Olin Kreutz on the Bears' new look up front | Bears, etc. Podcast

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Brought to you by Miller Light with the voices of the Bears, Jeff Joniac and Tom Thayer. Well you can't get wrong at all with a pair of fifty sevens, a pair of Super Bowl offensive linemen and iron men with a combined three hundred and thirty one starts in Bear uniforms. With Super Bowl winning Bears guard Tom Thayer, I'm Jeff Joniac. We're brought to you by Miller Lights.

Well, I got an email, I said, Jeff, Joni I could talk there, and I said, Matt, it'd be my pleasure.

To jump on with you guys.

I mean, you guys were doing it when I was there, so it's always honored to be on with you guys. You guys are real as you guys know, I do some of this analyst stuff nowadays, and you guys are the real o gs of this this work and guys that I've listened to and learned a lot from.

So it's a pleasure for me.

Honestly, we we were looking forward to it, believe when we found out this was going to go down, I bring up the iron Man angle. For this reason, Detroit Lions last year were by far the only team in the league they have the same starting five offensive linemen for the most snaps. They were at eighty percent of snaps and the next closest team and I don't remember what it was like fifty five percent in this league. Now,

Yeah, I mean, I mean guys playing every week, playing through injuries. I mean you could say guys are a lot smarter nowadays, right, the doctors know a lot more.

I remember playing through a high ankles frame.

Probably shouldn't have, right, basically I was useless that game, but we did Detroit in the last game of the year play with a high ankles frame. Couldn't really walk on LA. I don't know if they'd let you do that nowadays. So a lot of times people are always talking to you about in your career, your life after football. Uh, you know, in my day and especially in Tom's day, we weren't smart enough to talk about those things. I mean,

But what is it?

What is it?

By the way, educating, it's your hit flexer. It's your hit flexer runs from your hip to the middle of your spine.

Right. But see, even I know that nowadays, and an idiot like me knows that, means.

Everyone knows it. I went to this Gridiron Greats. It was a great event. Uh, they put me in their Hall of Fame. But you know they helped players in dire need. And my daughter actually said, what are you doing dad? In my I was in my office and I said, I'm working on giving a speech at Gridiron grat She looked at me, she shook her head. She goes, chat GBT, Dad just punched your name, and sure enough, man, you do that. And they came up with a speech

It's your opinion whether it's better or for worse.

Old timer like me, I like to see guys play every game, get on the field with their teammates, get out there. And you know, the Bears talf a lot about culture, and you're talking about culture.

You know, Ohen, there's a few guys in the history of my broadcasting career, which is twenty nine years, that I admire as much as you. And I'm only telling you this because we're on Zoom, But the reason is the reason is ollen and you talk about the culture, the requirements you put on the rest of the offensive line room, and the kind of filtered over to the rest of the team. But that whole all for one and one for all attitude. I think that's what's missing

Oh well, first of all, I appreciate it and be respected, as you know, Jeff, I guy like Tom. It means the world to a former football player like me. But you know, we also had a great locker room, as you guys know. You guys are there, man, We had names. We had Roberto guards that we had, Ruben Brown, Brian

Some of these high school guys are getting paid now, right.

I got two sons who play for Illinois once who started center on one's ballet for a linebacker job.

They get paid over there at Illinois.

Keeping them moving in the right direction, keeping them worried about the right stuff. I always tell them, we're about being good in football and it nothing else really matters and everything else will fall into place. So it's a different it's a different world we live in now with social media and the culture and the way things are done. But like you're saying, Tom, the same thing, still winning football, and can you find it? Can you find it? Can you go out there and find somebody? And I always

I think players make your culture. Obviously, coaches do to.

I know the Bears have a new coaching staff up there to try and get things moving in the right direction. But man, I appreciate you saying that, but we really really had a good locker room, good coaching staff. Love He really really empowered us to lead, really gave us a locker room and let us let us go from there.

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Oh and what you know, the dedicated player that you were and now you're a father of dedicated football players. What's what game is harder for you to watch the film of you playing or the live action of your kids playing.

The live action will wear me out, man, I mean the film with me, I just think it's funny Tom, because I always realized I wasn't as good as I thought I was. Whenever I turned the film, I'm like, hey, well, hey, I didn't even know I got beat there.

I don't remember that, right, So I only remember the good plays.

And I you know, my uh my kids always laughed at me because I'll turn the film on and my boys will be like, I tell you said, he never got beat.

And I said, my mind, you know that didn't even happen.

But I remember last year the Illinois starting linebacker went down and James, my young little boy, started at Mike and so he plays on every special team too, and he ended the year started about the last five or six games at middle linebacker with Josh Lang center. I thought, that's what I always wanted, right, I was like, I gotta get James on the field, and it is what you want. But man, was I exhausted me and my wife, Voe said after the game, because there was never a

And then he was playing middle linebacker.

You just you know, like you're you're like, okay, like don't screw this up, right, like like going there and you like the whole time. I'm an old ball player, like you guys know, and everything to me is wrong, right yeah, because you're foot in the right place, Like.

Why didn't you do this? Why didn't you do that?

This year, James set me film and I was watching it with him and it's some clips to him playing middle linebacker, and I said, James, I've told you a million times I want you to blow that center's head off. In the spring springball and he like goes quiet, and I'm like, I'm telling you, I said, James, are you there?

I want that guy's head blown off? Right?

And he like and like no said he like. Finally he goes Dad, I go, yeah, he goes, that's Josh. I go, don't maybe not maybe, don't blop your maybe, don't blow your brother. I'm sorry, you know, so I said, I don't want too much brother in law going on. But I said, I understand, man, You're not coming down here and try to take that guy's head off.

That's funny because we're interviewing some folks yesterday. Well you Dolman, his dad Chris Dowman, former forty nine er, Tom asked him a great question. You know, who's the first person you call after a game? He calls his dad and they break it down. Do you do they call you as well, first thing after a game.

Yeah, they do, and we talk and I'm in most games there in Champagne and we talk after every game and it's awesome.

Man.

I mean, like, you guys know you can't force him, right, You can't force him to play this game.

You can't force them to love it, but they do.

So I got lucky there and I get to talk to them after every game and learned the game from a middle linebacker's position, right.

And sometimes I.

Called Bob Babbage and talk to him about you know, he's retired now, so I think he's a perfect guy. He talks about linebacker playing what he should be doing, what they shouldn't be doing, and just really enjoying that part of it.

Even my daughter plays a volleyby.

Mina, Ohio. Now I get to learn that game, right. Of course, I'm an expert at I just trust me. She's rolled her eyes a million times a week. So the more I've learned about that game of volleyball, the more I realized, like the first three years, boy was I strewing her up?

Was wrong?

Well you are a I mean it's it's your father of six, like you got you got some of the pipeline yet, So James six two twenty five. I checked on the u OFI website. I don't know if that's accurate. Junior linebacker had a twelve tackle game against Rutgers last year in common young guys, so you could tell us about that guy. And then Josh.

Man, I watched it before that game and I was like James, you better buckle up this guy.

I mean, you never seen one guy tackling my long guy man.

I mean he was tough on film in college, so yes, I have watched him play and he is tough.

He's a tough football player.

Heck of a pass pro guy. And then Josh six ninety is that about right, playing the center position, team captain, senior season two time All Big ten.

Uh.

And then daughter Grace freshman at Miami Ohio, one of four daughters. So you can fill us in on the other ones.

But uh, yeah, pray for me.

I had two in it about killed me.

I don't care what religion you are. Just pray for me. And they don't have religion, then do your breathing breed for me. Just do something for me because I suffer.

So they so what are there? They love the game. NFL is in their cards.

We'll see, We'll see.

They have to improve, right, they have to keep getting better. They have to keep working on their game. And you guys know what it takes to play in the NFL, and you know how few guys do it. And you know, like the transferring your college game to the NFL game and making the corrections and adjustments and working and getting to where you got to be. I would say they have a chance. I don't think either of them are guaranteed, and they still have a.

Lot of work to do.

Hey, Olan, does the NIL complicate the process for these kids? Are they always thinking of what could possibly be out there? Or are they trying to be Are they being enticed by somebody else? Or is that they're settled in at Illinois They're ready to roll until they get done.

Of course it does. It does for everybody. Right, The money is out there. It's it's extraordinary how much money is out there. Josh is you know, he's a cruise. He wants to be where he is, right, He never even thought about it. He's gonna play for his team. He's standing in Illinois. You know, he went to play high school football Loyola. He's all in there, so and so is James, and they just believe in that. But as far as his NIL goes, Man, it's crazy out there.

You're making so much.

Money that was now, that's why, that's why when most of these coaches are driving to their ten million dollars home in Florida. They're worried about the system that's broken his dominoes.

I mean the transfer portal. I'm sure the cret was dangled to both your sons. I mean, you don't have to say.

It's all the ways there, right, it's always there out there, and you always know.

It's an option now. And that's that's it's it's.

Hard even as a parent, right because you want to teach stick it out, work through it, get better, stick where you are, stop complaining about things and all these stuff. But you know, I'll tell you a little story about even Joshua's now going to his third year starting. You know, they were bringing in some portal guys, some portal centers, and we talked about it and I called coaches around,

And they said it's not like that anymore.

Older it's not you got to watch because if they bring a guy in to pay them, they got to play them.

So it's just there's a lot. There's a lot going on.

There's about this other side of story that a lot of Duodle don't hear. A lot of times you hear like the school side, the coaches side hard is to recruit. There's also the player's side too, that they're going through the same process of dealing with something that's brand new for everybody that.

Either of you ever would have imagined in your wildest dreams, with life progressing as rapidly as it does on an annual basis, that there would be actual general managers going out and scouting and getting players for colleges like like this is blown up and that's big money. I mean, both of you guys could get the call, Hey help us out. I mean you could have never imagined.

I could never imagine it because I'm so far behind with being drafted in eighty three that it was never even a process.

You consider.

You just wanted to stay eligible, graduate and get into the NFL. Those words, we'll get into the NFL graduate, and that was my goals.

Anyways, you could I mean if you were watching, you know, if you watched it played in it, you kind of.

Felt something coming after a while when culture were getting a hundred minute dollar contracts and what was it?

You wasn't the guy who went to USC yet. I mean he got like a house, his private jets.

From the school Lincoln Riley, Like.

Yeah, that's Lincoln Ryland.

It's kind of like, okay, Like eventually with all this happening, guys, what are you going to do for the players? Right What are you gonna do for the guys that are actually playing out there in the stadiums getting the TV contracts?

It just was interesting and it's interesting.

To watch right now how they're going to do all this and how they're going to get their arms around it and get it moving in the right direction.

Again, We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears. Our broadcast teammate is your old teammate, and I guess your boss is at Carmel High School, Jason McKee. Jason, how first of all, how proud you are of j Mack and the other guys, Rashid and anybody that has gone into coaching and helping out these young guys it's quite quite a thing. I think j Mack loves it and he's thriving in it. And you work with him firsthand in that, How would you assess that? And how proud are you of him?

You guys work with j Mac, Jason McKee man.

I don't know if there's a better human being out there who helps kids, who works in his family. I know his wife's a big part of Carmel Catholic too.

We train in my gym. We talk about it.

But as far as Jason McKee goes man the amount of work he does for the community getting things moving.

In the right direction.

At Carmo, you can't help but respect it and love to go up there and try to help them in any way you can, you know.

Oh, and I think in every community. My brother's been coaching the freshman program for thirty years at JOEYACAFN. My nephew's the offensive coordinator. But in our community, we have a gym it's called Rudy's Gym that brings in all the high school athletes around the area, both boys and girls, and they do an incredible amount of work developing the

Mostly is from kids I know, and they're a little older because with my family and stuff, but mostly only over there in there in the morning. Right But I have kids, And during COVID time and Loyola had a ton of kids in there obviously training and there wasn't a lot of places to go, and then there was in school going on, so we had those kids in there.

But right but right now, most of it's old. I get a lot of college kids.

I get some high school kids in the summertime, but mostly it's just a word of mouth and people I know and.

They come to the gym and to help them train and develop.

And it's more of like an offensive line friendly system. But we also have running backs and wide receivers and like you know, strong and strong in the weight room teaches you all kinds of things. If you're not a spot, put weights away, put things where they belong, how to pay attention. One one thing I ask these kids nowadays, Tom, you'd be amazed. I say how much weight is on that bar? And they don't know?

Right?

They go, they go into your phone, Like I said, you know how to get your phone.

Right, We're not adding the weight. Stop right? And then I'll say put a quarter on. They don't know.

That's twenty five, right, Put twenty five? Put two cent five, one thirty five? What's one eighty five? They don't know, They have no idea. I always tell them I have weight room and chicken fight math. That's what I do, right, dude. My math is from those two things, and it seems to work pretty well. But the weight room is great for everybody we do have some young kids. J I wouldn't say I'm like a you know, I'm not an

Will help them trade.

And it's good because my two boys are in there and they're made, you know, they're thinking about those kinds of things, what they want to do after football and stuff. And everyone trains in there, and we have you remember, for former Bear center Sam Muster, for his brother PJ. Muster for bid me a long time. We have a bunch of big cats in there with his son and

Right.

And then, like what you're saying at the end of the workout the other day, I said, guys, probably you know a lot of these guys are going off to college. I say, probably the best way I can help you is this. I watched a lot of guys today. I explained an exercise three guys did and the last guy did it wrong. I see your coaches are watching that, Like, make sure you're not doing that. If someone's in front of you or if somebody explaining it, make sure you're watching it doing it correctly.

And then I said, they're time.

To put the weights away, take weights off, make sure you're helping make sure, you're spotting most guys nowadays. I mean someone goes to work out there looking at their phone, right, and it's just like okay.

Like someone has to spot this guy.

So, like you're saying, Tom, you can learn a lot from somebody just watching them in the weight room, what they care about, what they think about, and what the weight room teaches an athlete and the kind of guy you're talking about, Like all these football teams, I hear them. I always hear him say they want culture. I never hear him define it. I never hear you them tell me what is their culture? How do you create culture? And what's the kind of guy you're looking for? Where

You know?

Ohen the great client Emeric, he never allowed chalk in the weight room because it made the weight room dirty. So does an Owen Cruise Does he allow chalk in the weight room? And the chalk is something that you put on your hands for a better grip on the bar.

We do use chalk.

I'm always say like, they'll go in there and I'll be Okay, we're not chalking for one hundred pund dumbbells. Guys like we canet show for the one forties to one fifties and stuff.

But we have it. But but we do have to wipe down and mop after.

And that's one of my favorite teasts to do is I had a mop to like a young kid or a.

Player and to washed in try to use a mop is hilarious.

And usually what I'll do is I'll film the first time in some on mops because that's the number one thing they can approve on is their mop. And you know, you you have to control the mop. You can't let the mop control you. He's a saying in our.

Gym and my oldest daughter Kelly, which you you know olin is a competitive weightlifter. Now she tells me that that talk is anti bacterial, So yeah, she's away ahead of the curve on the biology of the floor. Dirty Hey Bears. Fan steinoffls, a proud partner the Chicago Bears, are now opening in Orland Park. Steinoffles the Chicago Dands, furniture and mattress leader with the largest selections for every style and budgets and as one hundred percent employee own

Yeah, you cannot be excited about Tony Dolman and Jonah Jackson, right, and Jonah Jackson.

We all want to.

See him when he was in Detroit. Man, I don't know about you, Tom, but I was a really big fan of this. I thought he'd moved guys off the ball. I thought he came off the walk that I got after guys. I actually at one point he was playing the best football at all the guys on the Lions offensive line. I'm surprised they let him go. So excited for him to be there. Interesting to see what he

There in Atlanta.

So they really put spent a lot of money there, which you know is music to my ears right to rebuild that offensive line, and Darnelle Wright keep taking another step, and I think he's gonna be I think it's chanced to be a really good football player. And I have a lot of stress for coach Roschar and what he does and the things he believes in and the fundamentals and the waylegs guy's coming off the ball and the

That's the unit ass to take over the game.

You know, It's funny because I think about the Bears offensive line and the kind of the rebuilding process. Then I think about the offensive lines around the division. So you got Frank rag Now who retired yesterday, and you're going to try to make a guard into a center at green Bank. You're going to try to make a guard into a center at Detroit. The difficulty of that, I've listen. I was a backup center, but I was

Yeah, it will be interesting, right and and just you know, to throw it back at your toime. I was a backup guard my rookie year and I was no good. So I think I was supposed to be a center. But uh, that that'll be interesting, right. I know the Packers would after Aaron Banks Notre Dame Prospect and added him and the movie Elton Jenkins over which Manstein. He's a big guy. I think he's a really good guard.

Right.

But it's Pine School instead of Taylor Decker, and they still have Glasgow and they're still very good up the front, especially you got Pane Seowel and Decker as your book ends.

Interesting, every every division team has a new center here in twenty you know, and I listen. The idea is they got to see the game through the eyes of the quarterback. You guys got to be on the same page in that regard, and the play caller in this case, the head coach as well. So it's not a position of insignificance by any means. I know people don't think it's sexy. Olen, I mean, I gotta tell you, I gotta have a good center. I gotta have a bad man at center. I got it. And Tom and I

Like?

What's the ideal center in terms of size? Not necessarily you're going to be about three hundred, little under three hundred to play the position nowadays. But does the hype matter to you? What do you think?

No, if I turn a film on.

If he's blocking somebody, I'm good, right, if he's blocking somebody, if he gave these moving in the right direction, if he can point out where blitz is coming from, he can help the quarterback organize circtain aspects of the football game.

Right, and they call it.

They always tell about quarterbacks processing information. Centers have to do the same thing. Right, Centers at the process information, at the pivot. In a matter of twelve to fifteen seconds, everybody lined up, everybody moving in the right direction, especially in a run game. Right, if you look at a coaching staff, you always have an OC, a pass game coordinator.

And a run game coordinator on the field.

The quarterback is the pass game quarter and the center is the run game coordinator. Right, you're the guy coordinating the run game side. In the run game siding where a matchup store, where to get the point, where to get the double team's moved to, how to get an advantage, how to get a plus one on the defense. So centers are really important to Obviously I'm a former center. But as as far as size goes, I mean, Jony, you give me over six feet if you're over two

He doesn't train.

I say, man, if you have his genetics, yeah, fine, don't right if you're if you're that kind of monster, right, I always tell my kids, Dad, we're working out there.

I say you are because you have to.

Right, Well, your genetics, you better get in that weight room and you better work out and you better get strong. So as far as the size goes, whatever you have there at the pivot, whoever you think is a good football player, just make sure you're building around him that's matching whatever his weakness is. My best years, we're always with the Ruben Browns, the big Roberto guards as the

Do you see that as a problem? Right?

I love Josh Beekman, but me and um sure to be walking together to the line of scrimmage.

Hey, oh, I wasn't going to ask you this, but I'm going to ask you this. So in my forty years of being around the Bears, I think I've seen two centers that I believe that can run the tush push, and that's you and Hilgey. When you look at that play from this point of view of the center, is the mandatory job that has to be done by the center. You have to have a quick snap, you have to earn leverage and then get some movement.

How do you what do you think about.

The center position and the specifics of that play.

Yes, Pat under pad right, can you keep your feet moving forward like you're saying at that height right? So to get most guys can dive and they're done, right. They can't keep moving, keep digging their feet forward. So that takes a lot of athleticism. By letters, I mean, I mean we can go into it right, like your ankles have to be able to move in that direction. It takes it takes a guy who can do that, like you're saying, and when you really start that play

But I'm sure they can't do that right.

So but it's just a it's a cool it's a rugby play right. As Tom knows, I grew up in Hawaii. I've watched a lot of rugby. Polynesians are huge on rugby. It's you know, it's that pile play again, a moving and they have a six hundred and fifty pounds squatting quarterback like, I mean, I don't know, I don't know what you're gonna do there? If the center and the guards and keep their feet moving with that pad level.

And your quarterback is that strong.

And I don't know what sa Kwon Barkley who backward jumps over guys, I don't know what he squats. So that play seems very specific to the Philadelphia Eagles and what they're capable. And I think, like I think you guys probably noticed. But Kelsey, he scouted Cam Durgons, right, He had them draft Cam Durgens and bring them in and then taught him how to play center.

And there's another thing that the Eagles do right.

They don't let the guys leave like Fletcher Cox, Todd Jalen Carter. Right, Kelsey taught Cam Jurgens how to play center. So when they have someone great, it's a smart thing to do. When you have someone great, amazing at a position, why not draft somebody and let them teach them how to play that position.

Excellent point.

Good news.

Chicago United Airlines is getting brand new planes with all the bells and whistles, like Bluetooth connectivity, screens at every seat and a room for everyone's rolder bag. United proud to fly the Chicago Bears. And you two handicap the left tackle because I think it'll be the number one story of training camp. Who wins that job.

Who wins that job? At left tackle? I haven't seen any of Ozzi Trapillo. I haven't seen him play. I'd be lying to you if I told you I did, and I don't.

Let you. Guys know.

You have to see him against this level of competition, and then you guys see him in pass and then you guys see week one, and then you got to see how he adjusted the week two. And when they figure out what he's bad at, can he adjust it at right? Those are the things we all know what it is takes in the NFL. Man they study all of a sudden that guy's abildings for nine hours, study just how to beat you.

So that's one thing we have to watch with him.

But with Audit Trapillo, they're Braxin Jones, Karanamagaji. They have three guys who can go after I don't know what Braxin's health is light Karanamagaji. I know I saw him a couple of times in my gym twice exact, and he had that quad and he was just trying to get a strong and get that leg moving in the right direction and for him to kick straight back and reload that leg and that hip and.

That ankle and get moving.

I don't know where he is now, so it is a question mark dret left out on it. And then it's a good question. And if I told you I knew who was gonna win that job, I don't know. Maybe we can e motion coach and leveling over and have him chip over there all day long.

Well, I tell you we could. We could go on for hours with you. Olen, that just scratched the surface. I knew it would be good, and you delivered in a big way. So we appreciate your time. Thank you so much for joining us.

It's an honor man. You guys are the best.

We'll have you on again sometime.

Thanks. Alan, appreciate it.

Guys, appreciate it. Olen. We're brought to you by PNC Official Bank of the Bears and our aches, pains or injuries keeping you on the sidelines. Athleticos moving experts are here to help you turn your setbacks into comebacks and create a personalized game plan for your recovery with no prescription or a referral needed. Athletical physical therapy is where your comeback story begins. Athletico proud to be the official physical therapy partner of the Chicago Bears Special Thanks again