Speaker 1: Cut over that DJ Moore zode touchdown touchdown Bears.
Speaker 2: I am Jeff, joniha whitz is on.
Speaker 3: Donnie go up.
Speaker 2: What was like playing for coache Good done.
Speaker 4: I don't want to answer any questions like that.
Speaker 2: Pressure coming is a big trouble.
Speaker 1: Dottie go motes sweat.
Speaker 5: Yea Bears et Cetera brought to you by Miller Lte
Speaker 5: with the voices of the Bears Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer.
Speaker 1: Well, it was a big Bears weekend and can't Ohio
Speaker 1: what with the Hall of Fame in Shriman of Steve McMichael,
Speaker 1: Devin Hester and Julius Peppers and a Bears rain shortened
Speaker 1: preseason went over the Houston Texans. Hats off to the
Speaker 1: large number of Bears fans who made that trip to
Speaker 1: twenty one twenty one. George Harvis drive there in Canton, Ohio.
Speaker 2: It was a lot of fun. Welcome in everyone.
Speaker 1: I'm the voice of the Bears Jeff Jonahack with Super
Speaker 1: Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer and our special guest
Speaker 1: this week is Bears special teams coordinator Richard Hightower. This
Speaker 1: episode of the Bears et Cetera Podcast is brought to
Speaker 1: you by Miller Lte. Richard, how you doing, Welcome and
Speaker 1: back home? Nestled in got the first Tom and I
Speaker 1: were talking about get past the Hall of Fame. You
Speaker 1: don't want to just run past the Hall of Fame.
Speaker 1: But now now you get into the preseason and the
Speaker 1: nuts and bolts of what's going on.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, thanks Jeff Tom for having me. Hall of
Speaker 5: Fame was definitely exciting. Excited to see all those guys
Speaker 5: go in and excited to see our players when Devin
Speaker 5: spoke to him, just how they lit up their big
Speaker 5: fans of his. And obviously we show a lot of
Speaker 5: his clips in the meeting room, just to pay homage
Speaker 5: and to make sure they know the ground that's been
Speaker 5: laid before.
Speaker 2: Hey, Tommy, one thing I mentioned to you, but I
Speaker 2: want to mention it. Well, Richard's here.
Speaker 1: I was there as well, but I was purposely looking
Speaker 1: at all the players when Devon was speaking, and Jimbo
Speaker 1: Covid for that matter too. Jimbo commands the room, He's
Speaker 1: got a presence and they were nodding their heads. That
Speaker 1: means you knew they were engaged, right, And a lot
Speaker 1: of guys pictures with those guys, Tom, I know you
Speaker 1: called with me every one of those nineteen return touchdowns
Speaker 1: that he had with us. You were as much a
Speaker 1: part of it because your excitement was bleeding through almost
Speaker 1: every one of those play calls.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 6: You know, I spent my whole career on kickoff return
Speaker 6: and every single game I ever played, I was on it.
Speaker 6: So I know the appreciation of the performance of their
Speaker 6: role on kickoff return, and I know the difficulty of
Speaker 6: the role in the kickoff return game. So all due
Speaker 6: respect to Devin and all the great returners throughout NFL history,
Speaker 6: I really appreciate the fact that Devin got its due
Speaker 6: and his recognition for something that did something really special
Speaker 6: in his time as an NFL player.
Speaker 1: Richard, Will this open up the door for more? There's
Speaker 1: a lot of returners in this game that have excelled.
Speaker 1: I mean, we listed a bunch last week. You know
Speaker 1: who they are? You studied it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, Well, let's just hope.
Speaker 5: So, I know there's a lot of guys that are
Speaker 5: inspired and motivated by what Devin did, So Hope.
Speaker 6: So when do you how long does it take you
Speaker 6: to watch the athleticism of some of these players that
Speaker 6: maybe have never played Special Teams because a lot of
Speaker 6: them had a star starring role on their college teams.
Speaker 6: But does it take to the first live action like
Speaker 6: the Hall of Fame game, or can you kind of
Speaker 6: get a feel of their athleticism and how they pertain
Speaker 6: to the different job requirements on the different special teams.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I tell you what, Tom, that's outstanding way to
Speaker 5: look at it. You can tell a little bit, but
Speaker 5: you never really know until you get them in the game,
Speaker 5: and as you know, you played, so you know it's
Speaker 5: different out there's a lot of space.
Speaker 6: It was incredible because I think the whole offseason I've
Speaker 6: been as excited for kickoff and kickoff return because I
Speaker 6: was that disappointed in what would happen to it. And
Speaker 6: I think going forward, it's going to be interesting to
Speaker 6: see how all of you Special Teams coaches approached the design,
Speaker 6: the development of your guys' type of drawing room, of
Speaker 6: how you're going to put up the different types of return.
Speaker 6: So I got to say that the excitement hasn't faded,
Speaker 6: But did you learn anything from the initial examples? And
Speaker 6: I was thinking behind the scenes, I bet you every
Speaker 6: single Special Teams coordinator is looking at that first Hall
Speaker 6: of Fame game, just to whether it's getting the timing
Speaker 6: of contact, the.
Speaker 4: How long you got to hold your block, what.
Speaker 6: Can be the results of everything that's going to stand
Speaker 6: behind your guys' development of that one play.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean we took away you know, differently.
Speaker 5: Definitely, you can use different body types with it, and
Speaker 5: then angles are really important. And then we're you know,
Speaker 5: we're going to test an experiment with different blocking schemes
Speaker 5: as we go.
Speaker 3: But yeah, you're right.
Speaker 5: Everyone was glued in, got a couple messages after, and
Speaker 5: we'll be glued in here as these preseason games go
Speaker 5: because we're going to watch every kickoff return there is
Speaker 5: this preseason.
Speaker 4: I mean, just a yes, no answer.
Speaker 6: Do you think we'll ever see offensive alignment on the
Speaker 6: kickoff return team? Because that's what they do repetitiously, and
Speaker 6: it's like the distance between a guard and a linebacker.
Speaker 3: No, I don't think so.
Speaker 4: I would be begging you. I would be begging you.
Speaker 3: To put me on it unless you come back. I
Speaker 3: don't think so.
Speaker 1: A reminder, we are brought to you by our great
Speaker 1: friends at Miller Lite Tastes like Miller Time, Celebrate Responsibly,
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Speaker 1: point two carbs per twelve ouncers.
Speaker 4: I know.
Speaker 2: I got a release from the NFL.
Speaker 1: They call it the Dynamic Kickoff, and they have all
Speaker 1: the alignments and designed to explain things. I'm curious on
Speaker 1: those text messages you got where they fans or coaches
Speaker 1: are just friends of yours and what were their impressions
Speaker 1: if I may ask, in terms of what they saw there?
Speaker 5: Yeah, coaches and coaches just curious about you know, what
Speaker 5: we experienced live, you know, so uh and then just
Speaker 5: giving their take on what they saw, like they see
Speaker 5: it as a big potential for big plays. Although the
Speaker 5: kickoff team one I would say last week, but if if.
Speaker 3: There's a scene in there now it can go quick
Speaker 3: now jee.
Speaker 1: Well, hey listen, somebody put it on Twitter. They broke
Speaker 1: down and there was just a block away from a big,
Speaker 1: big run on one of those right, you know which
Speaker 1: one I'm talking about?
Speaker 2: And that that to get you excited though, right, Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's that we think it's gonna be. We think
Speaker 5: it's going to be dynamic, you know, and just being
Speaker 5: a part of putting that thing together is so honored
Speaker 5: and grateful to work with the competition Committee, Troy Vincent
Speaker 5: and obviously commissioned a Goodell and Darren Rizzi and John
Speaker 5: Fossil and all the rest of the especially and coach
Speaker 5: participated as well.
Speaker 3: But we just we're excited.
Speaker 2: How did you how did that all come about?
Speaker 1: By the way, was it a reach out to you
Speaker 1: specifically and those other guys or did you put your
Speaker 1: hand up and say, hey, I want to I want
Speaker 1: to help out here and figure out the right plan.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it was a it was a reach out, so
Speaker 5: they they basically uh reached out to us, and uh,
Speaker 5: and I'm more than honored and and and I want
Speaker 5: to help make the game better for not only our fans,
Speaker 5: our players and and and the game going forward.
Speaker 3: You know, you want to do something good for the game.
Speaker 6: When you when this all came about, did you have
Speaker 6: to have conversations with Cairo in terms of either hang
Speaker 6: time or lack of hang time, or field positioning or
Speaker 6: where you wanted to play some football or was that
Speaker 6: just something that came with the more reps you did,
Speaker 6: the more you learned about it.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's a combination of both. Tom.
Speaker 5: We talked about it almost every day, you know, when
Speaker 5: we could when he was in the building, and uh uh,
Speaker 5: we're still tinkering with.
Speaker 3: It, but it's uh he he.
Speaker 5: We're fortunate because he has a lot of tricks in
Speaker 5: his bag and he could do a lot of different things.
Speaker 6: A better tackling kicker ever be inserted in the game
Speaker 6: through the multiple games that you'll be a part of
Speaker 6: throughout your career.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, we'll see, like, we'll see how it
Speaker 5: how it comes about. I know that the tackling rate
Speaker 5: was close to what in our studies. The tackling rate
Speaker 5: for the kicker was close to what it was in
Speaker 5: the NFL and the studies that we did. So hopefully
Speaker 5: he's not as involved, but if he is, I can
Speaker 5: see it going that route in.
Speaker 6: The kickoff coverage team. Is it more a defensive personnel
Speaker 6: centric because of offensive players just repetitiously in their time
Speaker 6: as a football player, especially achieving this level, that's not
Speaker 6: something they're as familiar with as the guys that have
Speaker 6: a defensive role throughout their career.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I think you could say that, and then you know,
Speaker 5: you got a few sprinkled offensive guys in there that
Speaker 5: that like to hit, you know.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Rich McKay obviously a member of the Competition Committee for
Speaker 1: a long time and sharing that committee. But he said
Speaker 1: by twenty twenty three only twenty one percent of the
Speaker 1: kickoffs return and projected fifty to sixty percent to be
Speaker 1: returned in twenty four, which would add roughly one thousand
Speaker 1: plays to the NFL season. Eighty percent of the drives
Speaker 1: last season started around the twenty five, projections this year
Speaker 1: forty percent of the drives at the thirty or higher
Speaker 1: and another thirty percent inside the twenty. Certainly you don't
Speaker 1: want that as an offensive team, but from a defensive standpoint,
Speaker 1: backing them up, I'm hoping that number rises for our
Speaker 1: guys on the defense obviously, and the remaining thirty percent
Speaker 1: between the twenty and thirty.
Speaker 2: Do those Do those all mesh with your thinking as
Speaker 2: special team coordinator?
Speaker 3: Uh? They do?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Do.
Speaker 3: Jeff and Rich was awesome to work with.
Speaker 5: He's a he's very bright, and all of those statistics.
Speaker 5: You know that we went through all of that stuff,
Speaker 5: and that's what makes this so exciting for both sides.
Speaker 1: I would recommend to fans doing Tommy as well, be patient.
Speaker 1: You know, preseason, nobody gonna show anything because I saw
Speaker 1: some responses to the first eight kickoffs of our of
Speaker 1: our season. I said, you know, what's our game coming
Speaker 1: to and blah, nothing's changed. But I know all three
Speaker 1: of us disagree. It's going to make a major major
Speaker 1: impact in your viewing and your excitement for football.
Speaker 6: Richard, do you think that the Senior Bowl will adopt
Speaker 6: this type of kickoff kickoff return to get maybe more
Speaker 6: reps in the eyes of the special team coordinators on
Speaker 6: an NFL level, or else at least letting it get
Speaker 6: into the mind of some of these kids that that's
Speaker 6: the way they're going to make teams.
Speaker 3: Initially, Yeah, I was sure, hope.
Speaker 5: So I think, you know, the East West game, the
Speaker 5: Senior Bowl, and hopefully it trickles down to some of
Speaker 5: the lower levels and they've seen what we've done reducing
Speaker 5: the speed in the space and helping to get more
Speaker 5: returns in the game, I would hope.
Speaker 6: So, you know, I was reading some of your comments
Speaker 6: from the podium and talking a little bit about the
Speaker 6: twelfth man on the field, and I think that caught
Speaker 6: some people by surprise because it kind of snuck out
Speaker 6: in the media and not it And so how did
Speaker 6: you guys go about And I see that.
Speaker 4: You said that they are talking about you.
Speaker 6: In the sticks that that kickers use, they'll hold the
Speaker 6: ball up. And I like the option that you guys
Speaker 6: came to, letting the actual person hold the football for
Speaker 6: the kicker and then just back subtly back out of
Speaker 6: there and not take part in the action.
Speaker 4: Yeah, how did that come about?
Speaker 3: Yeah? Sure, Tom.
Speaker 5: Originally we talked about, you know, having the kick and
Speaker 5: stick out there and an official grabbing a stick, you know,
Speaker 5: but just you know, after just going through several different
Speaker 5: conversations using a player that was up front and then
Speaker 5: you would be sure the player, we said, well, heck, wana,
Speaker 5: it's gonna be weird, but why don't we just put
Speaker 5: a twelve guy out there and get him right off
Speaker 5: and he can't can't impeat the play or anything like that,
Speaker 5: And and it ended up working out pretty good. I'm
Speaker 5: glad we got it on tape so we could see it,
Speaker 5: because this thing is still a working progress.
Speaker 3: It'll be all season, all preseason for sure.
Speaker 6: So and the old kickoff coverage, he used to have
Speaker 6: the luxury of having base your fastest guy on team
Speaker 6: B some sort of safe, some sort of safety. Do
Speaker 6: you have that luxury anymore? Or is it a all
Speaker 6: ten attack plus the kicker.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I think it's going to vary, you know.
Speaker 5: I think the one thing about it is you could
Speaker 5: have uh, some of your starters on her that could play,
Speaker 5: you know, some safety positions and if you need to,
Speaker 5: or you could have some guys go down and go tackle.
Speaker 3: It just depends on where you want to kick the ball,
Speaker 3: you know.
Speaker 6: All right, one more question, would you ever have the
Speaker 6: kicker get bigger shoulder pads in case they're involved in
Speaker 6: tackling a little bit more.
Speaker 4: It's kind of a serious question, it is.
Speaker 3: You know, believe it or not.
Speaker 5: We did attack on my circuit two days ago and
Speaker 5: all specialists were involved.
Speaker 2: Did you really how'd that go? How'd that go?
Speaker 3: Loved it? Well?
Speaker 2: I know coaches love it.
Speaker 4: Did the players love it?
Speaker 2: That's the question?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know they know the importance of it, Jeff,
Speaker 5: and they we do it. You know, we don't do
Speaker 5: it every week, but when we do it, they get
Speaker 5: jacked up about it.
Speaker 3: So there was a good response there.
Speaker 4: Well.
Speaker 1: The funny thing is FLUS has a very specific way
Speaker 1: to tackle, so you know, aiming at those hamstrings.
Speaker 2: Right hamstring tackle, baby hamstring tackle?
Speaker 1: Visity, Heart Cells or flavors for every vibe Celebrate Responsibly
Speaker 1: Most Cores Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Speaker 6: You know, it's funny, Coach high Towers that how personal
Speaker 6: kickers take when someone breaks beyond the line of defense
Speaker 6: and how much how determined they are to make a tackle,
Speaker 6: because you know, Kevin Butler was a great tackler for
Speaker 6: the Bears. Robbie Golden made some big hits as well.
Speaker 6: And I think you know these kickers and punters that attitude,
Speaker 6: it goes from zero to one hundred as soon as
Speaker 6: they see a guy in the open field.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no question.
Speaker 5: You know you name some great ones there, and you
Speaker 5: know we're just trying to make sure if we're called
Speaker 5: up on the tackle that we're ready to do it.
Speaker 6: You know, is there anymore so the you play the
Speaker 6: Texans the second week of the Sea and a vanilla offense,
Speaker 6: defense and special teams? Can you unveil a little bit
Speaker 6: more against a team like Buffalo that you won't play
Speaker 6: in the regular season or is that more something that
Speaker 6: you work on behind the scenes and then when you
Speaker 6: get to the regular season, you know it's the uh,
Speaker 6: you know, open up the playbook.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think it's a mix of both, especially with
Speaker 5: this new kickoff kickoff return rule. But you know, basically,
Speaker 5: you know that first preseason games, Vanilla is install one
Speaker 5: day one and then I think you just go to
Speaker 5: your nixt install. You know, it's try to keep it
Speaker 5: still simple so the guys can play fast enough, and
Speaker 5: then you'll keep some cards flow to your best for
Speaker 5: later in the season.
Speaker 6: I would was keeping Tory Taylor out of the first
Speaker 6: Hall of Fame game? Was that just to give the
Speaker 6: other punter an opportunity to get involved in the show
Speaker 6: or are you just holding Tory back a little bit
Speaker 6: before he gets into the seventeen game stretch.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it could be looked at both ways.
Speaker 5: You know, we kind of we held out a lot
Speaker 5: of guys organizationally, and Tory fill in that bucket just
Speaker 5: for because of who he is and where we drafted
Speaker 5: him and all that stuff.
Speaker 3: But I'll tell you what we want.
Speaker 5: We wanted to showcase Corless too, man, because he's earned
Speaker 5: those reps. He's done a nice job in practice, He's
Speaker 5: earned them.
Speaker 6: You guys have done a great job with both of
Speaker 6: those punters. I think some of the punts that I've
Speaker 6: seen in training camp, maybe some of the best that
Speaker 6: I've seen since I've been a part of the Bears.
Speaker 6: Having a right foot and left footed punter with that
Speaker 6: type of power, it's a nice luxury for you to have.
Speaker 3: Thank you, appreciate you staying that, Tom. We're excited about it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's nice to have that.
Speaker 1: I know Bill Belichick always had a left footed punter
Speaker 1: in pre season just to get guys ready for the
Speaker 1: different spin. But this guy's legitimate. I mean, people been
Speaker 1: asking me who is this guy? Well, his name is Corless. Waitman,
Speaker 1: he's got a name. He's not just the other punter,
Speaker 1: right because everybody you know, I asked Santos, Well, we
Speaker 1: had him last week. Actually we had him last week
Speaker 1: on the podcast aro on Bear's Weekly Pardon Me, and
Speaker 1: Tom asked him what your impression of Tory and he
Speaker 1: goes alien that that that's what he said about it.
Speaker 1: But great punters are hard to find. There's plenty of
Speaker 1: good punters, and then some punters, you know, have to
Speaker 1: work their way around the league to get an opportunity
Speaker 1: and maybe it connects some way. But do you find
Speaker 1: it more challenging to find a really great punter versus
Speaker 1: a great kicker, a field goal kicker.
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I would say.
Speaker 6: So.
Speaker 5: You know, that's a good point. I mean, it's you're right,
Speaker 5: it's very hard to find a great one. You know,
Speaker 5: a lot of guys can do it and do it
Speaker 5: for a while, but that position is always in flux,
Speaker 5: you know, because you have such limited opportunities.
Speaker 3: So you got to make the most of your opportunities.
Speaker 1: Before we let you go, just a little review of
Speaker 1: some of the guys that made plays in that game.
Speaker 1: Colin Johnson in on a tackle that was awesome to
Speaker 1: see because and I know you brought it up on
Speaker 1: excuse me Sunday that you know, you say, maybe maybe
Speaker 1: you don't want to be on you know, he wants
Speaker 1: to stay on the kick.
Speaker 2: He knows this is a path a pathway.
Speaker 1: And if you don't have to convince guys that it's
Speaker 1: a pathway, you know you got something good going.
Speaker 5: On, no doubt about it. He Uh. I can't say
Speaker 5: enough good things about Colin Johnson.
Speaker 6: Man.
Speaker 3: He's a really good person. Uh.
Speaker 5: And he's a good football player, but he's a even
Speaker 5: better person. And I'm just so happy for him and
Speaker 5: happy that he's a part of history.
Speaker 4: Tigh tower.
Speaker 6: So you know, when you bring in a new holder
Speaker 6: to a football program and a kicker, how do you
Speaker 6: make sure that he has an understanding of where the
Speaker 6: ball wants to be the lean to it in certain distances,
Speaker 6: and how do you how do you evaluate a holder
Speaker 6: to That's that's you know, new on, new on the
Speaker 6: scene as far as the Bears are are concerned.
Speaker 5: Yeah, well, you just you look at all the college
Speaker 5: for sure, and then you look at all the combine tape,
Speaker 5: and then once you get him in, you do various
Speaker 5: different drills with him, and then you let your kicker
Speaker 5: kind of talk to him and try to educate him
Speaker 5: on different win patterns and when he needs the ball
Speaker 5: leaned a certain.
Speaker 3: Way or not. But Cairo has been phenomenal.
Speaker 5: With Tory, and Tory has really good hands, So that's
Speaker 5: number one for being a holder.
Speaker 3: He has really good hands.
Speaker 6: You know, you talked about coach Flus and how he
Speaker 6: gravitates towards the special teams. When you become a head coach,
Speaker 6: are you always going to gravitate towards the special teams
Speaker 6: of the team that you coach?
Speaker 3: Oh?
Speaker 5: No, hopefully, hopefully, if that ever happens, hopefully the specialty
Speaker 5: coordinate let me be involved.
Speaker 3: He may kick me away from it.
Speaker 4: No, he heard that, listen, man.
Speaker 6: That phase of football is never going to go far
Speaker 6: away from you.
Speaker 1: Third year with the Bears, fourth overall, also an assistant
Speaker 1: here in twenty sixteen, but seventeen years experience with the
Speaker 1: Bears Houston, Washington, and Cleveland and San Francisco. Also in
Speaker 1: your background, you were an assistant defensive back coach. You
Speaker 1: were a wide receiver coach at the University of Minnesota,
Speaker 1: coaching guys like Eric Decker, University of Texas three year
Speaker 1: lettermen and special team stand out or walk on, and
Speaker 1: the Shrine game head coach for the East last year.
Speaker 1: So your background continues to expand and grow with every
Speaker 1: passing day and every passing season. How how do you
Speaker 1: feel about what your career has brought you in terms
Speaker 1: of these opportunities and how you've taken advantage of them.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I tell you what, Jeff, I am eternally grateful
Speaker 5: to the McCaskey family. I think I've said it before,
Speaker 5: just for giving me the opportunities, Coach Flues and Ryan
Speaker 5: Poles for putting me in those positions. And then also
Speaker 5: I just think. You know, it's a blessing every day.
Speaker 5: I wake up and pinch myself every day because this
Speaker 5: is what I always wanted to do, was be around football.
Speaker 3: So ever since I was a marketing intern with the Texans.
Speaker 2: Is that right?
Speaker 3: I didn't know that I wanted a football.
Speaker 2: I didn't know that marketing intern.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's how I started. Yep, what is the marketing Interneah?
Speaker 2: Wow, that's the NFL's version of a walk on.
Speaker 5: That's the version I learned how to operate a pallet
Speaker 5: jack was my first job.
Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Hey, everybody's got to start somewhere, that's
Speaker 2: for sure.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 2: Well, we appreciate all your time, man, We could.
Speaker 1: We could spend a lot of time talking about all
Speaker 1: aspects of special teams. So much attention needs to be
Speaker 1: paid to it because and then this is what my
Speaker 1: beef was about, the fact that Devin Hester was the
Speaker 1: first to get into the Hall of Fame in the
Speaker 1: return game. We keep talking about it. It's the third phase.
Speaker 1: It doesn't mean it's the last phase. It may be
Speaker 1: the first phase on a game day, and if you
Speaker 1: get a special team's takeaway, that's another big chance of
Speaker 1: getting more winning percentage goes up, So the impact of
Speaker 1: special teams is significant.
Speaker 2: And we got some guys.
Speaker 1: Man, we got you know, Vayalis Jones is a tailor
Speaker 1: made kick returner, his body, the way he rolls.
Speaker 2: You got DeAndre Carter there.
Speaker 1: You got all kind of options that you're trying out
Speaker 1: in the punt return game as well. Do you feel
Speaker 1: comfortable with the choices you have before you?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I mean Ryan Hista done a phenomenal job of providing
Speaker 5: this talent, acquiring talent, So just happy, happy about it.
Speaker 4: Coach I Tyers.
Speaker 6: So when we're at ninety guys throughout training camp and
Speaker 6: then they go to the fifty three game day roster,
Speaker 6: does it seem like there's a lot less people for
Speaker 6: you to make choices on and then you kind of
Speaker 6: increase the workload of a couple of guys. Because even
Speaker 6: when I sit out there and I see ninety and
Speaker 6: then after they go to the final cutdown, then you
Speaker 6: look back on the field, it's almost like.
Speaker 4: God, where did everybody go?
Speaker 6: Do you feel the same when you're trying to put
Speaker 6: together all the multiple teams and then the depth of
Speaker 6: every ivory team that you have to put together.
Speaker 5: Yeah, there's definitely a talent, you know, going from that
Speaker 5: many guys you know down but you just have the
Speaker 5: mondo to the reps. And then there's certain guys like
Speaker 5: you know that are going to be here playing for you.
Speaker 5: So you try to take care of those guys on
Speaker 5: the front end, you know, make sure they get what
Speaker 5: they need, take care of the guy in the front end,
Speaker 5: and then try to see if you can get an
Speaker 5: evaluation on the back end.
Speaker 1: Guys, We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of
Speaker 1: the Bears. Okay, last thing interview. Charles Tillmen in Canton
Speaker 1: after Devon's enshrinement backstage, and you know he was in
Speaker 1: He said he thought he was in seventeen of those
Speaker 1: kick returns as a starting cornerback. Like today, if you
Speaker 1: put a starting cornerback in there, people might start getting upset,
Speaker 1: like the fear of injury.
Speaker 2: Times have changed, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, no, they changed big time. And Charles is awesome
Speaker 5: every time he comes and talks to the team. I mean,
Speaker 5: I could only imagine how awesome that was for him
Speaker 5: to be on the field with Devon.
Speaker 3: Just just a phenomenal human being.
Speaker 2: Charles is sure is time we got a run.
Speaker 1: Richard Thank you so much for all your time and
Speaker 1: good luck and the rest of the priests and getting
Speaker 1: this team ready to go.
Speaker 2: Appreciate your time.
Speaker 6: Offensive line and kickoff return. Don't lose that thought.
Speaker 5: Thank you, Richard, do a great job. So really appreciate you.
Speaker 5: Bears are fortunate to have you. Guys, We're fortunate to
Speaker 5: have you.
Speaker 2: Nice of you to say, Richard, we appreciate it. Thank
Speaker 2: you so much.
Speaker 3: Take care, Thank you guys.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 1: We're brought to you by a PNC official Bank of
Speaker 1: the Bears. So good conversation, and we could we could
Speaker 1: have talked a long while with Richard. I would have
Speaker 1: loved to get in more in the return game in
Speaker 1: the specifics, but you know, John Johnson had a good return,
Speaker 1: the rookie out of Nevada, the teammate of catab Williams's
Speaker 1: best buddy from USC at thirty one yard return.
Speaker 6: One thing about the kickoff return, you know, it's it's
Speaker 6: in such the infancy stages that I don't I think
Speaker 6: this is something that you and I are going to
Speaker 6: be talking about all the way through the preseason, and
Speaker 6: then I think it's going to reignite the conversation before
Speaker 6: the start of the regular season, because that's when I
Speaker 6: think we'll be exposed to a little little bit more
Speaker 6: creativity on the kickoff return front.
Speaker 1: Would you like to see some special teams coordinators here
Speaker 1: in the preseason test certain things out just to keep
Speaker 1: people aware. Okay, when you got two returners back there,
Speaker 1: there could be a reverse play, there could be some
Speaker 1: sort of trickery in, and you know, just stash it away.
Speaker 1: I know you don't want to give up the playbook
Speaker 1: by any means, but just put everybody to the test here,
Speaker 1: just to smidch so you don't just think it's going
Speaker 1: to be a normal running play.
Speaker 6: Yes, first of all, I was serious about having an
Speaker 6: offensive lineman on the kickoff return team, and I could
Speaker 6: have them play both sides. I could have them maybe
Speaker 6: line up on the right side at one time, the
Speaker 6: left on the other, either part of a deception or
Speaker 6: point of attack.
Speaker 4: So I do think there are.
Speaker 6: Athletes that are good enough at the offensive line position
Speaker 6: that they can play a kickoff return.
Speaker 4: Why can they play on it?
Speaker 6: Why can I play on it through my whole career
Speaker 6: and be deep in the wedge. And now when you're
Speaker 6: at a closer point of contact that you can't be
Speaker 6: there because that's what you do repetitiously.
Speaker 4: And then one other point so and I always think
Speaker 4: about that.
Speaker 6: I think about it a lot more now in this
Speaker 6: new kickoff. Is why I went to high school. We
Speaker 6: had two kickers approach the ball.
Speaker 4: Wow.
Speaker 6: And if you had two kickers where you could one
Speaker 6: kicked and one was a pursuit guy, it would just
Speaker 6: create more deception in terms of where the ball is
Speaker 6: going to go.
Speaker 4: Then maybe you have.
Speaker 6: To have two returners back there and take one guy
Speaker 6: out of the upfront blocking scheme.
Speaker 1: Well, I know your mind takes you to very different
Speaker 1: places because it's Tom's thoughts, that's for sure. Tastes like
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Speaker 1: to find delivery options near you. Celebrate responsibly. Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Speaker 1: I know Patrick Scales did not practice the other day
Speaker 1: so they brought back lions, the long snap or any concerns.
Speaker 6: But I always have concerns when you have a guy
Speaker 6: that plays a really important role in the scoring of
Speaker 6: this football team extra point and field goals and how
Speaker 6: many snaps Patrick has throughout his career. You definitely want
Speaker 6: him to start the season healthy. So if there's any
Speaker 6: concern about any type of injury, then get it healed
Speaker 6: up before that first regular season game. But I think
Speaker 6: one thing about Ryan Poles, he does his due diligence
Speaker 6: and scouting, and if someone's here in a backup role,
Speaker 6: they're capable of doing what they're going to be, what
Speaker 6: they're being asked to do.
Speaker 1: I rid somewhere that people this is one more about
Speaker 1: the kick return, and we'll talk about our game and
Speaker 1: what you saw on tape as we get ready for
Speaker 1: Week two in Buffalo. The idea that there could be
Speaker 1: more teams going forward on fourth down because of the
Speaker 1: return game. Now, if it's a touchback, it's the thirty.
Speaker 1: If they get a good return, you're talking about a
Speaker 1: couple of plays and now you're nearer midfield and facing
Speaker 1: a fourth down as opposed to a different scenario a
Speaker 1: year ago, when you're getting the ball out the twenty five.
Speaker 1: I know it's only five yards, I know it's different.
Speaker 1: But if these returns start cranking up a little bit,
Speaker 1: is that one of the consequences of this will more
Speaker 1: teams go forward on fourth down near midfield and fewer punts.
Speaker 6: You know, I mean it's a it's a super sensitive
Speaker 6: play because what's the down and distance? What is your
Speaker 6: talent level to be able to have success, you know,
Speaker 6: and convert it. You look at the Bears, you know,
Speaker 6: they had a fourth and one in the game the
Speaker 6: other day, fourth and less than one. They jumped off
Speaker 6: sides and then went they had a punt, So you know,
Speaker 6: is it is it gonna be the tush push the
Speaker 6: Philly play? Is what type of you know, what the
Speaker 6: you know, what type of talent do you have and
Speaker 6: able to have the confidence to convert it? And if
Speaker 6: you if you don't have discipline on the line of
Speaker 6: scrimmage and the defense makes aggressive calls and you jump
Speaker 6: because of it, then you're just back to punting. So
Speaker 6: I think it all depends on the maturity of your
Speaker 6: football team, in the confidence the offensive coach has, in
Speaker 6: the type of play he can call.
Speaker 1: Busy hard sets here Flavers for every vibe Celebrate Responsibly
Speaker 1: Motion Course Beverage Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. So the Bears return
Speaker 1: to practice on Tuesday, get back in pads, and get
Speaker 1: ready for that Buffalo game.
Speaker 2: End of the week.
Speaker 1: What did you see on tape that caught your attention
Speaker 1: on both sides of the ball.
Speaker 6: Discipline and you know, the thing about it is the
Speaker 6: Bears and throughout training camp because of the way the
Speaker 6: defense plays around with with their movement up front, the
Speaker 6: first team offense has been susceptible to have, you know,
Speaker 6: some penalties at the line of scrimmage. And I thought
Speaker 6: the group of guys that Flose and his staff got
Speaker 6: ready to play in the game. They put a lot
Speaker 6: of discipline on display, whether it's a two minute trill,
Speaker 6: you know, concentrating on the verbal count at the line
Speaker 6: of scrimmage. Colin Johnson being able to have a drop
Speaker 6: and then rebound with some significant catches. You just know
Speaker 6: that he's mentally strong and it didn't didn't affect him.
Speaker 6: I thought the tight end position played really well, even
Speaker 6: though Cole Kmet and Gerald Everett were not in there.
Speaker 6: You know, I thought Richard high Tower and his special
Speaker 6: teams did a nice job. But the more we see
Speaker 6: kickoff return, I think the more interest the fan base
Speaker 6: will gain. I like what I saw out of you know,
Speaker 6: the defense as after the first drive. I think the
Speaker 6: defense went back to the sideline, got some coaching points
Speaker 6: and played a better style of defense from that point on.
Speaker 6: So there was a lot just encouraging team signs that
Speaker 6: I think that you can go back watch it on tape,
Speaker 6: and then specific techniques. I think that a lot of
Speaker 6: these guys can get positively reinforced within a week's time
Speaker 6: of making sure what they're doing on in practice can
Speaker 6: work on the game field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they allowed less than three yards of carry on
Speaker 1: the run game offensively, some really good numbers eight double
Speaker 1: digit plays in the range show and to fair But
Speaker 1: of concern, I guess would be the after effect of
Speaker 1: that on the offensive line with some players down in
Speaker 1: the first couple practices. Back at Havis Hall, what concerns
Speaker 1: do you have leading in that game against Buffalo? And
Speaker 1: we do expect to see Caleb Williams as the starting
Speaker 1: quarterback to start the game.
Speaker 6: You know, my only concern is whomever is injured, are
Speaker 6: they going to be healthy by week one of the
Speaker 6: regular season. My interest is is the guys that are
Speaker 6: getting reps in place of the injured players. You got
Speaker 6: to look at this as an opportunity of a lifetime
Speaker 6: because and when you have three preseason games in the NFL.
Speaker 6: I know they play the starters a limit amount of reps,
Speaker 6: but if there is a starter there that has an
Speaker 6: injury of concern, they're looking for the replacement. And then
Speaker 6: who is you know, living up to the billing that
Speaker 6: they have the capabilities of starting early season games in
Speaker 6: the NFL. And then when you have a quarterback like
Speaker 6: Caleb Williams, you want consistency man want you want him
Speaker 6: to see and understand the guys up in front of him,
Speaker 6: and they understand him and they understand the rhythm of
Speaker 6: his count. And I think it plays such a significant
Speaker 6: role that Week one, the offensive line is going to
Speaker 6: be able to hear calebs Cadence. Week two, they are
Speaker 6: not going to be able to hear Us Cadence. So
Speaker 6: they have to understand his timing, his thinking. He's a
Speaker 6: young quarterback and maybe he may think the huddle call
Speaker 6: maybe three quarters of a second longer than an experienced
Speaker 6: quarterback would, and then that.
Speaker 4: Challenges the rhythm of the offensive line.
Speaker 1: Visy Herd Seutz your flavors for every vibe Celebrate Responsibly.
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Speaker 1: of the Bears.
Speaker 2: I know there's a lot of work.
Speaker 1: To be done before that Buffalo game, another road affair
Speaker 1: before Cincinnati comes late next week to practice before we
Speaker 1: play them at Soldier Field. But now it's like a
Speaker 1: different runway, as I alluded to in the outset here,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 4: You're one hundred percent correct, Jeff.
Speaker 6: I think when anytime that you put the starters into
Speaker 6: a game, the evaluation has begun. The seriousness of the
Speaker 6: evaluation is starting to take place. And it's not something
Speaker 6: you can just say, oh, it's you know, we got
Speaker 6: time to we got time to take care of this. No,
Speaker 6: every single rep that a premium player gets during the
Speaker 6: course of a preseason game is strictly evaluated.
Speaker 4: And if you make a mistake, how do you improve it?
Speaker 6: If you make a mental air, do you get back
Speaker 6: into your tablet and start studying more? And so all
Speaker 6: these little things that you have to evaluate, from Richard
Speaker 6: high Tower on the special teams, to Shane Waldron and
Speaker 6: to Eric anduse Eric Washington and Fluse on the defensive
Speaker 6: side of the ball. I'm glad you brought that up,
Speaker 6: because there's a whole nother level of seriousness when you
Speaker 6: start chipping at these preseason games.
Speaker 1: All right, lastly, you were at Steve McMichael's home when
Speaker 1: he got his gold jacket and bust there with your
Speaker 1: former teammates as well all his teammates and friends. How
Speaker 1: what impression were you left with when you experienced that
Speaker 1: and then left. I'm sure it was on your mind
Speaker 1: as you were driving back home.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's on my mind, you know.
Speaker 6: The first impression is, so you walk into Steve's house
Speaker 6: and he had his bed pushed out in the living
Speaker 6: room so there was a little bit more room. And
Speaker 6: since Steve has lost the ability to talk, when you
Speaker 6: stand above him and you make eye contact with him
Speaker 6: and he knows you're there and you know what he's
Speaker 6: going through, it's you don't even need to say anything.
Speaker 6: You don't need to talk. It's just allowing each other
Speaker 6: to see each other. And you kind of read the
Speaker 6: appreciation in my eyes to him, and then you see
Speaker 6: him looking back at you, and you have no idea
Speaker 6: what's going through his mind or what's happening, but it's,
Speaker 6: you know, a sad set of circumstances that he's fighting through.
Speaker 6: On the Greatest Award in this athlete's life. When you
Speaker 6: get announced by all your peers that you are going
Speaker 6: into the Hall of Fame, and it's because what you accomplished,
Speaker 6: it's what you dedicated to the Chicago Bears in the NFL.
Speaker 6: And for them to unveil that bust in front of
Speaker 6: all of us there, it's it's emotional, it's a beautiful job.
Speaker 1: Well, it looks just like as a player, exactly exactly,
Speaker 1: I mean exactly.
Speaker 6: And I was so surprised because I've been you know,
Speaker 6: disappointed in going to the Hall of Fame and looking
Speaker 6: at the bust of some of the players, going wow,
Speaker 6: you know, it's not a very good resemblance of him,
Speaker 6: But when they may see his daughter and Mistya, his wife.
Speaker 6: When they unveiled the bust, I was blown away of
Speaker 6: It's just how much it looked like the Steve McMichael
Speaker 6: who is in the Hall of Fame. Yea, he looks
Speaker 6: you know, he looks so different right now, obviously for
Speaker 6: the disease he's fighting. However, when people see that bust
Speaker 6: for years to come, they're gonna know what Steve McMichael looked.
Speaker 1: Like, here's what we missed and here's what he missed.
Speaker 1: We missed his speech. Yes, we missed him at the
Speaker 1: Gold Jacket dinner when you would walk down the long
Speaker 1: runway to shake hands and get hugs from your fellow
Speaker 1: Hall of famers from years gone by, and I'm not
Speaker 1: quite sure how that would have gone down.
Speaker 2: It would have been epic, I feel just.
Speaker 1: Knowing him, and I think he would not have you know, listen,
Speaker 1: everybody thinks it's all show. He would have respected the game.
Speaker 1: He would have respected the moment. I truly feel that.
Speaker 1: But it would be it would be a passionate delivery
Speaker 1: and a passionate response.
Speaker 6: QUI, Well, you talked about you sitting there talking to
Speaker 6: Chris Berman before the Gold Jacket and you saw all
Speaker 6: the other Hall of Famers that were coming in and
Speaker 6: out of the building. Steve McMichael, ming Maongo, whatever you
Speaker 6: want to call him, he belongs with all those guys.
Speaker 6: And for you being able to be and have a
Speaker 6: hands on approach to seeing all those guys come in
Speaker 6: the room, Steve McMichael deserves to walk in that room
Speaker 6: with that same brash, cockiness, arrogance confidence that anybody can
Speaker 6: ever walk into a room with, because he carried it
Speaker 6: as well as anybody when he walked into a room.
Speaker 2: Sure did Tom. Thanks.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to you everybody on Thursday, our next podcast drop.
Speaker 1: Then we'll preview what happens against the Buffalo Bills in
Speaker 1: Orchard Park, New York. Special thanks to Bear Special Teams
Speaker 1: coordinator Richard high Tower for Tom, I'm Jeff.
Speaker 2: Thanks for listening. Everybody.
Speaker 1: Please subscribe now in the Chicago Bears official app, Apple, Spotify, YouTube,
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcast.
Speaker 4: Bear Down.
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Speaker 6: Stupid m HM