endorsement of Brown during the Bears game against the Lions .

Leader of men! Rare cat! Whitworth wrote on X.

Will be a head coach! I always have felt young offense side of the ball Mike Tomlin.

Not talking Tomlin success.

Just the conviction in knowing exactly who he is and what hes about.

And hes about the right stuff! On Monday, Warren and Poles listed various characteristics for their next head coach that you typically get from front offices about to embark on head coaching searches.

What makes this year different for the Bears is that the team fired Matt Eberflus during the season with a quality in-house replacement in Brown, who has already earned the buy-in from the teams offensive players.

Its apparent through the final days and weeks of Eberflus that the Bears morphed into a player-led team.

Many of them Williams, receivers DJ Moore and Rome Odunze , tight end Cole Kmet , running back DAndre Swift , cornerback Jaylon Johnson , defensive end Montez Sweat and more are signed through the next two seasons or longer.

GO DEEPER The Bears finally fired Matt Eberflus.

But he lost the locker room long ago If those players and others get behind Brown over the next five games and the Bears win, would that be more than enough for Poles to make his decision? Or more specifically and importantly: Could Warren really ignore that connection if it forms in favor of his own list of candidates ? Everything Warren said Monday suggested that hell influence whats next for the Bears.

Poles might be the point person for the head coach search, as Warren said, but Warren also provided a muddy answer when it comes to who has the final say.

Advertisement Well work that out, Warren said.

Ryan is the general manager.

Hes the head of football operations, so he will have the final say if it ever got to that point, but Im confident that we will work through it because the good thing about it is so long as we keep the center of our decisions whats in the best interest of the Chicago Bears, our players, as we go forward, it will become clear as far as who is the person to lead this franchise from a football standpoint, from a coaching standpoint.

With that in mind, Poles is the one who built this roster.

If his team starts to win and Williams plays well, Poles must look at Browns success differently than the unknowns of the coaching list that he and Warren assemble.

Brown can be Poles continuity candidate since he took part in the teams evaluation of Williams.

Ive learned a lot over the last few years, Poles said.

I think the most critical thing is that I know from the roster that we have right now exactly what this team needs because of the core group that we have here.

Before that wasnt really the case of understanding who is going to be here.

It was a really tough situation to walk into.

So (its) knowing exactly the core of our team and what traits are going to help get that team to be a championship-caliber roster.

GO DEEPER The Bears need to hire the right head coach this time.

5 tips for their search What if thats Brown? In his first full-team meeting, Brown laid out his vision for the team and the abilities that matter most to him: coachability, accountability and dependability.

Thats all of us, myself included, he said.

Im not above coaching.

Im not above accountability.

So we will get that done together.

And lastly, its about being resilient.

No matter what happens, nobody cares whats happened before or what will happen in the future.

Overcome it, fight through it.

Its not about the event; its about the response.

So respond the right way, together collectively, and go attack.

Or, as Williams has been doing, go play without fear.

(Top photo: Nam Y.

Huh / Associated Press).

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