Speaker 1: And a pleasant could even again. Welcome into a Labor
Speaker 1: Day holiday special edition to the Bears Coaching Show with
Speaker 1: head coach Matt Naggie, brought to you by Whippley CPAs
Speaker 1: and Consultants. Our guest tonight, President and CEO Ted Phillips
Speaker 1: and General Manager Ryan Pace, Jeff Joniak with you into
Speaker 1: eight o'clock tonight here on news Radio one oh five
Speaker 1: nine WBBM, and typically fellas in years past, we would
Speaker 1: gather around to the Peyton Center for a nice group
Speaker 1: discussion with our Bears season ticket holders and break it
Speaker 1: all down. But the pandemic still a complicating manner, So
Speaker 1: we come to you tonight in a different format on Zoom.
Speaker 1: Calls from Hallis Hall and Home will begin with Matt.
Speaker 1: You know, twenty twenty one off to a more traditional start.
Speaker 1: I'd say hit in twenty twenty when there was no preseason.
Speaker 1: But for you and your team, did it feel normal? Yeah?
Speaker 1: You know what, Jeff, It definitely felt a lot more
Speaker 1: normal than last year. You know, last year was pretty crazy,
Speaker 1: but we got through it. And I think for a
Speaker 1: lot of our players just to be able to have
Speaker 1: meetings together and see faces and be able to do football,
Speaker 1: play football, practice football. Everything about football's back. So we
Speaker 1: love that and we're ready to get gone. Ryan, you've
Speaker 1: talked to the team in years past. Did you this
Speaker 1: year or will you this weekend? If so, what will
Speaker 1: your message be to them? You know, I did, Jeff,
Speaker 1: I think, you know, I just talked to him about
Speaker 1: the process that goes into the roster coming together. And really,
Speaker 1: you know, everyone arrives here in different ways, and there's
Speaker 1: a lot that goes into that process, and it's not
Speaker 1: always about the best athlete. It's about the best fit
Speaker 1: for the culture and team chemistry that we have. And
Speaker 1: you know, I talked to them kind of you know,
Speaker 1: it's on us, you know, to give them the tools
Speaker 1: to develop as players with our staff and our facilities.
Speaker 1: But you know, Jeff, every year resets and we owe
Speaker 1: it to each other to maximize the opportunity we had
Speaker 1: this season and have no regrets looking back. Good evening, Ted,
Speaker 1: and a lot going on from your desk as always,
Speaker 1: So give us a state of the franchise a little bit, hey, Jeff. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, at any time you head into the regular season,
Speaker 1: it's always an exciting time and just like our fans,
Speaker 1: We're really anxious to see how the months of hard work,
Speaker 1: some of the difficult decisions that went on in the
Speaker 1: off season, how it all unfolds on the field. And
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, we're not past the pandemic yet,
Speaker 1: but we have learned how to adjust. And most importantly,
Speaker 1: it's great to have fans coming back to Soldier Field.
Speaker 1: We've missed that home field advantage. We missed it last year,
Speaker 1: so we're really anticipating the energy of the crowd every week.
Speaker 1: And you know, our fans always travel well too, so
Speaker 1: we hope to have great attendance from Bears fans during
Speaker 1: our away games. And you can tell the fans are
Speaker 1: anxious to get back to it because season ticket renewals
Speaker 1: about ninety eight percent, Sweet sales are up, sponsorships are up,
Speaker 1: so it's time for Bears football. We're all excited now.
Speaker 1: They'll be there in LA for sure, and you can
Speaker 1: count on it. They will be in Vegas to get
Speaker 1: a flight for Vegas this year. Indeed, Matt, you know
Speaker 1: you're the head coach, you've been now this is year four,
Speaker 1: but you're a fan too, so like everybody else, what
Speaker 1: are you most looking forward to seeing from your twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one Bears. Yeah, Jeff, the biggest thing for us
Speaker 1: is every year is a new year, and I think
Speaker 1: going back to OTAs the relationships that all of these
Speaker 1: guys have developed over the years, and then for some
Speaker 1: of the new players and new coaches that have gotten
Speaker 1: here this year, it really there's just a really cool
Speaker 1: energy and a really neat vibe that's going through the building.
Speaker 1: We took it into training camp and now I also
Speaker 1: think towards the end of that training camp, you feel
Speaker 1: like everybody's ready to get to these season games and
Speaker 1: to really make them count and see what we're all about.
Speaker 1: I mean that we're going to get tested from the
Speaker 1: very first player the first week. But that's that's why
Speaker 1: you play this sport, to compete, to do it together
Speaker 1: and the show how your your teammates all work together.
Speaker 1: So our guys have worked hard to get to this point.
Speaker 1: Now it's time to get going. Man, if you name captains,
Speaker 1: will you this year or will you do a week
Speaker 1: by week thing? No, we will do that, Jeff. We
Speaker 1: have not done that yet, but it'll be week to
Speaker 1: week and typically what will deals will do that in
Speaker 1: the middle of the middle of the week heading into
Speaker 1: that Wednesday about each week, Ryan, how do you feel
Speaker 1: about the process as it pertains a quarterback? Because I
Speaker 1: could have started this show by just saying, okay, everybody,
Speaker 1: because they asked the same question, why are you plan
Speaker 1: Justin Fields? And you know that would be the question
Speaker 1: of the day. But the starting quarterback Andy Dalton preparing
Speaker 1: as well as rookie quarterback Justin Fields, how it was
Speaker 1: all handled? Yeah, you know, Jeff, when I think about that,
Speaker 1: you know, it's a credit to Matt, It's a credit
Speaker 1: to his coaches, just you know, ensuring that each one
Speaker 1: of those guys received valuable reps. And you know, I
Speaker 1: look back and Justin had the highest offensive played time
Speaker 1: percentage amongst all first round rookie quarterbacks this preseason. So
Speaker 1: you see it there, and you know there's just a balance.
Speaker 1: You know, Andy get prepared to be our starting quarterback
Speaker 1: while also while Justin's growing, And again it's a credit
Speaker 1: to our coaches that they handled at the right way. Ted,
Speaker 1: you mentioned first time back at Soldier Field for the
Speaker 1: opener on September nineteenth against the Bengals. What should fans know?
Speaker 1: Because I would think patients is paramount because there are
Speaker 1: protocols involved, no doubt. They should know that their safety
Speaker 1: is a paramount. Stringent cleaning protocols remain in place. There's
Speaker 1: there's a mask mandate for indoor spaces throughout all of
Speaker 1: Chicago that include Soldier Field, so areas like the club, lounges, restrooms,
Speaker 1: suite corridors, basically any enclosed area at Soldier Field you
Speaker 1: have to wear a mask. You do not have to
Speaker 1: wear a mask in the seating ball, but if fans
Speaker 1: feel more comfortable doing that, that's fine. We're going to
Speaker 1: be at full capacity, so that's that's exciting. So we
Speaker 1: do encourage fans to show up early. Void the lines.
Speaker 1: Tickets are one hundred percent mobile, and this year fans
Speaker 1: will not have to take their keys and cell phones
Speaker 1: out of their pockets before walking through magnetometers, and we're
Speaker 1: hoping that that should aid in the congestion at all
Speaker 1: the gates. Andy Matt, there's a chunk here of four
Speaker 1: days off in five, a good rest after all that
Speaker 1: camp time, and then Wednesday, when you get back to work,
Speaker 1: it's going to be all systems go for the la Rams. Yeah,
Speaker 1: these guys they look forward to those, uh, three to
Speaker 1: four days off that they get here, they just they
Speaker 1: tax their bodies physically and mentally so many days in
Speaker 1: a row, and they get to a point where you
Speaker 1: can kind of feel it everybody, coaches and players, you
Speaker 1: can kind of get to that point you say, Okay,
Speaker 1: it's it's time to get a breather, and then when
Speaker 1: they get back, it's time to get right after it.
Speaker 1: And you know, we're currently at a spot right now
Speaker 1: where you know Ryan's done a great job of being
Speaker 1: able to get this team down to the fifty three.
Speaker 1: Of course, you have your practice squad players, but now
Speaker 1: when they show back up on Monday and get ready
Speaker 1: for our ten ten ten practice to have another day
Speaker 1: off and back at her on Wednesday, it just feels different.
Speaker 1: In practice. There's just a little more tick to everything
Speaker 1: that goes on, and there's a great energy. So it's
Speaker 1: here all right. Well, our first segment in the books
Speaker 1: on the Bears coaches show the debut edition here in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty one. Ryan Pace and Ted Phillips our guests
Speaker 1: with head coach Matt Naggee. Traditionally, throughout the course of
Speaker 1: the rest of the year, will be joined by one
Speaker 1: of the three coordinators as well on the program and
Speaker 1: the back half of the program, as has been the case,
Speaker 1: well delve into more topics as we continue on previewing
Speaker 1: the Bears season at seven or eighth though time for
Speaker 1: WBBM's traffic and weather together with the eights. Here's Trent Rickson.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show. It's brought to
Speaker 1: you by Whippley CPAs and Consultants, a proud partner of
Speaker 1: the Chicago Bears. Learn more at Whippley dot com and
Speaker 1: we sincerely hope you're Labor Day weekend has been enjoyable.
Speaker 1: This is our annual Labor Day special featuring Bears head
Speaker 1: coach Mattneggie, General manager Ryan Pason, President and CEO Ted Phillips.
Speaker 1: As preparations get underway for the opener at Sofi Stadium
Speaker 1: in La for the Bears and Rams well at the
Speaker 1: cost starting with our four pm pregame kickoff at seven
Speaker 1: twenty right here on WBBM, Ryan health was key. You
Speaker 1: know you're you're gonna get some bang up guys. You're
Speaker 1: gonna have some bumps and bruce some things gonna knock
Speaker 1: guys out. But buy and large. Would you give it
Speaker 1: a thumbs up overall for health coming out of camp.
Speaker 1: Guy would Jeff, you know, we fortunately came out pretty healthy.
Speaker 1: I think, you know, by putting Danny Trevathan and Tevin
Speaker 1: Jenkins and I are when we did, it allows us
Speaker 1: the possibility to bring them back this season, so that's big.
Speaker 1: And you know Tariq, you know, obviously he's on reserve pup,
Speaker 1: so for him, that's any time after week six. But
Speaker 1: I think overall we came out healthy. You know, obviously
Speaker 1: there's some there's some luck that goes into that, but
Speaker 1: I think it's a credit also, you know, to our
Speaker 1: guys showing up in great shape for training camp. I
Speaker 1: think the credits are athletic trainers and our strength coaches
Speaker 1: doing their parts. So we feel good about it. Matt,
Speaker 1: you're a big theme guy. You got one ready for
Speaker 1: the season. What do you got? And don't be scared
Speaker 1: and don't be scared. Don't be scared. Now we talk
Speaker 1: about in our our within us, we talked about being uncommon,
Speaker 1: and we have a lot of different quotes and saying
Speaker 1: that we like to talk about. But I think that's
Speaker 1: one that we've hit this year, and then some other
Speaker 1: ones too. Is just really simply put worry about today,
Speaker 1: and when you do that, um, you're not worried about
Speaker 1: last year, You're not worried about next year. You heard
Speaker 1: me talk a little bit about that Yannis quote that
Speaker 1: he had, and I think it's powerful in so many
Speaker 1: different ways. But for our guys, Jeff, you've heard me
Speaker 1: and us as a as a team and coaches, players,
Speaker 1: sports that everybody talk about, Um, the the amount of
Speaker 1: speed that we want to practice all year long. And
Speaker 1: so that's not so much of a quote as it
Speaker 1: is just a demeanor that we want to have everywhere
Speaker 1: we go. We want to we want to be fast.
Speaker 1: And so our guys did a great job in training
Speaker 1: camp and it's just about being together with all the
Speaker 1: team worker. Well, it's a good deathtail into a question
Speaker 1: for Ryan because this team speed has gone a way up.
Speaker 1: I think that's uh not just uh lip service. You
Speaker 1: look at the numbers on some of the offensive weapons
Speaker 1: and it's it's pretty significant. Does the final roster now
Speaker 1: properly reflect what Matt and his staff sought in all
Speaker 1: three phases that you guys collaborated on. Yeah, you know,
Speaker 1: as we build the roster, you know, throughout the whole
Speaker 1: off season, there's clear collaboration between the scouts and the coaches,
Speaker 1: and that collaboration goes through the off season and it
Speaker 1: goes all the way down to this final fifty three
Speaker 1: Cup we just made, and now goes all the way
Speaker 1: down to just this past week. Jeff, when I look
Speaker 1: at a guy like Simba Webster who we added for
Speaker 1: special teams, and collaboration on that and more speed. You
Speaker 1: just said, we added Brashad Perriman this week to give
Speaker 1: us more speed receiver position. So there's there's major collaboration
Speaker 1: throughout and you know, I think it's going to pay
Speaker 1: off this season. Ted, let's talk about training camp. I thought,
Speaker 1: and I've said this many times already publicly on air,
Speaker 1: anyone that could hear it. I thought the layout, you
Speaker 1: guys used every square inch of real estate at the
Speaker 1: facility to accommodate the players, accommodate a visiting team in
Speaker 1: Miami and the fans. What did you think of the
Speaker 1: whole process and the pros and cons of holding it
Speaker 1: on campus. Yeah, I think for the first time having
Speaker 1: training camp back a house haul, Jeff, my hats off
Speaker 1: to all our staff who put it together, worked out
Speaker 1: the logistics, think overall it went really smooth. It was
Speaker 1: a learning experience for all of us, but I think
Speaker 1: the fans enjoyed it. It's a more intimate experience, the
Speaker 1: bleachers a little bit closer to the fields than they
Speaker 1: probably were at owing you. The downside is the number
Speaker 1: of fans that can be accommodated, and it was and
Speaker 1: you had the shuttle from remote parking lots, so that
Speaker 1: meant a little difficult, and we didn't know how to
Speaker 1: gauge how many free tickets that we should distribute to get.
Speaker 1: You know, we wired upwards of twelve thirteen hundred fans
Speaker 1: at a practice. We rarely reached that number, but it
Speaker 1: was a learning experience. So I think now we'll be
Speaker 1: able to take a look at the data how many
Speaker 1: people convert those tickets into actually showing up, and hopefully
Speaker 1: we can convince fans to stick around after to practice
Speaker 1: and go into the city of Lake Forest and the
Speaker 1: surrounding communities and make a day of it. So overall,
Speaker 1: I would I would say everyone did a great job
Speaker 1: organizing it. Hopefully the team liked it. It was still
Speaker 1: a little odd with COVID because the players couldn't get
Speaker 1: close to the fans. Hopefully that'll change next year and
Speaker 1: and we'll see about leaving the bleachers up or not. Um,
Speaker 1: it's something we have to talk about internally and discussed
Speaker 1: with the city of Lake Forest too. Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: one of my questions. It looks kind of cool with
Speaker 1: the stands up on fields one and two, Matt and Ryan,
Speaker 1: that would be kind of cool to have fans in
Speaker 1: there sometimes sponsors or whatever watching you guys. Yeah, absolutely
Speaker 1: know that. The guys loved it, and we just appreciate
Speaker 1: all the fans that came out and we're we're you know,
Speaker 1: there to support us, and it was just a great
Speaker 1: time for the players, for the for the coaches, for
Speaker 1: all the fans, and we loved it. So it's neat
Speaker 1: to see those stands out there and we're always for that.
Speaker 1: Time for another break, fellas, it's seven eighteen. Time for
Speaker 1: WBBMS traffic and weather together one of the gates. Here's
Speaker 1: Trent ericson. Select single game Bears tickets are available. Cheer
Speaker 1: on the Monsters of the Midway live at Soldier Field
Speaker 1: this season. Visit Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets for
Speaker 1: more info. Welcome back to the Bears. Coaches Show, brought
Speaker 1: to you by a Whipley CPAs and Consultants giving up
Speaker 1: for the twenty twenty one regular season opener in La
Speaker 1: Sunday Night, Bears home opener next week at Cincinnati here
Speaker 1: and our Labor Day special. Not what we're used to,
Speaker 1: but we're sincerely looking forward to seeing all of you
Speaker 1: at Soldier Field in the near future. Typically would have
Speaker 1: season tickled holders here and enjoy the program from Hollis Hall. Ryan,
Speaker 1: what impact did it have to sign a bunch of
Speaker 1: veterans on one year deals. You've done this traditionally, but
Speaker 1: this year really to me some narrowcasting going on here,
Speaker 1: building depth and in this case some starters for opening night. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think you know you look back. You know most teams,
Speaker 1: Jeff in the league had limitations in regard to salary cap.
Speaker 1: This best offseason and no really challenge for a personnel
Speaker 1: department to find players that can help our team but
Speaker 1: also fit within some of those restraints that you know
Speaker 1: all teams had. And I think a guy's like Marquis Goodwin,
Speaker 1: Demere Bird, Damian Williams, Jesse James Jason Peters to name
Speaker 1: a few. You know, those guys will all have big
Speaker 1: roles this season that kind of came in that way,
Speaker 1: and we're expecting a lot from them. And alec Ogletree,
Speaker 1: my goodness, what a splash. Huh for sure? You know
Speaker 1: the way he came in and immediately had an impact,
Speaker 1: I think it speaks to him being in great shape
Speaker 1: and our coach is quickly getting him ready to play. Ryan.
Speaker 1: It's been a defensive driven franchise honestly, But do you
Speaker 1: see potential for offense to nudge forward now and maybe
Speaker 1: drive some of that personality of the team. Yeah. You know,
Speaker 1: a lot of our younger talent is on offense. You
Speaker 1: think you guys like Montgomery and Comet and Mooney there.
Speaker 1: You know, there's a lot of talent that side of
Speaker 1: the ball. And now it's about coming together and you know,
Speaker 1: improving and showcasing it this season. And Matt, are you
Speaker 1: a different coach in anyway entering this season in your
Speaker 1: opinion and then as a play caller as well, are
Speaker 1: you more refined give and now the experience that you've
Speaker 1: put on your belt? Yeah, you know, the experience for
Speaker 1: me is so valuable in so many different aspects, um
Speaker 1: not just on game day, but just the day to
Speaker 1: day functions on how to handle your staff and how
Speaker 1: to handle yourself and your time management, UM, your your delegations,
Speaker 1: and you build trust over time, not just with your players,
Speaker 1: but with your coaches too, and so UM, I've really
Speaker 1: had a lot, you know, I've had three good years
Speaker 1: to be able to reflect on where I feel like
Speaker 1: I've I've done well and where I've struggled. And and
Speaker 1: so now I'm looking forward to being able to use
Speaker 1: that as I head into this fourth year as head
Speaker 1: coach and with this team, and I'm just so proud
Speaker 1: of this, this whole organization. UM, just to be able
Speaker 1: to do this thing together and UM. And then as
Speaker 1: far as the play calling stuff, again, you know, it's
Speaker 1: the same type of deal. You understand where we're trying
Speaker 1: to get. You just touched on it offensively, you know,
Speaker 1: we want to be a lot better offensively than what
Speaker 1: we've been and UM, and then that's going to start
Speaker 1: with me and being able to to help the coaches out,
Speaker 1: to help the players out, and then on game day
Speaker 1: it's about execution. So all in all, we all got
Speaker 1: to do it together, and you know, just just excited
Speaker 1: for the opportunity game days about Tuttyville, right, Matt Cuttyville.
Speaker 1: You know it, Jeff Tuttyville. We need to have more
Speaker 1: Tuttyville this year. We get that, we'll be all right
Speaker 1: ted ownership and you have put a tremendous amount of
Speaker 1: trust and Ryan and Matt and rewarded with that with
Speaker 1: how they moved from twenty to land a franchise type
Speaker 1: quarterback in justin Fields without owning a top five pick
Speaker 1: they worked the draft. What is your reflection on that?
Speaker 1: Take us back the draft night a little bit and
Speaker 1: knowing that Ryan definitely lives buying no regrets philosophy and
Speaker 1: he's proved that time and time again. He keeps it exciting,
Speaker 1: doesn't I'll say that. I'll tell you this that you know,
Speaker 1: just seeing Matt and Ryan and how they work together
Speaker 1: as they're entering their fourth season together, you can really
Speaker 1: see that trusting relationship. It was really funder in the
Speaker 1: whole offseason to kind of see how they just communicate
Speaker 1: and the way they communicated with myself and George McCaskey.
Speaker 1: The openness, the honesty, the transparency really was appreciated. And
Speaker 1: Draft day and the lead up to it was really exciting, right,
Speaker 1: I mean the whole discussion. A lot of it during
Speaker 1: the off season was about the quarterback situation, from looking
Speaker 1: at free agents to looking at possible trades and resulting
Speaker 1: in signing Andy Dalton and then drafting Justin Fields. You know,
Speaker 1: I think Ryan he really hit it on the head
Speaker 1: pre draft when he said, I think the sweet spot
Speaker 1: could be eight to twelve in the draft if we
Speaker 1: can move up there. And I think when the forty
Speaker 1: nine ers selected Trey Lance, the dominoes began to fall.
Speaker 1: The selection process really moved quickly, and Ryan had already
Speaker 1: planned on what he wanted to give up, and when
Speaker 1: the phone calls started, it was really kind of tense,
Speaker 1: but it happened so fast you didn't have a chance
Speaker 1: to get too nervous. But seeing the calmness that Ryan
Speaker 1: Joey Lane had manning the phones, turning down a couple offers,
Speaker 1: still hoping that Justin would be there, and then when
Speaker 1: he was and the deal was struck, you know, the
Speaker 1: elation in that room was something I had an experience
Speaker 1: to that level, you know, in the thirty eight years
Speaker 1: I've been with the Bears, so that was really special.
Speaker 1: And you know, the entire personnel department Matt Ryan, Joey Lane.
Speaker 1: They were just outstanding. They stayed calm, they did what
Speaker 1: needed to be done. They had a steady demeanor and
Speaker 1: I was really impressive to watch it and be part
Speaker 1: of it. We'll get Ryan's thoughts and taking big swings
Speaker 1: when we come back after a Breakhaar on the Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show as we bring you WBBM's traffic and weather
Speaker 1: together on the eighth at seven twenty eight, here's Trent
Speaker 1: ericson kick off the twenty only one season this Sunday
Speaker 1: night at our middle Light Headquarters Bar, outdoor watch party
Speaker 1: and Logan Square. Visit Chicago Bears dot Com, Slash fan Zone,
Speaker 1: Slash Wash parties from more info. Back of the Bears
Speaker 1: Coaches Show, brought to you by Whippley, CPAs and Consultants,
Speaker 1: Bears Rams, Sunday seven twenty at SOFI Stadium, WBBM Bears
Speaker 1: Radio pregame coverage beginning at four and good to have
Speaker 1: alongside you as we get the ball rolling on twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one. Ryan, we were just talking before the break
Speaker 1: about some of the things you do. You keep it
Speaker 1: exciting for sure, you like swinging for the fences. Why
Speaker 1: is it? I just think you know you look back, Jeff,
Speaker 1: We're always going to be persistent. I'm making our team
Speaker 1: better and there are certain ones that are more highlighted
Speaker 1: than others, but we're just as persistent and aggressive on
Speaker 1: you know, all the moves are making and some of
Speaker 1: them might not get as much attention, but you know,
Speaker 1: I can even go back to this past week as
Speaker 1: we settled in our practice squad, just as aggressive there.
Speaker 1: And I think, you know, the longer I'm in this,
Speaker 1: you know, you're always learning, and it's just about having
Speaker 1: that balance, you know, being aggressive and being decisive at
Speaker 1: the right time, but also being discipline and thinking of
Speaker 1: our long term future. And I think there's a balance
Speaker 1: there that's that's important. Stripe. Hey, Matt, growth from one
Speaker 1: year to the next varies by by player and position,
Speaker 1: but if you can, can you name a couple of
Speaker 1: guys where you've seen the greatest growth so far. I
Speaker 1: know it's hard to single out guys, but I know
Speaker 1: you got a couple on top of your mind. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say off the top, Jeff, you look at
Speaker 1: a guy like Colecommett who came in last year and
Speaker 1: you know, really just trying to learn this system. And
Speaker 1: be able to. We always knew he had the talent,
Speaker 1: but can you put it? Can you put the talent
Speaker 1: together with the speed of the game and play by play?
Speaker 1: And he got better and better and better. And I
Speaker 1: think now he heads into this year and you're really
Speaker 1: going to see that and feel that with him defensively again,
Speaker 1: you look at a guy defensively and the same draft,
Speaker 1: same class as Jalen Johnson, somebody who came out last
Speaker 1: year and I think did a really good job rookie year,
Speaker 1: but then was able to get into this training camp
Speaker 1: and put a great training camp together. So I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see what he does. You have some young guys
Speaker 1: like a Jesper Horstead right, who are personnel did such
Speaker 1: a wonderful job at finding this guy as an undrafted
Speaker 1: free agent and then our coaching staff able to develop
Speaker 1: him into a player. So or somebody that we really
Speaker 1: believe that gives us great depth and a really good
Speaker 1: future bossibly down the road. So those are the fun
Speaker 1: ones and just to name a few, but there's a
Speaker 1: lot more, and I think that that's part of the
Speaker 1: that's one of the neatest parts of coaching and personnel. Teddy,
Speaker 1: We touched down at the pandemic obviously a handful for
Speaker 1: every franchise, every person in the world, frankly, But from
Speaker 1: a franchise perspective, the job done says what stays. I mean,
Speaker 1: you operate as a franchise out and off the field
Speaker 1: with different things based on the pandemic. What do you
Speaker 1: think stays forever? Yeah, well, I mean one thing I
Speaker 1: think we've all learned is how to adjust an adapt
Speaker 1: at a moment's notice, no matter what the situation is,
Speaker 1: so that that will be something will take from this.
Speaker 1: You know, the personalized contact that occurred with business partners
Speaker 1: and season ticket hole, I think that was actually a
Speaker 1: silver lining and a learning for us that moving forward,
Speaker 1: we always have to remind ourselves to listen and communicate
Speaker 1: with our fans and understand how important they are. They're
Speaker 1: the lifeblood or the franchise frankly, and you know, listening
Speaker 1: to our employees going to be important. We're going to
Speaker 1: have staff start returning to hallis Hall starting really tomorrow
Speaker 1: at Some people will be here five or six seven
Speaker 1: days a week. Other people may be here less than that.
Speaker 1: But I think the bottom line is we have to
Speaker 1: keep emphasizing that vaccinations are key. We've done a good
Speaker 1: job there. Players staff, ninety plus percent are vaccinated, but
Speaker 1: they're not in place to eliminate the possibility that you'll
Speaker 1: ever get COVID, but they have proven effective at reducing
Speaker 1: the likelihood of severe symptoms and hospitalizations, and that's going
Speaker 1: to be important for us to be able to keep
Speaker 1: the team safe going forward. That's the goal. Matt. What's
Speaker 1: your biggest challenge as a head coach this season in
Speaker 1: your opinion? For us, I think, Jeff, it's gonna be
Speaker 1: really important that you know, we understand the length of
Speaker 1: the season and that there's injuries, and that you know
Speaker 1: there's highs and lows. But I'm really excited to see
Speaker 1: us try to get off to a fast start and
Speaker 1: and you know with that comes leadership from the players,
Speaker 1: which I've seen here in training camp. I love that
Speaker 1: about our guys. I mean, they're they're really and it's
Speaker 1: not talk. They're just out there, they're just doing it
Speaker 1: together and you see a different leader every day. You
Speaker 1: can see and feel our team growing, So you know,
Speaker 1: the biggest thing is that. And then also just for
Speaker 1: for all of us, our entire team, our players, our coaches,
Speaker 1: support staff. Everyone just kind of stays in the moment,
Speaker 1: never gets too high and never gets too low. That'll
Speaker 1: be big and that'll be real. But we've been tested, Jeff,
Speaker 1: We've had we've been calloused the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: and we're going to use that that that testing that
Speaker 1: we've had, We're going to use that to our benefit
Speaker 1: the ship. All right, time for another break here for
Speaker 1: WBBM's traffic and whether together or the eighth Here's Abby Ryan.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show with head coach
Speaker 1: Matt Naggie, gentle manager Ryan Pace, and President and CEO
Speaker 1: Ted Phillips. Brought to you by Whippley CPAs and Consultants
Speaker 1: Jeff Jonik with you here until eight o'clock tonight. There's
Speaker 1: so much always circulating in this time and place in
Speaker 1: our world. How do you guys stay steady in an
Speaker 1: emotional business like this? Because the emotion pours from the fans,
Speaker 1: it comes from the media as well, your own players,
Speaker 1: your own families, let alone your own team. Everything is
Speaker 1: very interesting and measured. Yeah, you know, when I think
Speaker 1: about that, Jeff, I think it goes back to the people.
Speaker 1: You know, you surround yourself with and we work in
Speaker 1: a passionate environment and there's a lot of ebbs and
Speaker 1: flows in our business. And I also think that's when
Speaker 1: communication is so important. So I think of the communication
Speaker 1: between new George and Ted and Matt, and I know
Speaker 1: that's strong. So it's really it's the communication and who
Speaker 1: you surround yourself with. Yeah, I totally agree. Um, that's
Speaker 1: why I appreciate the support, um from George and Ted
Speaker 1: and Ryan. We have a you know, the communication is phenomenal.
Speaker 1: I love it. I think it's great and you have
Speaker 1: to have it and there's there's times where there's tough conversations,
Speaker 1: but um, there's a trust and there's honesty and um,
Speaker 1: you know it's it's it's all about, you know, winning
Speaker 1: and making sure you're out there and having a good time.
Speaker 1: And inevitably we understand too. You know, there is the
Speaker 1: outside world and everybody wants everything, you know, wants to win,
Speaker 1: wants to win right now, and that's that's the goal
Speaker 1: for all of us. So we're really looking forward to
Speaker 1: doing it together and um, you get a chance of
Speaker 1: doing that, and I know our players feel the same way. Ted. Uh.
Speaker 1: Sports betting deals opening up a new very significant revenue
Speaker 1: stream probably most I would think since the stadium nat
Speaker 1: naming rights started becoming a thing. How how does this
Speaker 1: help you prepare as a team to compete for championship
Speaker 1: From a business perspective, Well, you know, I look at
Speaker 1: sports betting, it's just the latest of new sponsorship categories
Speaker 1: that are going to be here to stay. You know,
Speaker 1: even at the early stage of teams being allowed to
Speaker 1: strike local sports betting sponsorship deals, off to say, our
Speaker 1: sponsorship team did a great job. First they had to
Speaker 1: understand the sports betting landscape, they had to understand the
Speaker 1: league rules, they had to learn about the different companies involved.
Speaker 1: And when they did all that, it resulted in what's
Speaker 1: currently the largest sports betting team deal in the NFL
Speaker 1: with Bette Rivers Casino. You know, sports betting is not,
Speaker 1: you know, in part of our DNA as a club,
Speaker 1: but we're going to do it the right way within
Speaker 1: the values of our organization. At the same time realizing
Speaker 1: that it is a way of life and a very
Speaker 1: significant future revenue stream, especially when Illinois starts to allow
Speaker 1: sports books in Chicago at their stadiums. You've already seen
Speaker 1: it possibly happened at in Major League baseball at Wrigley Field,
Speaker 1: all right, Ryan, front office changes include the addition of
Speaker 1: Ashton Washington through the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship. Tell us
Speaker 1: about her in the scouting world because it's it's big news,
Speaker 1: it really is. Yeah, you know, for sure, Jeff, we
Speaker 1: made several promotions in the scouting department this offseason, Jeff King,
Speaker 1: Pro Director, Sam Somerville National Scout, bringing rehor Midwest Scout,
Speaker 1: and Drew Rosina became the Combine Scout. But the addition
Speaker 1: of Ashton, you know, I go back to it, you know,
Speaker 1: Josh Lucas Champ, Kelly Mark Sadowski and Souper Campbell, they
Speaker 1: did a good job researching different candidates for a training
Speaker 1: camp fellowship program that we have and obviously they came
Speaker 1: across Ashton and she came in this training camp and
Speaker 1: made a really awesome impression right away at her short
Speaker 1: time here. She comes to us from Texas Tech. So
Speaker 1: she'll be added as a scouting assistant and we're just
Speaker 1: really excited ever on board and ted growing number of
Speaker 1: women now in the NFL. Almost every week you hear
Speaker 1: about some department. How has this change impacted everyone's approaching? Thinking? Well,
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's not just women. It's it's actually
Speaker 1: having more of an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion,
Speaker 1: which includes women and minorities, and it's one of our
Speaker 1: main topics of focus going forward. I like to look
Speaker 1: at it as it's creating diversity of thought. You get
Speaker 1: thought from new different areas, you get new ideas when
Speaker 1: you believe in diversity and the value it can bring
Speaker 1: your club. All right, Matt, best moment of training camp
Speaker 1: for you and your team, anything behind the scenes, a
Speaker 1: funny moment that or something that happened that brought you
Speaker 1: guys closer together. Yeah, So, Jeff, we had a we
Speaker 1: had a few speakers come in and talk to the team,
Speaker 1: and there's some moments in there when when these guys
Speaker 1: were able to talk and reach our players from different
Speaker 1: backgrounds and different experiences and different ages too. We had
Speaker 1: Alex Smith who was here. He had a phenomenal discussion
Speaker 1: with the team just about living today right live in
Speaker 1: the moment, and he had a great message. And then
Speaker 1: we brought in Udonis Haslem from the Miami Heat and
Speaker 1: he hit it from a perspective of what it takes
Speaker 1: to be leaders in the locker room. And it was fascinating.
Speaker 1: And then we had cl Schep come in, who's a
Speaker 1: keynote speaker across the world, not just the country, and
Speaker 1: he hit a lot of stuff not just from teamwork side,
Speaker 1: but from off the field, and you know, it was
Speaker 1: just really neat for me, Jeff to be able to
Speaker 1: see the faces and the note taking from our players.
Speaker 1: And then when when these guys were done talking, the
Speaker 1: amount of players that we had wait to go talk
Speaker 1: to them afterwards, or there was a couple of players too,
Speaker 1: without getting into privacy, there was a couple of players
Speaker 1: that actually asked to talk to them in a room
Speaker 1: by themselves. When you see that, that's real, that's powerful,
Speaker 1: and that's what it's all about. So that was pretty neat,
Speaker 1: and now you know that was off the field, it
Speaker 1: was pretty cool. All right. One more segment to go.
Speaker 1: We gotta step away from w bbm's trafficking and weather
Speaker 1: together Under the Eights with Abby Ryan. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the Bears Coaches Show with Mattneggie, Ryan Pace and Ted Phillips,
Speaker 1: brought to you by Whipley CPAs and Consultants Time Jeff
Speaker 1: Joniak and now it's time to look ahead brought to
Speaker 1: you by Bette Rivers, the official sports book partner of
Speaker 1: the Bears. The Bears one and two against the Rams
Speaker 1: over the last three years. The last time the Bears
Speaker 1: opened a season against the Rams nineteen fifty, when George
Speaker 1: Hallis coached his team to a twenty four twenty win
Speaker 1: at LA Memorial Coliseum. So let's talk about the Sunday
Speaker 1: night opener, Matt so Fly, you were there last year.
Speaker 1: Some of us were not able to see that place.
Speaker 1: Here at Spectacular, we'll be there to call the game.
Speaker 1: What do you need to see Sunday from your guys? Yeah,
Speaker 1: So obviously there's gonna be a ton of energy. It's
Speaker 1: a primetime game Sunday night. Playing there last year in
Speaker 1: Sofi Stadium, there were no fans there, but it's beautiful inside.
Speaker 1: It'll be loud. It's just like a heavyweight boxing mat.
Speaker 1: To my opinion, it's going to come out and people
Speaker 1: are gonna come out swinging. But you got to you
Speaker 1: gotta be able to uh to play, you know, to
Speaker 1: box all twelve rounds. And so for our guys, it's
Speaker 1: going to be a really cool moment for us to
Speaker 1: go out there and get started. But in all three phases,
Speaker 1: not just one or the other. And then and stick
Speaker 1: together and ride through the highs and the lows. But
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's just really neat the football's back. We're
Speaker 1: we're excited to be a big part of it on
Speaker 1: Sunday night. We got a big challenge here with La
Speaker 1: Rams are well coached and they got a lot of
Speaker 1: great players and it's going to be a challenge for
Speaker 1: us man. We've seen Andy Dalton for now ten plus
Speaker 1: seasons as he begins his eleventh year as a starting
Speaker 1: quarterback again with the Bears. Any behind the scenes that
Speaker 1: we may not have learned about Andy Dalton throughout the
Speaker 1: course of his career that you have learned nothing behind
Speaker 1: the scenes other than what he does is he just
Speaker 1: comes to work every day and just tries to be
Speaker 1: the best teammate he can be. He's you know, he's
Speaker 1: definitely won over his teammates and they respect him. They
Speaker 1: understand he's here. He's a true professional. He does things
Speaker 1: the right way. And again, I think on Sunday night,
Speaker 1: being able to see him go out there and and
Speaker 1: and play with his teammates and be a part of
Speaker 1: this thing will be real. He has a lot of experience.
Speaker 1: He's seeing a lot of different defenses, and he's played
Speaker 1: in some primetime games, so we're I know he's excited,
Speaker 1: our players are excited, and we wanted to do it
Speaker 1: all together. Ryan, what do you see as the greatest
Speaker 1: improvement that you're looking for specifically on this team that
Speaker 1: will translate into what you want to see in the
Speaker 1: wind count. Yeah, we've increased competition in all areas and
Speaker 1: he got better as a football team. And I think
Speaker 1: you go to the quarterback room and I think things
Speaker 1: like getting Eddie Goldman back is significant for us. And
Speaker 1: we talked about adding speed the receiver position and just
Speaker 1: that vision Jeff that it all adds up to us
Speaker 1: playing as a complete team. And you know that equating
Speaker 1: the wins is is what we expect. And ted new
Speaker 1: visits to La and Vegas as the stadiums, those are
Speaker 1: maybe part of the weekend checklist for you. I don't
Speaker 1: know if you went last year to so far, but
Speaker 1: with these new stadiums you'll learn new things for fan
Speaker 1: experiences and not unlike building your facility schools. I'm sure
Speaker 1: check it out see what they could take from it.
Speaker 1: And now what you're what you're thinking on these new
Speaker 1: stadiums in the league. Yeah, you know, we we want
Speaker 1: to see those kind of new fan amenities are in place.
Speaker 1: We're always looking for ways, like you said, to enhance
Speaker 1: our fans experience, UM, in the stadium and outside of
Speaker 1: the stadium. And uh, you know you touched on how
Speaker 1: our staff UM including Ryan, visited a number of facilities
Speaker 1: when we planned for the expansion of Hallis Hall and
Speaker 1: that was immensely beneficial. So you know, going to LA
Speaker 1: and Vegas will be exciting, UM. You know, given that
Speaker 1: those teams are in the midst of welcoming fans back
Speaker 1: to new buildings for the first time. UM, it'll be
Speaker 1: It'll be fun to see the game day experience. But
Speaker 1: in the future we might plan some trips to you know,
Speaker 1: really dig deep into what they did and why they
Speaker 1: did it. UM. So it should be exciting. It's a
Speaker 1: great way to start the season, Bryan. I think my
Speaker 1: count is fifteen players of eight years or more of
Speaker 1: experience on this roster, and it's interesting how it's paired
Speaker 1: though per position with a young player to lean on
Speaker 1: maybe for guidance and experience insight, but there's a significant
Speaker 1: Corey young players that I think we all agree are
Speaker 1: ready to pop. What does that mean for this team
Speaker 1: moving forward? Yeah, you know, you think of young guys
Speaker 1: like commeet, Jalen Johnson, Roquan Mooney Bellowed to name a few.
Speaker 1: They're not just good players, but they're emerging as leaders
Speaker 1: of our team. And that's exciting when you look at
Speaker 1: the future. You know, those guys stepping up, and I
Speaker 1: think it's a good mixture too though the Vets, you know,
Speaker 1: you reference that. You know, you've got high character guys
Speaker 1: like Jimmy Graham to Shaun Gibson and Jason Peters recently,
Speaker 1: and they're mentoring that younger group. So it's a good mix.
Speaker 1: You know, as we build along the way, we gotta
Speaker 1: talk a little bit of scout on the rams. Sean
Speaker 1: McVay creative, moving all over the place with his offense.
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll see a bunch of flash sweeps and
Speaker 1: but Matthew Stafford standing in that pocket. Interesting, isn't it? No,
Speaker 1: it is. And you know, Sean McVay does a great
Speaker 1: job of being able to scheme guys open and get
Speaker 1: guys in spots they need to be at. And you know,
Speaker 1: and of course he brings in Matthew Stafford, who we
Speaker 1: know from playing against a lot of these years from Detroit.
Speaker 1: So again, they're going to be a team that is
Speaker 1: going to come out and do everything they can to
Speaker 1: keep you off balance on offense. And then let's not
Speaker 1: forget too defensively, right they had the number one defense
Speaker 1: in the NFL last year and their special teams is
Speaker 1: tops in the league. So we understand where we're coming
Speaker 1: from there, and I think that's how we like it.
Speaker 1: You know, we want to be able to have a
Speaker 1: great challenge and it's our guys are going to be
Speaker 1: prepared for it. And but we have a lot of
Speaker 1: respect for the Rams and they do a great job.
Speaker 1: All Right, I'm gonna give each of you a chance
Speaker 1: to give a final message as we wind down our
Speaker 1: first show of the year here on the Bears Coaches Show.
Speaker 1: Final message to fans about what this team might be,
Speaker 1: what they think they'll enjoy. It will start with Man, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think the biggest thing, Jeff, for us is we
Speaker 1: just appreciate all the support and just the excitement that
Speaker 1: you feel right now in the city for this team,
Speaker 1: and our players are just internally motivated right now that
Speaker 1: just go out and play so hard for each other
Speaker 1: and for the city and for our coaches and just
Speaker 1: really do it together. It's time. So we're looking forward
Speaker 1: to a great season and we love the support and
Speaker 1: we're looking forward to getting it started week one. You
Speaker 1: know what, it's finally here. You know, it's there's been
Speaker 1: so much build and excited to get the fans back.
Speaker 1: I think the support they give us is energizing. We
Speaker 1: all feel it. We honestly missed it all last year
Speaker 1: and starting this week. You know, our goals make them proud,
Speaker 1: you know, make them excited, make them walking to work
Speaker 1: on Mondays and be and be fired up to be
Speaker 1: ambarrassed fan walking to school on Monday, be fired up
Speaker 1: to be ambarrassed fans. So that's our goal, and we're
Speaker 1: just excited to get started. Yeah, I agree with Matt
Speaker 1: and Ryan. You know, we want to win. That's the
Speaker 1: what's what we're here to do. We want to see
Speaker 1: the veteran players reach their ceiling. We want to see
Speaker 1: growth from the young players. We want to see a
Speaker 1: disciplined focus team in all three phases. Adding some little
Speaker 1: bit of luck, a little bit of good health. We've
Speaker 1: got a quality depth of talent at many many positions
Speaker 1: and having the fans come back to kind of rekindle
Speaker 1: the social interactions they've missed, right and to bring that
Speaker 1: energy and joyfulness to Soldier Field. It's going to be exciting.
Speaker 1: So let's look forward to a great season. We're ready
Speaker 1: to go, Go Bears. All right, fellas, appreciate all your
Speaker 1: time for Bears. Head coach Man now you, President and
Speaker 1: CEO Teth Phillips and general manager Ryan Pace. Producers Dan Billy,
Speaker 1: Jordan Trudup, Andy Gersher, I'm Jeff Joniac. Thank you so
Speaker 1: much for listening tonight, and thank you everybody, our season
Speaker 1: ticket holders and sponsors for your patients and understanding during
Speaker 1: these challenging times. Proud to say we'll talk to you
Speaker 1: from LA's Sofi Stadium Sunday, a four o'clock pregame with
Speaker 1: Ron Gleason, Jim Schwantz, and Jay Huggenberg, along on myself
Speaker 1: and Tom Thayre in the seven twenty kickoff live from LA.
Speaker 1: That'll do it tonight. Good night, everybody. This is News
Speaker 1: Radio one oh five nine w b M