Post by Deleted on May 12, 2018 16:38:11 GMT -6
For Matt Nagy's Bears, installing new culture as critical as installing playbook contents
By John Mullin May 11, 2018 5:12 PM
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When John Fox was brought in for a hoped-for turnaround of the Bears, great attention was paid to reforming the culture at Halas Hall from the nadir it had reached under Marc Trestman. While the win totals did not spike the right direction under Fox, the positive culture change was palpable and noted by both GM Ryan Pace and incoming coach Matt Nagy, who is tasked with taking both the attitude and the results to a significantly higher plane.
The Bears are only in the see-Spot-run phase of their offseason, this time in the form of their three-day rookie minicamp. But indications are that Nagy is imposing his stamp on the culture that will be one of the foundation pillars of 2018 in the immediate term and his coaching tenure in the longer and broader term.
“The energy is the big thing you notice,” rookie linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe said immediately. “He hates pessimistic people, loves to be optimistic, good vibes, and all the players’ll tell you that’s what they get from him.”
Which of course all sounds good in May, when everyone is in shorts and no shots have been thrown in anger. But none of that needs stand in the way of building on the culture recovery Fox accomplished and that is a work in progress already, in multiple forms.
A half-dozen former players stopped by for a rookies dinner this week, all addressing the group as well as visiting with smaller groups, and Pace himself made a point of detailing for the rookies, only a small fraction of whom are draft picks, the long list of undrafted free agents who’ve made it into the NFL. Indeed, more than a dozen undrafted free agents reached the Hall of Fame, most recently Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman John Randle.
Nagy himself was where most of his rookies are, meaning that players realize they will get a fair chance from a coach who can relate to their situations.
“It hits a spot with me because I felt like I was one of those guys that just wasn’t tall enough, wasn’t fast enough, maybe not quite strong enough, didn’t go to that big school,” Nagy said. “I went to a I-AA school [Delaware]. So I refuse to let somebody slip by because of that. It’s not going to happen with me and I’m going to make sure that our staff understands that.
“There are kids in this building over here in the Walter Payton Center that practiced today that are going to get extra special attention because they’re not that guy. I can promise you that.”
All of which contributes to culture, and ultimately to competition, since a nobody from Miniscule U. will get his chance, and if he’s better than a draft choice… .
Specific impressions of players from day one of a three-day minicamp with players in shorts and no pads are interesting, but not definitive in any way. Part of Nagy’s cultural install will be to grasp the need and process for making impressions that mean more than one flashy day.
“There will be guys that catch your eye and when they do you really want to go back and watch the film and see ‘Was that real?’” Nagy said. “That’s what we’ll do. We’ll get together and we’ll watch it with the players. We’ll let them learn what we’re trying to teach them.
“Part of the evaluation process is there’s going to be a lot of mistakes today. We get it. This is a new language. Some of it’s half-comical because we understand that. And now what’s not comical is do they come back and do they make the same mistake? If they go back and they fix their mistakes and they don’t make the same mistake now you caught my attention. So if a guy jumps out and makes a good catch we’ll go back and watch it and we’ll go from there.”
Culture is a funny thing, and sometimes not so funny, sometimes a positive, sometimes not, sometimes working, sometimes not. Theo Epstein’s mission statement with the Cubs was about more than improving players. Jerry Krause once sought to move the Bulls on from the Jordan-Jackson era.
After Mike Ditka was fired in ’93, then-President Michael McCaskey endeavored to Dallas’ize the Bears with the hiring of former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt, and former players felt that an effort was being made to sweep out vestiges of the Ditka years, Super Bowl trophy notwithstanding. That didn’t work. Eventually, the organization undertook to reconnect with its legacy, ultimately to the point of Ditka and other Super Bowl players welcomed back to visit and talk with players.
Ironically, a chief reason for George Halas hiring Ditka, a great tight end but a Dallas special-teams coach when Halas brought him back, was to restore what Halas believed was the lost culture of the Bears. Which Ditka more than achieved.
Nagy will put his imprint on his team, and that also will take shape with the types of players Pace and he bring in. And Nagy has begun instilling that culture in his presumed leaders, as in No. 1 pick linebacker Roquan Smith, who has specific takeaways from Nagy.
“Just being relentless, hard work, integrity and just doing things the right way,” Smith said, “and be yourself.”
By John Mullin May 11, 2018 5:12 PM
When John Fox was brought in for a hoped-for turnaround of the Bears, great attention was paid to reforming the culture at Halas Hall from the nadir it had reached under Marc Trestman. While the win totals did not spike the right direction under Fox, the positive culture change was palpable and noted by both GM Ryan Pace and incoming coach Matt Nagy, who is tasked with taking both the attitude and the results to a significantly higher plane.
The Bears are only in the see-Spot-run phase of their offseason, this time in the form of their three-day rookie minicamp. But indications are that Nagy is imposing his stamp on the culture that will be one of the foundation pillars of 2018 in the immediate term and his coaching tenure in the longer and broader term.
“The energy is the big thing you notice,” rookie linebacker Joel Iyiegbuniwe said immediately. “He hates pessimistic people, loves to be optimistic, good vibes, and all the players’ll tell you that’s what they get from him.”
Which of course all sounds good in May, when everyone is in shorts and no shots have been thrown in anger. But none of that needs stand in the way of building on the culture recovery Fox accomplished and that is a work in progress already, in multiple forms.
A half-dozen former players stopped by for a rookies dinner this week, all addressing the group as well as visiting with smaller groups, and Pace himself made a point of detailing for the rookies, only a small fraction of whom are draft picks, the long list of undrafted free agents who’ve made it into the NFL. Indeed, more than a dozen undrafted free agents reached the Hall of Fame, most recently Minnesota Vikings defensive lineman John Randle.
Nagy himself was where most of his rookies are, meaning that players realize they will get a fair chance from a coach who can relate to their situations.
“It hits a spot with me because I felt like I was one of those guys that just wasn’t tall enough, wasn’t fast enough, maybe not quite strong enough, didn’t go to that big school,” Nagy said. “I went to a I-AA school [Delaware]. So I refuse to let somebody slip by because of that. It’s not going to happen with me and I’m going to make sure that our staff understands that.
“There are kids in this building over here in the Walter Payton Center that practiced today that are going to get extra special attention because they’re not that guy. I can promise you that.”
All of which contributes to culture, and ultimately to competition, since a nobody from Miniscule U. will get his chance, and if he’s better than a draft choice… .
Specific impressions of players from day one of a three-day minicamp with players in shorts and no pads are interesting, but not definitive in any way. Part of Nagy’s cultural install will be to grasp the need and process for making impressions that mean more than one flashy day.
“There will be guys that catch your eye and when they do you really want to go back and watch the film and see ‘Was that real?’” Nagy said. “That’s what we’ll do. We’ll get together and we’ll watch it with the players. We’ll let them learn what we’re trying to teach them.
“Part of the evaluation process is there’s going to be a lot of mistakes today. We get it. This is a new language. Some of it’s half-comical because we understand that. And now what’s not comical is do they come back and do they make the same mistake? If they go back and they fix their mistakes and they don’t make the same mistake now you caught my attention. So if a guy jumps out and makes a good catch we’ll go back and watch it and we’ll go from there.”
Culture is a funny thing, and sometimes not so funny, sometimes a positive, sometimes not, sometimes working, sometimes not. Theo Epstein’s mission statement with the Cubs was about more than improving players. Jerry Krause once sought to move the Bulls on from the Jordan-Jackson era.
After Mike Ditka was fired in ’93, then-President Michael McCaskey endeavored to Dallas’ize the Bears with the hiring of former Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt, and former players felt that an effort was being made to sweep out vestiges of the Ditka years, Super Bowl trophy notwithstanding. That didn’t work. Eventually, the organization undertook to reconnect with its legacy, ultimately to the point of Ditka and other Super Bowl players welcomed back to visit and talk with players.
Ironically, a chief reason for George Halas hiring Ditka, a great tight end but a Dallas special-teams coach when Halas brought him back, was to restore what Halas believed was the lost culture of the Bears. Which Ditka more than achieved.
Nagy will put his imprint on his team, and that also will take shape with the types of players Pace and he bring in. And Nagy has begun instilling that culture in his presumed leaders, as in No. 1 pick linebacker Roquan Smith, who has specific takeaways from Nagy.
“Just being relentless, hard work, integrity and just doing things the right way,” Smith said, “and be yourself.”
