Alan Williams on defensive mindset | All Access

score good snowy evening to you. As February winds down a little more than halfway through here and March around the corner and the start of the scott In com Buy, a lot of good things will start moving from coaching staffs and management building to building the roster for twenty twenty two. I'm Jeff Jona Yak. It's brought to you by IGFs Energy, by partner Tom there from News Radio one h five nine w WBM our producer Tonight Adams Toadzinski,

Thanks as well, Dan Brilly and Jordan Up. Good evening, Tom. I know on the South suburbs probably have a little more snow than we do over here on the Western suburbs is true. Yeah, shoveling already, you know, trying to keep a clear path for the mailman. That's always a concern of mine. But you know, get things cleaned around here, and then you know the continuous thought process of football, because I think the Bears are a unique position. They hire a new staff, a new general manager, they have

a limited amount of draft choices. You have to look at tape, the new coaches and really identify where the vulnerabilities lie and where can you patch those vulnerabilities within the scouting combine and the draft that's coming up. So usually you think, oh wow, I got so many draft choices. I'm thinking about trades, I'm thinking about moving up and down.

I think it's just right now identifying players that are gonna be a part of the foundation of the Eberfluce years in Chicago, and coming up on tonight's show in our next segment, our weekly guest Jim Miller from a Chicago Bears quarterback from Serious XEL Radio. And then at the bottom of the hour, defensive coordinator Alan Williams, who joined the program as well, so it'll be interesting to

talk to him. A guy that is part of a system that you know from the Tony Dungees and the Mike Tomlins and the Lovey Smith's and the Monte Kiffins and Matt Eberflus, Rod Marinelli, all those guys in Tampa Bay that have spread their wings into other positions. And the whole thing time we'll get into it. Their whole identity defensively is about effort, effort and getting to the ball and creating turnovers. And you can get all fancy with all of your pass rushes and up, but effort wins.

Effort wins, and these this group of people believe it right. But you know what I'm interested to see, Jeff, how is that message carried over to the offensive players? Because you talk about Matt Eberflus and the defensive staff having this mantra of hitting, hustle and everything on that side of the ball. Now, how is that message going to transcend to both really all three sides of the room, offense, defense,

and special teams. And then when you start looking at once training camp begins and you maybe see a change of a player of a position, and some of it is hustle related. Every single time that there is a decision made because of a lack of a hustle or an unbelievable effort given on every single snap. We're gonna learn a little bit about the coaching staff and how that message is carrying through. So I'm excited to talk

to Alan Williams. Everything I've heard him say every time I see him on video, looking at some of his background interviews. He's a really interested guy, has a serious background, and he's been around a lot of great coaches. But I'm also interested in seeing do you take the system and you need the pieces to be fit in place, or can you take some of the pieces you have and fit them into the places and the development of

this defense. So there's a lot of interesting things that are gonna we're gonna pay attention to through the draft OTAs leading up to training camp and then ultimately the preseason and regular season. Right I'm certain that getting into personnel specific personnel tonight won't be something we don't do

at all. However, we always can speculate about what fits and what doesn't, and I'll be interested to see and ultimately, you know, you got some guys circled that you know will be here, and those guys are impactful players, and what that means overall, because you know you'd like and they talk about it down the middle at the defensive tackle position, the three technique nose tackle, inside linebacker, the

middle linebacker, and what happens at safety our paramount. And I'm sure Williams will will touch on that tonight and they feel that's a strength. Matt Eberflew says, that's the strength of a defense is down the middle. Right. I understand that too. But just think, if you don't have the specific type of player that you need the first year in your system, can you take the Khalil mac the Robert Quinn, the Roe Kuan Smith. You know, hopefully

the Eddie Jackson turns things around. You got the Jalen Johnson and then you got Chiras Tonga with the pieces in place, If you don't have the perfect template of Tampa cover two four man front defense, can you build a system around the assets that you have a valuable

to you right now? Well, you always want scheme versatile players in this league right now, in this league for sure, given the salary cap and all the dedication to a lot of offensive players and what that means at the quarterback position, receiver, tackle position, and even in some cases, Tom, your old position at guard, they make some dough. Now they make on a big dough. That's gotta make you gotta make that position a priority. That's the way you know.

You gotta go out there and look for a fair and aboards a couple of bald offensive guards. Exactly ballers, bald ballers. All right. Coming up next, we got a former quarterback joining the program is always Jim Miller. It's on up next here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score and welcome back to Bears All Access brought to you by IGS Energy Chiefs Clean Energy for your home at IGS dot com. Because every good choice adds up to a better world. Jeff Johnny Yak Tom Fair

on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Bottom of the hour, our guest new Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams, and our weekly guest, former Bears quarterback Jim Meller from sirius XM NFL Radio is moving the chains with Pat Kurwen now joining the program. Jim, what's making news today? Buddy Well, Rod Marinelli. It's funny that we're gonna be

talking to Alan Williams because Rod Miranelli retired today. So forty nine years in coaching, not all in the NFL, but he started what was it back in nineteen seventy three coach and Rosemead High School, but forty nine years in coaching. And they first connected back in two thousand and one on that Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff. So salute to Rod. Spent some time there in Chicago. We had him on the show today, and what a great coach. Well, you know, I really this. I don't think coaches don't

lose their their shelf life. Everybody thinks that they don't. Rod's look at how well that uh Raiders a defensive line played a year ago in the adversity they were dealing with with you know, Ronni Andakway and Max Crosby. They played terrific And Rod now was going to ride off into sunset and spend some time with friends and loved ones as he should. What a terrific coach, Well he certainly earned it, Tommy, What a great crew. We enjoyed him up at hallis all because he was he

was all about ball. So if you love ball and you want to talk axes and know as you want to call talk about how to you know, his his rushman off the line of scrimmage takeoff was important to him. And the footwork had to be reinstituted every couple days, just pounding the same things so it becomes muscle memory. Well, you know, he was respect He was respected front and back, you know, from the defensive lineman to the defensive backs,

to the offensive lineman and beyond. And I think that's why Rod rod Marinelli had long sustain a coaching career is because he treated everyone equally. Whether you are a star on the team or you are a guy that was struggling to make the team. He yelled at you the same, He treated you the same, he expected the

same effort out of you. And I like the way that Rod Marinelli sometimes would carry the conversation over to an offensive lineman, not doing specific coaching, but talking to them about something maybe he's recognized in or out of their stance, something about their hand placement and how it affects defensive lineman, the footwork that's attached to offensive line play. And Rod Marinelli, when you have that many years of experience, I think you gain the respect of every position out there.

And you could probably go to any coaching staff and coach any position, but he was where he belonged, coaching guys that come out of his stance, that get the grunt work done, and you know, there's a lot expected, a lot on their shoulders for the overall success of the team. Jim, did you touch on Mattieberflus with him, because he's a he's a big, big fan of Mattieberflus. Yeah, No,

we didn't touch on. It was just more about Rod and all the great experiences that he had in the National Football League and the reasons why he was stepping away, and you know he was he was grateful, you know, and he'd be really like like Tom said, he I thought it was pretty telling from his standpoint, he said, I always felt that you had to build the man first and then you build the player, you know, because he just wanted accountable young men that he knew that

he could coach, and we're going to respond to his coaching because he was a he was an excellent teacher. And I think if you can teach, all players want to get better. If you make them better as as a player, that's all players care about from that standpoint, and I think that's where that separates great coaches like rod He was a great teacher and guys were always

willing to receive that teaching all right. In the division today, the role out of Kevin O'Connell is the new head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, with Quassiadafo also involved as general manager, leaving the La Rams his offensive coordinator. I know Chris Rump, the former Bears defensive line coach, goes over there, and so does ed Donatel. Tom ed Donatell with the Bears here with Vic Fangio is now the

defensive coordinator up in Minnesota, knows the division. He's now worked for the Packers, the Bearers, and now the Vikings, and so that's that's big news, as is a word from Green Bay that Tom Clements, the former Notre Damer back his quarterback coach. So that signals a few things I think regarding the Packers and Aaron Rodgers. Well, you know the thing of about right now, two teams within

the division are going to change their defensive styles. Where Minnesota has spend the years with Mike Zimmer playing out of a four man front, and now ed Donatel I assume is going to go back to his traditional three four front that he's coached alongside Vic Fangio for a number of years in Atlanta and stuff. And then when you look at the Bears, they're changing their defensive front a three four style obviously to a four man Matt Eberflus defense. So it's gonna be interesting because there, I

think you're going to expect more out of Detroit. Minnesota will be a completely different team. Will they have that la explosiveness that the Rams displayed this year? Because when you look at Cooper Cup and you'll look at Justin Jefferson, you look at Adam Feeling, you look at some of the other weapons they have, you look at Dalvin Cook, it's gonna be an interesting offensive display over there. They got to decide what they're going to do at the

quarterback position. I think they might be mandatory that they stay with Kirk Cousins. So this division is gonna be a lot different. And the one thing that scares me about Green Bay Hi and Tom Clements that was always one of Aaron Rodgers' favorite coaches, do they have some underground, underground agreement, Look, you go and you coach the you go and hire the coach that I enjoy being around and then I'll consider staying here. But if you don't put me in an atmosphere that I don't enjoy, then

you gotta send me on my way. Yeah, I agree. That's it's really just an olive branch to Aaron Rodgers to hang around green Bay and they'll probably you know, I think Green Bay's gonna have to pay him. They're probably gonna have to add a couple of years to Aaron Rodgers contract for him to stick around. I would think from that team point, he's under contract. I mean, they don't have to trade him. But you do know that San Francisco they were the first team that called

to try and work that trade. Obviously Nathaniel Hackett and Denver are probably going to make that call, but this is the first olive branch towards Aaron. As for Kevin O'Connell, I'm with you. I think there's very minimal changes they're gonna do on the offense. They only have literally two starters that won't be under contract, so it's gonna be the same. He's hired to work with Kirk Cousins. All those rumors of trades being available last week, I don't

think Kirk Cousins is going anywhere. Kevin O'Connell will work with him, justin Jefferson and the young talented running back and will bring over the system which is similar already to what they do with the La Rams. It's defensively where they're going to have big changes. And Tom brought up what Ed Donna tell is going to do. He's terrific with the secondary, but that is going to be

completely rebuilt. They literally have eight to nine guys that are free agents, and they are gonna look totally different defensively from Minnesota. Jim Miller, Tom there, I'm Jeff Joni here in Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. Welcome into another edition of Bears All Access coming up at bottom of the hour, joined by defensive coordinator Alan Williams. So, Jim,

the Bears rapidly put together that coaching staff. It took a you know, a little more than about two weeks, but they clearly had their site set on guys to make it happen this quick. So a bunch of names that have been around in the NFL. They cast a very i call it a mosaic of coaches from different backgrounds in the NFL. But just beyond the coordinators. Touching on Dave Borgonzi, the linebackers coach here on defense, Andre Curtis the safety's coach. On the defensive line, they go

with Travis Smith and his assistant is Justin Hines. You've got Karlos Polk, an assistant special team's coach, has been a linebackers coach in this league, I believe as well. One hold over ron Al Williams on the defensive quality control side and defensive back coach James Rowe. So overall, how does that fit for you in terms of your view of things for the defense. Yeah, I think you know, Eberflus, I still think it is going to have a heavy

hand on the defense, although Allen Williams knows it. I mean he's been in that same system for a long time. He is more than capable to take it over. What if Eberflus wants to do more delegating And we talked last week to Luke Getsy, I think we understand the style of offense that is coming over. It will be more play action based and it will be more outside zone run based. I think we need just look at you know, let's been kind of the hot offense or

on the NFL. And it's whether you call it the Shanahan coaching tree, and I mean Kyle Shanahan, not Mike Shanahan, Kyle Shanahan, because they all seem to stem from that system. And obviously when you look at Lafleur and where gets he comes from, that system's coming to Chicago. But it will have an emphasis I think what Justin Fields is able to do with his movement skills. There will be more bootlegs called, there will be more movement plays called.

I think there'll be a lot of you know, can have quarterback draws called to take advantage of his legs until he gets caught up to speed in the passing attack. But I do think it's going to be more play action base and that's really what has been It's been about marrying the run in the past. That's what that offense has been able. But it is based on a ground game to start, and I think that should be just music to every Bears fans ears that has been

screaming for that for quite some time. You know, one thing about this though, you really have to think of when they want and they drafted Kittle in San Francisco, and I don't think they ever expected him to be the dominant tight end that he is in this league, considered one of the best tight ends in the league.

And when you talk about all that edge outside zone running, Jim, you gotta have that tight end position who's explosive, dominating, can handle one on one blocks, is great in helping at the line of scrimmage and going to that second level.

And so I immediately going I think the Cole commit and I know Cole went to the tight end camp last year that they had organized by Kittle, But if you're going to run that style of offense, if you're gonna have a dominant outside edge, then you better get the guys that the offensive lineman that can either get to the edge or a tight end that can create an edge by the point of contact. Yeah, well look at even for the Rams. Unfortunately he was unable to

play in the Super Bowl. But Tyler Higbee is developed into a really good tight end. I mean he had to even sixty one receptions head into Super Bowl week, which he wasn't able to play due to the injury to the MCL and I think he can say the same thing about Robert Tonyan. He's developed into a pretty good tight end. Unfortunately he went down for Green Bay, but it is a big part of it, all those bootlegs and the over routes, and you've got to be able to run, and I think it's right up Cole

cometz Alley. I think that's really where his strengths are as a player. He can be a good in line blocker, he can get even better at it, but I think those underneath stuff. I don't expect him to go vertical and have to run after the catch Kittle does. But I think he's got big play capability on the bootleg game and things he can do between the hash marks. Absolutely, and his new tight ends coach is Jim Drea, former NFL tight end for many years. Also Andrew Juannako the

quarterbacks coach. Offensive line Tommy Chris Morgan is the offensive line coach and assistant tight ends coach. Tim Zet's David Walker the running back coach. Ty Tolbert passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach and assistant offensive line coach is Austin King. So that's the Bears coaching staff for twenty twenty two. So familiar names we've seen from different parts of the nat Football League. Tight Toberd in particular has been an outstanding receivers coach during his time as well.

We're gonna step away, take a break. When we come back, we'll have some Super Bowl leftovers and take a look at, you know, the big conversation about, Okay, Cincinnati and the Rams make it to the Super Bowl, how you get there, how you win it? What can the Bears do to get on that path? Who discussed with Jim Miller and Tom There. I'm Jeff Joniac here on Chicago Sports Radio

six seventy the Score. This segment of Bears All Access brought to you by Athletical Visit of there Be visit Athletico dot com to request an employment in clinic or virtually and start feeling better tomorrow with Tom Fair Jim Miller from Serious x M NFL Radio. I'm Jeff Joniac. This is Bears All Access on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score coming up in moments. Alan Williams, the

Bears new defensive coordinator, joins the program. A new position created at the Bears, Tom and Jim this week by genlemanager Ryan Poles. It's the Clyde Emrick Director of High Performance in honor of the legendary Clyde Emrick, the longtime Strengthen strength coach who passed away back in November here and we all loved him. So I was good to

see that. And the hiring of Brent Salazar, so he'll be the team's strength and conditioning and work with the strength and conditioning sports science department and work with the athletic training staff as well. So the stated goal Tom and Jim maximizing player health, safety and performance. So a performance director kind of to work with all those departments.

How do you feel about Well, I wish I would have put the word strength in there, because I think that's one of the things that the Bears need to get better at without ever their feet touching a grass field. Is getting stronger in the locker room or getting stronger in the weight room. That helps you perform your job better. So I hope Brent goes and studies a little bit about Clyde Emrick because the weight room is named after Clyde.

Now this position is named after Clyde, and you have to learn the foundation of Clyde Emrick to understood understand how important his role was in the success of the franchise over its history and how he would like to see that go down the road. But I think it's got to be strength as much as anything. Yeah, you know,

he's not a newbie. He's been around now. So this guy was with the Chiefs for a long time and assistant strength and conditioning coach from two thousand and seven to twenty and fifteen, spent some time with the Vikings and so you know, it's like anything, there is cutting edge stuff that you can do in sports science to optimize a player of performance. But I'm with Tom. At the end of the day, you gotta be strong, you gotta be agile, you got to be able to you know,

football is a tough sport. You gotta be up for those challenges that are ahead of it, and I think Salazar is more than capable to get that done. Yeah. I also work with the Broncos, so a decade of strength and conditioning experience as well for a guy who also worked outside of the football realm at a company

called Kitman Labs as a performance strategist as well. So interesting because I think I just read something on the forty nine ers have something similar and it's just marrying all that together for the health and well being of every single player and trying to get the most out

of the performance wise. I tell you, you know, throughout my entire career, I wish this is a coach they had on our staff because they didn't worry about diet, encouraging diet, or the supplying food or the proper hydration stages that you go through during the course of a week if you're getting ready to play a hot weather game. I'm all for this department because I had such a problem with cramping throughout my career that sometimes it hurt me in the fourth quarter and I veed numerous times

after the game. So I think of all the positions that have come on board in the last twenty years in the NFL, this is probably one of the most important. Jim, I would have something like that helped you in your career as quarterback, well, I think, like anything, well, because I had a lot of surgeries, Rehabilitation, you know, recovery I think is a big part of it. I mean, think of now they've got those cryo chambers where you know, guys like Tom and I you'd go twenty minutes in

the cold tub, twenty minutes in the hot tub. Now you're in that cryo chamber for what two minutes? You know, don't stay longer than that, otherwise you know you'll end up with Antonio brown feet at the end of the day. So everything's just a lot, you know, a lot more

condensed that way. You can. You know, you're only out there one practice, so you're exerting yourself, you know, as much as you can to get to maximize the reps that you do get nowadays, and now you've got to be able to to maximize your recovery, your performance, and everything is just so much different in how you prepare to maximize players to get on the field on game day. I really believe that. All Right, we're gonna take a

quick break when we come back. Alan Williams joins us the Bear's new defensive coordinator here with Top Bear and Jim Meta. I'm Jeff Jona here with Adam Saidinski, our producer here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to Score. Welcome back everybody to Bears All Access here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy The Score with Tom Fair and Jim Miller from sirius X m NFL Radio's Moving the Chains. I'm Jeff Jonik and pleased to be joined by the

new defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears. We walk them in for the first time on this show, Alan Williams. Alan, good evening, Hope you're doing well. How's it going, my friend? Doing well? I appreciate you asking, yea, especially in a snowstorm, right. I don't think it's too bad up where you are, but down here it's not so hot. I didn't even know it was snowing. We've been in the room grinding a little bit, so I that's news to me that

it's snowing outside. Well, that's the perfect line from a from a coach, because the grinding never stops, you know. And congratulations again on this opportunity for you to join Matt Eberflus. How has it been going. It's a it's a transition with a brand new staff. There's some familiarity for you with other colts assistants coming over here, and maybe people you've become familiar with over the course of

your time in the National Football League. But how has the transition in What do you think of the collection of coaches that Matt has put together. I'm really loving it. I'm starting to get to know the offensive guys, and they seem like they are outstanding coaches. I trust Matt,

I trust his judgment, I trust everything about it. So they're and they're grinding as well, and we are in the room getting to know each other, starting to install the defense, going through the details of what we call things, how we call it, coverages, fronts, that whole thing. So we're starting to get to know each other and starting to jail. Hey, coach Allen, this is Tom. They are an ex offensive lineman. Welcome to Chicago. Glad to have you.

Love your energy so far. Coach. When you're going into this new adventure as a defensive coordinator, where do you see yourself are you Are you a sideline guy from your playing career to the other coaching stops you made, but now you're a defensive coordinator. Do you think you'll be upstairs or downstairs? I think I'll be downstairs as of right now, but I'm going to reserve that to change it and do do something different if need be. One of the things that as a defensive coordinator, you

want to get to know. You want to get to know the feel of the guys on game day. You want to be able to look them in their eyes and make adjustments. And that's a little bit tough if you're upstairs. But also one of the things I from my previous stints and being a defensive coordinator, I do know you can see much much much better upstairs. So

we're still looking at that. We'll see what the staff looks like in terms of how we adjust how they see things, and then we'll make a decision based on what's best for us as a staff and as a defense. You know, Coach Al from you and coach Eberflus, we've heard a lot about your hits principle, but now as a defensive coaching you're you're developing a new defense. How do you in the modern day football? How do you rep hitting in tackling on a practice field that includes

full pads. I'm not being unrealistic about OTAs and such, but when you do get in full pads, how do you rep it? Yeah, one of the things that we do. First of all, we in practice we run to the ball unbelievably hard. And uh that's from the d lineman, from the tackles and the ends and even the backside corner,

everyone is running to the ball. And then instead of just tagging off with which a lot of people do two hands below the waist to simulate a tackle, we put our bodies on the runner, on the ball carrier, so we get close enough that you can put your body on a guide that and if you can put a body on the guy, you should be able to tackle them. And then we we want to make sure we every time we put our body on a guy, we try to strip the ball. So we're punching, we're

hammering the ball. We were trying to rake it so that uh so that we don't pull on the ball and and have hamstring injuries from our offensive guys. But we are trying to knock the ball out and put our bodies on the balling. And that's one way of simulating.

And then the other way is just through drill work that we uh we use pads, we use shields, and we put the shields on the bodies of our guys and we we hit the shields so that they feel the body weight of another player, but also wrap up around the hamstrings and finished three yards through the endpoint.

So those are two ways we do it. And then we have something called a sprint tackle, which we work on vice tackling, where it's two guys on one, one guy's on the inside, one guy's on the outside, and we keep leverage on the football and um and and that's the third way we used to work on our tackling because you know, during the season you get pretty beat up, and even OTAs you get fairly beat up, and those are ways that you can keep the guys

fresh without banging their bodies. Well, Coach Jim Miller here, congratulations, welcome to Chicago, and here Bears fans will take six more weeks a winter. You're like Puck Satani Phil, You're already grind and tape all hold up or in there, but Bears fans will take it. I did have the opportunity to talk to Rod Marinelli today, I believe you were on the staff down in Tampa, and he talked about all that that drill work that you just broke

down for the Bears fans out there. But something struck me in talking to Rod, who's a long time great in the NFL. He said, build the man, and then you can build the player. You know, can you expand on that a little bit coach, because that truly was a great staff down there in Tampa, fantastic staff. That's where I got my start, that's where I cut my team. Rod was one of the first guys that took me in and kind of taught me the line play. So I know that talking with him must have been a

must have been a treat build a man. We were just talking about that. Rod has a folder of just different types of things, sayings, motivations, drills, all those type of things that build up a man. And the reason for that is and this would be a coach dungee thing, and we would say that if our players came here and played for the Chicago Bears and at some point they'll have to leave, and if all they know, or if all they are or better in terms of x's and o's, or just a better football player, we as

coaches have failed. We want to make sure that the players are are better men, the players are better people in the community. We want to affect the community in a positive way, and we want our players to be better husbands and better fathers. So if our guys are if we invest in the man, if we invest in the person, we know it's it's been proven that you'll get a better product on the football field. Their lives are are more intact, their lives are better, and they

become better players. So we're we're into building the guy ground up and not just the xs and os. And and then I think was so interesting and I spent a little time down in Tampa, is once the players see the standard that's on tape, you hold them to it, you know, and say, hey, there it is. You know you're on tape doing it. And to hold a player to the standards, they're they're capable playing down in and down out, no doubt, no doubt. Um, I would say that, uh,

and we'll show them on tape. And there's uh, there's many many years of what the standard looks like on tape from yeah, and people go, well, what do you talk about the standard and what do you mean years of tape and just the history of this defense that from the Chuck Nole's days to the Steelers to the Tampa days, to the Indianapolis Colts to the Chicago Bears and the first goal around with with Lovey Smith until

um to now. And some people would say, well, is that standard the coverages and the fronts, and I would say, no, the standard is just the way you go about your business, the way you go about the hits principle, the way you hold guys to a standard, the way you coach the man and not just the player, the way you teach all those things are are the standard for the

coach and the player, the player and the coach. Alan Williams our guest here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score Jeff Johnny Actamp there Jim Miller with our special guest, defensive coordinator Alan Williams, a former running back at William and Mary and dual threat. Because you had some good hands too, so the offensive guy in you becomes a defensive coach. Any irony to this or was this somewhat of a natural transition in some way? I don't know. You tell me no, not natural at all.

I really struggled when I first moved over to the defensive side of the ball. Uh, truth be told. But one of the things that that coach, Jimmy Laycock, who was our coach at William Mary uh in those days, he would say, if you're going to be a good coach, you must be a good communicator. You must be a good teacher, and they're going to be some rough spots

along the way. But um if you find good mentors, if you find other coaches that are that are willing to invest in you, um uh, you'll you'll rise to the top. And and that's that's what I did. And at William Mary that's what I did. When I went to Tampa, we had phenomenal teachers. Tony Dungee, Rod Marinelli, Lovey Smith, Mike Tomlin, Joe Barry. All those guys were phenomenal teachers and still in the NFL today in some capacity.

So I was fortunate to have people that were that invested in my career, invested in me as a as a coach, a man, as a teacher, Hey, coach Allen. On the side of our Super Bowl ring from eighty five, Mike Dicka had a word printed on there in capitol letters. It was ACE ACEE and it stood for attitude, character and enthusiasm, And he said, every great player has to have this in him or it's hard to make it

in the NFL. I like your HITS principles And is it something that you guys referred to often during the course of a season, or is it something you tell the players that's what you expect out of them at the beginning of the year, and then you evaluate these guys if they live up to it. You know, usually you get what you emphasize. So, uh, if if if the hits principle was something that we would just mention and and not bring it up until it was a problem, um,

we wouldn't be very good. The hits principle is something that we emphasize every day. So the hustle, the intensity um, the takeaways, and some capacity and situational football. That's an everyday deal. So whether it's just bringing it up on tape in practice, whether it's logging in who turned the ball over, or if it's just a situational third down

or two minute, that's a that's an everyday deal. So we're going to get what we emphasize, and that's a that's something that we talk about, something that we preach and something that we have to get the the players to buy in and and once they see that, and the biggest thing is that when they buy in, when they see that the principle equates to two wins, that's when you really see the You'll really see the defense

exploding them and improving and getting better. I love what you said about teaching coach, because you know, I don't like when people say, well, coach has got a shelf life. Not if you're a good teacher. And if a player knows that he's getting better as a player, they're they're they're going to be all in. And I just like to know about modern era players, you know, and what it's like to teach modern era players because I think

they want to get better too. I really do. As a former player, I think some people would say the players have changed, and I would say no, I would say the good players they have not changed. Good people don't change. And what players want, whether they're players from fifty years ago or twenty years ago or today, every player wants to know how you can help them. And that's from the rookie walking in the door barely making the team to the vet that's been to the Pro Bowl.

They want to know how you can help them improve on a daily basis. So I really don't think that the players have changed. Technology has changed some, the rules have changed some, but the fundamental basis of coach, can you help me? I don't think they will ever change. All right, our last question for our coach, Allen Williams bears a new defensive coordinator here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. We appreciate all your time. I

know every minute is valuable these days. So you've had a chance to get a deeper dive into what's what's here already. What is your overall impression. Not to get too specific on individual people, but we know who some of the stars are and how they'll transition in. But overall,

what's your view? First class? First class in every way, first class, from the different people that call the welcome me to Chicago, to the relocation process, to meeting some of the owners, to the people in the cafeteria, to the players that have dropped by or called and just came by my office and sat out and said, coach, welcome here. Tell me what you want, tell me what you need, tell me how to get it done, and I'm all in. So I just think first class in

every way. And the little time that I'm out in the community, just seeing the fans that are out there and hungry for a winning football team and the way they express it. I'm really looking forward to being here in Chicago. For for a long time. Welcongratulations again. I hope that's the case a long time and some great success for the Chicago Bears moving forward. Alan Williams, appreciate your time. Yep, you're welcome, very welcome. Bears new defensive coordinator.

Our guests will step away, Tom and Jim return, we'll take a look at it again, some post super Bowl notes and talk a little bit more Bears detail what's ahead here with Scott and Combine around the corner and free agency about a month away here on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy the Score. This segment of Bears All Access is brought to you by CDW People will Get It with Tom Thayer, Jeff Jony Act, and Jim Miller

from Sirius XM NFL Radio's movie The Chains. Just finished up our conversation with Alan Williams, our final segment of the show tonight. Very nice man right there, who's had a ton of experience, has been a defensive coordinator before and knows this defense backwards and forward, so you know, finding the right fits for all those guys. You know, my biggest question for this delight, who's going to be the three technique defensive tackle Jim. You know, that's that's

one of my big ones. And you know we've talked about Roquan Smith, you know, ideal fit right in that position. But what if you found another inside linebacker and put him in a a weekside linebacker and be a devastating player that can do a lot of different damage, certainly covering

back splits in and all that. I mean, your mind starts, you know, wondering about these different things if you're in his position, where you would put a guy based on his skill set, what he's proven, traits, etc. Yeah, just his ability to run. I mean he is, he's He's kind of a Lance Briggs type of player. When I look at Roquan Smith, you know Lance was, you know, I believe he was running back in high school. I mean a guy put his flat out run in. Roquan's

the same way. That dude's a heat sinking missile. I think he's a running, hit guy and maybe that's ultimately his spot. But I think you're right, it starts with the three technique. Currently, I don't think it's on the roster right now, is my personal opinion. If you're looking at it for a penetrating defensive tackle. Um. You know here, free agencies just around the corner, the ability to draft one. You think of Tommy Harris when the Bears nailed it

with that pick. I mean there's I think it's it's all on the table, whether it's through free agency, whether it's via a trade, or whether it's drafting a young player that you think can be really the devastating penetrator as a three technique, you know, I think there's two things. First of all, row Quan Smith. He gives you the luxury of playing where you need him the most. And that was talked a lot about when Brian her Lacker

was first drafted. Here where does he best fit and where can he help his team the most the quickest. And I think that's an opportunity that you're going to be able to examine with Roe Kuan Smith. And to me, I think blaw Nichols could go in and play that three technique. I don't know. You know, this guy is gone from three every single position up and down the defensive line over the last couple of years due to

injuries and people missing starts and stuff. If you put blal Nichols in one spot and you said, okay, you have the luxury to play on the outside shoulder the offensive guards. We're going to create one on ones for you. The first thing we need you to do is get into the offensive backfield. I think blim Nichols is capable of doing that. Yeah, he's in a contract situation, so you have to make that decision. So are they completely left,

you know, lifeless at that position. No, to me. I think blim Nichols, with his size, his ability to anticipate the snap count, his discipline at the line of scrimmage, the way he can work stunts with Robert Quinn or whomever else he's working with, I still think that he would be I would like to investigate what he can

contribute at that position. Well, you just listen to Williams and you immediately when you start preparing for the draft, Jim and Tom and you're looking for keywords and key traits from Mattieberflus regarding the defense, and will eventually hear the same from Luke Getsy, the offensive coordinator. But you know you're doing your research. Jim. You were at the Senior Bowl and we're gonna be at the combine here in a short while. On March first, you're gonna look

for guy. Okay, this sounds like somebody can play in a Bears defense like this, and it all begins with being aggressively hitting great tacklers speed and taking the ball away. So those are our touch points, right to find the guys. Oh yeah, absolutely. You know I look at oh shoot from the Super Bowl, that Logan Wilson. You know, that guy is just all over the field just in his ability to attack and run to the football and the

plays that he made. I mean that is to me a type of linebacker that you want that has that type of energy that you're looking for in that Wyoming tight end that or excuse me, linebacker that was down in Mobile, Chad Muma I mean, same thing that if you go look at Logan Wilson's total tackles compared to Chad Mumas and I think even during the week and during the game he caused a force fumble and the guy had I think one hundred and forty two tackles

last year for Wyoming. I mean, he reminds me a lot of Logan Wilson and has just kind of carry over that mantle. Guys who can run, fly to the football. I mean those that's who the Bears are looking for right now, just absolute players that are heat seeking missiles. You know, the thing about it is, is this whole effort part of the evaluation. Sometimes that's the hardest thing

to evaluate. You can see these guys the reason they're being evaluated or invited the Combine or going to these All Star games, they show that they have traits to get themselves into this position. Now, effort is a hard measurable until you get them fatigued, until you get them into an atmosphere where it's ninety five degrees and see what they're doing in the third and fourth quarter. So yeah, you know, sometimes you base a lot of assumptions on what these guys are able to do up into this

level at football. But when you're talking about the level they need to play in the NFL to be a great player, and then you're talking about or Jim talking about the efforts that he's talking about, those are going to be the things that you're going to decide in some of the most difficult moments of their beginnings of their careers. But don't you think you can see that on tape? No? Well, I mean, yeah, you can see it.

You can see it. I take that back. However, you don't know what some players are going to do when they go to that next level, Jeff, when they're playing against better offensive linemen, better better blockers at tight end, you know, they have more coverage responsibilities. It's just the way are can they elevate their game from where where they've gotten to to where they ultimately need to be Because listen to some of the names you're talking about

right now. When we're talking about these types of names, you're talking about all Pro, Pro Bowl, you know, Hall of Fame caliber of guys. All right, we got two minutes left. What are your Super Bowl leftovers? Start with Tom? What were your impressions. I was disappointed that Obj his knee out because Matthew Stafford threw the ball behind and when he had a plant and tried to make that catch, that's when he blew his knee out. If Stafford would have put the ball in front of him, he would

have ran through the football. I don't think that injury would have ever happened, and he might have ended up being the MVP. You know, and it carried over for me all through the playoffs. Mismanagement of the clock, you know, in wrong substitutions and things like that, because I was at the game. Like the first turnover on downs by the Bengals, Joe Mixon was running on the field on third and one and then the time ran out and

so the running backs coach called him back over. They hand off to some agip ryan, he gets stuffed, and then they have an incompletion on fourth one. So the first series ended up being the last or second to the last series of the game when some agp drhyme was in there again when Joe Mixon had a four point eight average and was averaging or should have been in there on that particular play to try and edge to get the first down, and that was littered through

the whole you know, playoffs. You know you look at the thirteen seconds left in the Buffalo Bills versus Kansas City game. I thought that was mismanaged from a coaching staff. So how hard I mean, because minimum, the Bengals have the ball at the fifty your minimum thinking they're gonna get a field goal out of this, right at least I was to send it to overtime. Right. Well, my takeaway because we have thirty seconds, Big Jim is the stars do shine, Aaron Donald makes the big play. Cooper

Cup was unstoppable when it happened. The no Look thrown by Matthew Stafford, which he's done before. I can't stop watching that one. That was fantastic. Those are my takeaways and the best team won on this particular day, fellas. Thank you. We'll talk to you next week. I want to thank our guests here today, Alan Williams, the Bears defensive coordinator, our producer, Adam Stadinski, and most of all you for listening for Jim Miller in Tom There. I'm

Jeff Johnniac. Good night on Chicago Sports Radio six seventy to score. Thanks for listening to this Chicago Bears Network presentation of Bears All Access. Podcasts are available on Chicago Bears dot com and on iTunes, or download the official Bears mobile app. Bears all Access has been brought to you by IGS Energy and sponsored by Miller Litte