“The great ruse is ‘Hey, everything is great here in Camelot.' Well, it’s not actually Camelot." Our series wraps up with a look inside how these Bears are run. Can new HC Ben Johnson overcome it all?
Holy shit. That was epic. Great story Tyler. The Bears are fucked. Poles will find a way to throw Johnson under the bus. Which is a shame because he is going to be a good coach in the league whether it winds up being in Chicago we will see. Poles is an asshole. He no doubt rose through the NFL equity mandates and is taking full advantage of it. Knowing if he ever gets fired I’ll be waiting for him to call the Bears ownership racist. What a horror show it must be to work there. I know I couldn’t do it. I’m shocked
Truly great work. I've been a diehard washington fan my entire life but wasn't alive for the glory days. With the arrival of Jayden Daniel's I finall have hope. If JD wins us a super bowl, Washington should legitimately send Ryan Poles a ring. What an absolute MORON. Absolutely loved reading this and am very excited for your future stories. Great Work Tyler.
Great digging, Tyler. Lots of hard questions and hard work yielded a masterpiece. This more than validates my very unpopular profile/scouting report on Caleb before the 2024 Draft on NFL Draft Scout (here is url) https://nfldraftscout.com/cfb/bio/1052944 ....
and our ratings, which put Caleb No. 3 behind Daniels and Maye ...(here is url).
We almost put Caleb 4th, after WR Harrison...I Saw the Caleb entourage wandering around halls at Indy combine and was rudely rebuffed when I came close. There were so many red flags on and off the field I was astonished that more people did not note them. A few scouts and coaches contacted me about that profile, mostly because they had bad feelings about him. You point out the incredibly deaf, dumb and blind manner in which the Bears rolled out the red carpet. This is why we have journalism. Thanks again.
I am a die hard fan, will always love my bears. Hard to read this 3 part series, but I am so grateful to now see a picture of why things have been so bad for so long. Personally I was never a Caleb fan, but , I am hoping Coach Johnson can make him meet his potential.
Possibly the best deep dive I’ve ever read about an NFL team. And given the quality of work on this site since its inception, that’s some going. Brilliant work.
*sigh* Hopefully Johnson is a great HC. Because the Bears rot tends to turn good coaches into yet another dope with a “B” on his hat. Not that Eberflus was good - the moment he opened his mouth with “No applause?” and his idiotic - high school acronyms- most long time fans knew he would not be around to see the opening of a new stadium.
As depressing as this series is to me - I hope the disinfectant of sunshine brings change. But my gut tells me they will circle the wagons and pretend none of this is happening.
Interesting and a fun read for this Packer fan. Bears again have a clean slate with QB and HC to fix on field issues. Have to wonder about Warren and Poles and their abilities and if it will affect the on field performance. Poles may have taken the wrong QB and now possibly the wrong TE. Very surprised they did not take Tyler Warren. If you cannot draft the right players…
Great investigative story. Lots of disgruntled current and former employees. There is truth there. Last night I watched the Vikings - Bears game. I don't recall one shot of Williams looking at a tablet after the offense left the field. I don't recall one shot of Williams talking to his receivers or offensive line. Seems like the same old story. After the game they interviewed McCarthy who told Lisa Salter that he kept telling his offense to believe they were going to win. If your story is correct, this will probably be another lost year for the Bears. Or, Williams gets benched. But, good work.
I mean this is a great story but the obvious caveat is that this is one side of the story: super aggrieved coaches, right? not casting doubt on the story by any means but more saying its not the be all end all; more another point of view to take into account when looking at the bears/poles/caleb
100% this. Idk if most of this is true 'reporting..' I think you could get anecdotes like this from any team that experienced heavy turnover. I think Part 3 lines up well with other people's reporting. Part 2 less so, and Part 1 the least. I think there is some truth to each part (probably a lot in some areas).. but I think a lot of it is unfair and heavily clouded by gilted ex-employees.
At least it seems like they finally got the coach right. Hopefully he either covers the stink of others or they can hang on to him while they replace the GM and QB if needed.
Where are the stories with the people saying bad things about how Jayden Daniels is? There is one infallible rule: Where there is smoke, there is fire.
That doesn't seem like a good comparison. Jayden has won a bunch of games unexpectedly and none of his coaches got fired..where would there be cause for anyone to be frustrated with him? My point is all of the people interviewed for this story have an axe to grind and by only interviewing them seems like the interviews were sought to fit the narrative that is trying to be painted rather than find the truth. It seems disingenuous
All of that to say, I agree that there is something here. I subscribed just to read this series as it presents a viewpoint that we just haven't seen anywhere else. As with anything in life, it's not binary. I am sure there are many true aspects to this as well as the standard stories you read everywhere else.
Trade Caleb Williams ASAP. Start Tyson Bagent. Fire Poles. Bagent is a Tom Brady type quarterback. Caleb right now is a bust and Bears know it. Cut your losses.
I’ve been a Bears fan since the ‘63 season, and the last few decades obviously have been disheartening.
I don’t know how much of this series is accurate. The reportage depends significantly on unnamed sources and understandably unhappy ex-employees. That said, without granting sources anonymity, a story like this can’t be told in the NFL’s small world. The accounts do have the ring of truth. If true, much is explained.
Having lived in the heart of Redskins nation for over 25 years, I have seen both the consequences of organizational rot, and also how quickly things can turn around. Washington got a new owner and a complete turnover on both the football and business sides of things. The payoffs were immediate.
Ben Johnson seems to be making a positive difference on the football side. As Mr. Dunne observes, winning changes many things positively. The Bears will play better football this season, but they play a tough 2025 schedule in the NFL’s toughest division. Making the playoffs this year is a lot to expect, but competent NFL football is not.
My fondest hope is that Johnson’s success on the field will give him more influence in how team operations work. People tend not to change fundamentally, but they can change to a material extent as the result of being around good colleagues.
If Johnson’s positive influence eventually extends not only to players, but also to management behavior, his hiring will prove brilliant indeed.
Congrats, Tyler. Awesome reporting. So much of this reminds me of the KC Star's Arrowhead Anxiety article on the dysfunction around the Scott Pioli regime in KC. The ray of hope for Bears fans is that led to Clark Hunt cleaning house and forever changing the franchise.
Johnson took a lot of credit for the Detroit offense that included OL pieces he had no part of (Sewell drafted when he was pass game coordinator, Decker and Ragnow before he was on the team), and lots of work from Engstrandt, Morton, and of course Campbell. He is going to be exposed this year for what he is - a great play caller and a mediocre leader.
This will of course be the question. The geniuses usually fail as HC. Josh McDaniels and Mangenius, Eric Mangini, were not suited for HC job. Johnson is currently as likely to have their paths as that of Andy Reid.
Holy shit. That was epic. Great story Tyler. The Bears are fucked. Poles will find a way to throw Johnson under the bus. Which is a shame because he is going to be a good coach in the league whether it winds up being in Chicago we will see. Poles is an asshole. He no doubt rose through the NFL equity mandates and is taking full advantage of it. Knowing if he ever gets fired I’ll be waiting for him to call the Bears ownership racist. What a horror show it must be to work there. I know I couldn’t do it. I’m shocked
Truly great work. I've been a diehard washington fan my entire life but wasn't alive for the glory days. With the arrival of Jayden Daniel's I finall have hope. If JD wins us a super bowl, Washington should legitimately send Ryan Poles a ring. What an absolute MORON. Absolutely loved reading this and am very excited for your future stories. Great Work Tyler.
Great digging, Tyler. Lots of hard questions and hard work yielded a masterpiece. This more than validates my very unpopular profile/scouting report on Caleb before the 2024 Draft on NFL Draft Scout (here is url) https://nfldraftscout.com/cfb/bio/1052944 ....
and our ratings, which put Caleb No. 3 behind Daniels and Maye ...(here is url).
https://nfldraftscout.com/player/ratings?ranking_id=28647e1d274142c7a3aa3f3fb699b031
We almost put Caleb 4th, after WR Harrison...I Saw the Caleb entourage wandering around halls at Indy combine and was rudely rebuffed when I came close. There were so many red flags on and off the field I was astonished that more people did not note them. A few scouts and coaches contacted me about that profile, mostly because they had bad feelings about him. You point out the incredibly deaf, dumb and blind manner in which the Bears rolled out the red carpet. This is why we have journalism. Thanks again.
Outstanding
I am a die hard fan, will always love my bears. Hard to read this 3 part series, but I am so grateful to now see a picture of why things have been so bad for so long. Personally I was never a Caleb fan, but , I am hoping Coach Johnson can make him meet his potential.
Possibly the best deep dive I’ve ever read about an NFL team. And given the quality of work on this site since its inception, that’s some going. Brilliant work.
*sigh* Hopefully Johnson is a great HC. Because the Bears rot tends to turn good coaches into yet another dope with a “B” on his hat. Not that Eberflus was good - the moment he opened his mouth with “No applause?” and his idiotic - high school acronyms- most long time fans knew he would not be around to see the opening of a new stadium.
As depressing as this series is to me - I hope the disinfectant of sunshine brings change. But my gut tells me they will circle the wagons and pretend none of this is happening.
Interesting and a fun read for this Packer fan. Bears again have a clean slate with QB and HC to fix on field issues. Have to wonder about Warren and Poles and their abilities and if it will affect the on field performance. Poles may have taken the wrong QB and now possibly the wrong TE. Very surprised they did not take Tyler Warren. If you cannot draft the right players…
Great investigative story. Lots of disgruntled current and former employees. There is truth there. Last night I watched the Vikings - Bears game. I don't recall one shot of Williams looking at a tablet after the offense left the field. I don't recall one shot of Williams talking to his receivers or offensive line. Seems like the same old story. After the game they interviewed McCarthy who told Lisa Salter that he kept telling his offense to believe they were going to win. If your story is correct, this will probably be another lost year for the Bears. Or, Williams gets benched. But, good work.
I mean this is a great story but the obvious caveat is that this is one side of the story: super aggrieved coaches, right? not casting doubt on the story by any means but more saying its not the be all end all; more another point of view to take into account when looking at the bears/poles/caleb
100% this. Idk if most of this is true 'reporting..' I think you could get anecdotes like this from any team that experienced heavy turnover. I think Part 3 lines up well with other people's reporting. Part 2 less so, and Part 1 the least. I think there is some truth to each part (probably a lot in some areas).. but I think a lot of it is unfair and heavily clouded by gilted ex-employees.
At least it seems like they finally got the coach right. Hopefully he either covers the stink of others or they can hang on to him while they replace the GM and QB if needed.
Where are the stories with the people saying bad things about how Jayden Daniels is? There is one infallible rule: Where there is smoke, there is fire.
That doesn't seem like a good comparison. Jayden has won a bunch of games unexpectedly and none of his coaches got fired..where would there be cause for anyone to be frustrated with him? My point is all of the people interviewed for this story have an axe to grind and by only interviewing them seems like the interviews were sought to fit the narrative that is trying to be painted rather than find the truth. It seems disingenuous
All of that to say, I agree that there is something here. I subscribed just to read this series as it presents a viewpoint that we just haven't seen anywhere else. As with anything in life, it's not binary. I am sure there are many true aspects to this as well as the standard stories you read everywhere else.
Trade Caleb Williams ASAP. Start Tyson Bagent. Fire Poles. Bagent is a Tom Brady type quarterback. Caleb right now is a bust and Bears know it. Cut your losses.
I’ve been a Bears fan since the ‘63 season, and the last few decades obviously have been disheartening.
I don’t know how much of this series is accurate. The reportage depends significantly on unnamed sources and understandably unhappy ex-employees. That said, without granting sources anonymity, a story like this can’t be told in the NFL’s small world. The accounts do have the ring of truth. If true, much is explained.
Having lived in the heart of Redskins nation for over 25 years, I have seen both the consequences of organizational rot, and also how quickly things can turn around. Washington got a new owner and a complete turnover on both the football and business sides of things. The payoffs were immediate.
Ben Johnson seems to be making a positive difference on the football side. As Mr. Dunne observes, winning changes many things positively. The Bears will play better football this season, but they play a tough 2025 schedule in the NFL’s toughest division. Making the playoffs this year is a lot to expect, but competent NFL football is not.
My fondest hope is that Johnson’s success on the field will give him more influence in how team operations work. People tend not to change fundamentally, but they can change to a material extent as the result of being around good colleagues.
If Johnson’s positive influence eventually extends not only to players, but also to management behavior, his hiring will prove brilliant indeed.
Great, A-1 journalism...In-depth bulldog research.....Excellent.
Incredible series Tyler. This type of awesome stuff is what we’ve come to expect from you.
Congrats, Tyler. Awesome reporting. So much of this reminds me of the KC Star's Arrowhead Anxiety article on the dysfunction around the Scott Pioli regime in KC. The ray of hope for Bears fans is that led to Clark Hunt cleaning house and forever changing the franchise.
Johnson took a lot of credit for the Detroit offense that included OL pieces he had no part of (Sewell drafted when he was pass game coordinator, Decker and Ragnow before he was on the team), and lots of work from Engstrandt, Morton, and of course Campbell. He is going to be exposed this year for what he is - a great play caller and a mediocre leader.
This will of course be the question. The geniuses usually fail as HC. Josh McDaniels and Mangenius, Eric Mangini, were not suited for HC job. Johnson is currently as likely to have their paths as that of Andy Reid.