Phillips, Pace, Nagy talk 2021 season | Coaches Show

and Consultants. Our guest tonight, President and CEO Ted Phillips and General Manager Ryan Pace, Jeff Joniak with you into eight o'clock tonight here on news Radio one oh five nine WBBM, and typically fellas in years past, we would gather around to the Peyton Center for a nice group discussion with our Bears season ticket holders and break it all down. But the pandemic still a complicating manner, So we come to you tonight in a different format on Zoom.

Calls from Hallis Hall and Home will begin with Matt. You know, twenty twenty one off to a more traditional start. I'd say hit in twenty twenty when there was no preseason. But for you and your team, did it feel normal? Yeah? You know what, Jeff, It definitely felt a lot more normal than last year. You know, last year was pretty crazy, but we got through it. And I think for a lot of our players just to be able to have meetings together and see faces and be able to do football,

play football, practice football. Everything about football's back. So we love that and we're ready to get gone. Ryan, you've talked to the team in years past. Did you this year or will you this weekend? If so, what will your message be to them? You know, I did, Jeff, I think, you know, I just talked to him about the process that goes into the roster coming together. And really, you know, everyone arrives here in different ways, and there's a lot that goes into that process, and it's not

always about the best athlete. It's about the best fit for the culture and team chemistry that we have. And you know, I talked to them kind of you know, it's on us, you know, to give them the tools to develop as players with our staff and our facilities. But you know, Jeff, every year resets and we owe it to each other to maximize the opportunity we had this season and have no regrets looking back. Good evening, Ted, and a lot going on from your desk as always,

So give us a state of the franchise a little bit, hey, Jeff. Well, you know, at any time you head into the regular season, it's always an exciting time and just like our fans, We're really anxious to see how the months of hard work, some of the difficult decisions that went on in the off season, how it all unfolds on the field. And you know, like you said, we're not past the pandemic yet,

but we have learned how to adjust. And most importantly, it's great to have fans coming back to Soldier Field. We've missed that home field advantage. We missed it last year, so we're really anticipating the energy of the crowd every week. And you know, our fans always travel well too, so we hope to have great attendance from Bears fans during

our away games. And you can tell the fans are anxious to get back to it because season ticket renewals about ninety eight percent, Sweet sales are up, sponsorships are up, so it's time for Bears football. We're all excited now. They'll be there in LA for sure, and you can count on it. They will be in Vegas to get

a flight for Vegas this year. Indeed, Matt, you know you're the head coach, you've been now this is year four, but you're a fan too, so like everybody else, what are you most looking forward to seeing from your twenty

twenty one Bears. Yeah, Jeff, the biggest thing for us is every year is a new year, and I think going back to OTAs the relationships that all of these guys have developed over the years, and then for some of the new players and new coaches that have gotten here this year, it really there's just a really cool energy and a really neat vibe that's going through the building.

We took it into training camp and now I also think towards the end of that training camp, you feel like everybody's ready to get to these season games and to really make them count and see what we're all about. I mean that we're going to get tested from the very first player the first week. But that's that's why you play this sport, to compete, to do it together and the show how your your teammates all work together. So our guys have worked hard to get to this point.

Now it's time to get going. Man, if you name captains, will you this year or will you do a week by week thing? No, we will do that, Jeff. We have not done that yet, but it'll be week to week and typically what will deals will do that in the middle of the middle of the week heading into that Wednesday about each week, Ryan, how do you feel

about the process as it pertains a quarterback? Because I could have started this show by just saying, okay, everybody, because they asked the same question, why are you plan Justin Fields? And you know that would be the question of the day. But the starting quarterback Andy Dalton preparing as well as rookie quarterback Justin Fields, how it was

all handled? Yeah, you know, Jeff, when I think about that, you know, it's a credit to Matt, It's a credit to his coaches, just you know, ensuring that each one of those guys received valuable reps. And you know, I look back and Justin had the highest offensive played time percentage amongst all first round rookie quarterbacks this preseason. So you see it there, and you know there's just a balance.

You know, Andy get prepared to be our starting quarterback while also while Justin's growing, And again it's a credit to our coaches that they handled at the right way. Ted, you mentioned first time back at Soldier Field for the opener on September nineteenth against the Bengals. What should fans know? Because I would think patients is paramount because there are protocols involved, no doubt. They should know that their safety

is a paramount. Stringent cleaning protocols remain in place. There's there's a mask mandate for indoor spaces throughout all of Chicago that include Soldier Field, so areas like the club, lounges, restrooms, suite corridors, basically any enclosed area at Soldier Field you have to wear a mask. You do not have to wear a mask in the seating ball, but if fans feel more comfortable doing that, that's fine. We're going to be at full capacity, so that's that's exciting. So we

do encourage fans to show up early. Void the lines. Tickets are one hundred percent mobile, and this year fans will not have to take their keys and cell phones out of their pockets before walking through magnetometers, and we're hoping that that should aid in the congestion at all the gates. Andy Matt, there's a chunk here of four days off in five, a good rest after all that camp time, and then Wednesday, when you get back to work,

it's going to be all systems go for the la Rams. Yeah, these guys they look forward to those, uh, three to four days off that they get here, they just they tax their bodies physically and mentally so many days in a row, and they get to a point where you can kind of feel it everybody, coaches and players, you can kind of get to that point you say, Okay, it's it's time to get a breather, and then when they get back, it's time to get right after it.

And you know, we're currently at a spot right now where you know Ryan's done a great job of being able to get this team down to the fifty three. Of course, you have your practice squad players, but now when they show back up on Monday and get ready for our ten ten ten practice to have another day off and back at her on Wednesday, it just feels different. In practice. There's just a little more tick to everything that goes on, and there's a great energy. So it's

here all right. Well, our first segment in the books on the Bears coaches show the debut edition here in twenty twenty one. Ryan Pace and Ted Phillips our guests with head coach Matt Naggee. Traditionally, throughout the course of the rest of the year, will be joined by one of the three coordinators as well on the program and the back half of the program, as has been the case, well delve into more topics as we continue on previewing the Bears season at seven or eighth though time for

WBBM's traffic and weather together with the eights. Here's Trent Rickson. Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show. It's brought to you by Whippley CPAs and Consultants, a proud partner of the Chicago Bears. Learn more at Whippley dot com and we sincerely hope you're Labor Day weekend has been enjoyable. This is our annual Labor Day special featuring Bears head coach Mattneggie, General manager Ryan Pason, President and CEO Ted Phillips.

As preparations get underway for the opener at Sofi Stadium in La for the Bears and Rams well at the cost starting with our four pm pregame kickoff at seven twenty right here on WBBM, Ryan health was key. You know you're you're gonna get some bang up guys. You're gonna have some bumps and bruce some things gonna knock guys out. But buy and large. Would you give it a thumbs up overall for health coming out of camp. Guy would Jeff, you know, we fortunately came out pretty healthy.

I think, you know, by putting Danny Trevathan and Tevin Jenkins and I are when we did, it allows us the possibility to bring them back this season, so that's big. And you know Tariq, you know, obviously he's on reserve pup, so for him, that's any time after week six. But I think overall we came out healthy. You know, obviously there's some there's some luck that goes into that, but I think it's a credit also, you know, to our

guys showing up in great shape for training camp. I think the credits are athletic trainers and our strength coaches doing their parts. So we feel good about it. Matt, you're a big theme guy. You got one ready for the season. What do you got? And don't be scared and don't be scared. Don't be scared. Now we talk about in our our within us, we talked about being uncommon, and we have a lot of different quotes and saying

that we like to talk about. But I think that's one that we've hit this year, and then some other ones too. Is just really simply put worry about today, and when you do that, um, you're not worried about last year, You're not worried about next year. You heard me talk a little bit about that Yannis quote that he had, and I think it's powerful in so many

different ways. But for our guys, Jeff, you've heard me and us as a as a team and coaches, players, sports that everybody talk about, Um, the the amount of speed that we want to practice all year long. And so that's not so much of a quote as it is just a demeanor that we want to have everywhere we go. We want to we want to be fast. And so our guys did a great job in training camp and it's just about being together with all the

team worker. Well, it's a good deathtail into a question for Ryan because this team speed has gone a way up. I think that's uh not just uh lip service. You look at the numbers on some of the offensive weapons and it's it's pretty significant. Does the final roster now properly reflect what Matt and his staff sought in all

three phases that you guys collaborated on. Yeah, you know, as we build the roster, you know, throughout the whole off season, there's clear collaboration between the scouts and the coaches, and that collaboration goes through the off season and it goes all the way down to this final fifty three Cup we just made, and now goes all the way down to just this past week. Jeff, when I look at a guy like Simba Webster who we added for

special teams, and collaboration on that and more speed. You just said, we added Brashad Perriman this week to give us more speed receiver position. So there's there's major collaboration throughout and you know, I think it's going to pay off this season. Ted, let's talk about training camp. I thought, and I've said this many times already publicly on air,

anyone that could hear it. I thought the layout, you guys used every square inch of real estate at the facility to accommodate the players, accommodate a visiting team in Miami and the fans. What did you think of the whole process and the pros and cons of holding it on campus. Yeah, I think for the first time having training camp back a house haul, Jeff, my hats off to all our staff who put it together, worked out

the logistics, think overall it went really smooth. It was a learning experience for all of us, but I think the fans enjoyed it. It's a more intimate experience, the bleachers a little bit closer to the fields than they probably were at owing you. The downside is the number of fans that can be accommodated, and it was and you had the shuttle from remote parking lots, so that meant a little difficult, and we didn't know how to gauge how many free tickets that we should distribute to get.

You know, we wired upwards of twelve thirteen hundred fans at a practice. We rarely reached that number, but it was a learning experience. So I think now we'll be able to take a look at the data how many people convert those tickets into actually showing up, and hopefully we can convince fans to stick around after to practice and go into the city of Lake Forest and the surrounding communities and make a day of it. So overall, I would I would say everyone did a great job

organizing it. Hopefully the team liked it. It was still a little odd with COVID because the players couldn't get close to the fans. Hopefully that'll change next year and and we'll see about leaving the bleachers up or not. Um, it's something we have to talk about internally and discussed with the city of Lake Forest too. Yeah, that was one of my questions. It looks kind of cool with the stands up on fields one and two, Matt and Ryan, that would be kind of cool to have fans in

there sometimes sponsors or whatever watching you guys. Yeah, absolutely know that. The guys loved it, and we just appreciate all the fans that came out and we're we're you know, there to support us, and it was just a great time for the players, for the for the coaches, for all the fans, and we loved it. So it's neat to see those stands out there and we're always for that. Time for another break, fellas, it's seven eighteen. Time for WBBMS traffic and weather together one of the gates. Here's

Trent ericson. Select single game Bears tickets are available. Cheer on the Monsters of the Midway live at Soldier Field this season. Visit Chicago Bears dot com slash tickets for more info. Welcome back to the Bears. Coaches Show, brought to you by a Whipley CPAs and Consultants giving up for the twenty twenty one regular season opener in La Sunday Night, Bears home opener next week at Cincinnati here

and our Labor Day special. Not what we're used to, but we're sincerely looking forward to seeing all of you at Soldier Field in the near future. Typically would have season tickled holders here and enjoy the program from Hollis Hall. Ryan, what impact did it have to sign a bunch of veterans on one year deals. You've done this traditionally, but this year really to me some narrowcasting going on here, building depth and in this case some starters for opening night. Yeah,

I think you know you look back. You know most teams, Jeff in the league had limitations in regard to salary cap. This best offseason and no really challenge for a personnel department to find players that can help our team but also fit within some of those restraints that you know all teams had. And I think a guy's like Marquis Goodwin, Demere Bird, Damian Williams, Jesse James Jason Peters to name a few. You know, those guys will all have big roles this season that kind of came in that way,

and we're expecting a lot from them. And alec Ogletree, my goodness, what a splash. Huh for sure? You know the way he came in and immediately had an impact, I think it speaks to him being in great shape and our coach is quickly getting him ready to play. Ryan. It's been a defensive driven franchise honestly, But do you see potential for offense to nudge forward now and maybe drive some of that personality of the team. Yeah. You know,

a lot of our younger talent is on offense. You think you guys like Montgomery and Comet and Mooney there. You know, there's a lot of talent that side of the ball. And now it's about coming together and you know, improving and showcasing it this season. And Matt, are you a different coach in anyway entering this season in your opinion and then as a play caller as well, are you more refined give and now the experience that you've

put on your belt? Yeah, you know, the experience for me is so valuable in so many different aspects, um not just on game day, but just the day to day functions on how to handle your staff and how to handle yourself and your time management, UM, your your delegations, and you build trust over time, not just with your players, but with your coaches too, and so UM, I've really had a lot, you know, I've had three good years to be able to reflect on where I feel like

I've I've done well and where I've struggled. And and so now I'm looking forward to being able to use that as I head into this fourth year as head coach and with this team, and I'm just so proud of this, this whole organization. UM, just to be able to do this thing together and UM. And then as far as the play calling stuff, again, you know, it's the same type of deal. You understand where we're trying

to get. You just touched on it offensively, you know, we want to be a lot better offensively than what we've been and UM, and then that's going to start with me and being able to to help the coaches out, to help the players out, and then on game day it's about execution. So all in all, we all got to do it together, and you know, just just excited for the opportunity game days about Tuttyville, right, Matt Cuttyville. You know it, Jeff Tuttyville. We need to have more

Tuttyville this year. We get that, we'll be all right ted ownership and you have put a tremendous amount of trust and Ryan and Matt and rewarded with that with how they moved from twenty to land a franchise type quarterback in justin Fields without owning a top five pick they worked the draft. What is your reflection on that? Take us back the draft night a little bit and knowing that Ryan definitely lives buying no regrets philosophy and

he's proved that time and time again. He keeps it exciting, doesn't I'll say that. I'll tell you this that you know, just seeing Matt and Ryan and how they work together as they're entering their fourth season together, you can really see that trusting relationship. It was really funder in the whole offseason to kind of see how they just communicate and the way they communicated with myself and George McCaskey.

The openness, the honesty, the transparency really was appreciated. And Draft day and the lead up to it was really exciting, right, I mean the whole discussion. A lot of it during the off season was about the quarterback situation, from looking at free agents to looking at possible trades and resulting

in signing Andy Dalton and then drafting Justin Fields. You know, I think Ryan he really hit it on the head pre draft when he said, I think the sweet spot could be eight to twelve in the draft if we can move up there. And I think when the forty nine ers selected Trey Lance, the dominoes began to fall.

The selection process really moved quickly, and Ryan had already planned on what he wanted to give up, and when the phone calls started, it was really kind of tense, but it happened so fast you didn't have a chance

to get too nervous. But seeing the calmness that Ryan Joey Lane had manning the phones, turning down a couple offers, still hoping that Justin would be there, and then when he was and the deal was struck, you know, the elation in that room was something I had an experience to that level, you know, in the thirty eight years I've been with the Bears, so that was really special. And you know, the entire personnel department Matt Ryan, Joey Lane.

They were just outstanding. They stayed calm, they did what needed to be done. They had a steady demeanor and I was really impressive to watch it and be part of it. We'll get Ryan's thoughts and taking big swings when we come back after a Breakhaar on the Bears Coaches Show as we bring you WBBM's traffic and weather together on the eighth at seven twenty eight, here's Trent ericson kick off the twenty only one season this Sunday night at our middle Light Headquarters Bar, outdoor watch party

and Logan Square. Visit Chicago Bears dot Com, Slash fan Zone, Slash Wash parties from more info. Back of the Bears Coaches Show, brought to you by Whippley, CPAs and Consultants, Bears Rams, Sunday seven twenty at SOFI Stadium, WBBM Bears Radio pregame coverage beginning at four and good to have alongside you as we get the ball rolling on twenty twenty one. Ryan, we were just talking before the break about some of the things you do. You keep it

exciting for sure, you like swinging for the fences. Why is it? I just think you know you look back, Jeff, We're always going to be persistent. I'm making our team better and there are certain ones that are more highlighted than others, but we're just as persistent and aggressive on you know, all the moves are making and some of them might not get as much attention, but you know, I can even go back to this past week as we settled in our practice squad, just as aggressive there.

And I think, you know, the longer I'm in this, you know, you're always learning, and it's just about having that balance, you know, being aggressive and being decisive at the right time, but also being discipline and thinking of our long term future. And I think there's a balance there that's that's important. Stripe. Hey, Matt, growth from one year to the next varies by by player and position, but if you can, can you name a couple of

guys where you've seen the greatest growth so far. I know it's hard to single out guys, but I know you got a couple on top of your mind. Yeah, I would say off the top, Jeff, you look at a guy like Colecommett who came in last year and you know, really just trying to learn this system. And be able to. We always knew he had the talent, but can you put it? Can you put the talent together with the speed of the game and play by play?

And he got better and better and better. And I think now he heads into this year and you're really going to see that and feel that with him defensively again, you look at a guy defensively and the same draft, same class as Jalen Johnson, somebody who came out last year and I think did a really good job rookie year, but then was able to get into this training camp and put a great training camp together. So I'm excited

to see what he does. You have some young guys like a Jesper Horstead right, who are personnel did such a wonderful job at finding this guy as an undrafted free agent and then our coaching staff able to develop him into a player. So or somebody that we really believe that gives us great depth and a really good future bossibly down the road. So those are the fun ones and just to name a few, but there's a lot more, and I think that that's part of the

that's one of the neatest parts of coaching and personnel. Teddy, We touched down at the pandemic obviously a handful for every franchise, every person in the world, frankly, But from a franchise perspective, the job done says what stays. I mean, you operate as a franchise out and off the field with different things based on the pandemic. What do you

think stays forever? Yeah, well, I mean one thing I think we've all learned is how to adjust an adapt at a moment's notice, no matter what the situation is, so that that will be something will take from this. You know, the personalized contact that occurred with business partners and season ticket hole, I think that was actually a silver lining and a learning for us that moving forward, we always have to remind ourselves to listen and communicate

with our fans and understand how important they are. They're the lifeblood or the franchise frankly, and you know, listening to our employees going to be important. We're going to have staff start returning to hallis Hall starting really tomorrow at Some people will be here five or six seven days a week. Other people may be here less than that. But I think the bottom line is we have to keep emphasizing that vaccinations are key. We've done a good

job there. Players staff, ninety plus percent are vaccinated, but they're not in place to eliminate the possibility that you'll ever get COVID, but they have proven effective at reducing the likelihood of severe symptoms and hospitalizations, and that's going to be important for us to be able to keep the team safe going forward. That's the goal. Matt. What's your biggest challenge as a head coach this season in

your opinion? For us, I think, Jeff, it's gonna be really important that you know, we understand the length of the season and that there's injuries, and that you know there's highs and lows. But I'm really excited to see us try to get off to a fast start and and you know with that comes leadership from the players, which I've seen here in training camp. I love that about our guys. I mean, they're they're really and it's not talk. They're just out there, they're just doing it

together and you see a different leader every day. You can see and feel our team growing, So you know, the biggest thing is that. And then also just for for all of us, our entire team, our players, our coaches, support staff. Everyone just kind of stays in the moment, never gets too high and never gets too low. That'll

be big and that'll be real. But we've been tested, Jeff, We've had we've been calloused the last couple of years, and we're going to use that that that testing that we've had, We're going to use that to our benefit the ship. All right, time for another break here for WBBM's traffic and whether together or the eighth Here's Abby Ryan. Welcome back to the Bears Coaching Show with head coach Matt Naggie, gentle manager Ryan Pace, and President and CEO

Ted Phillips. Brought to you by Whippley CPAs and Consultants Jeff Jonik with you here until eight o'clock tonight. There's so much always circulating in this time and place in our world. How do you guys stay steady in an emotional business like this? Because the emotion pours from the fans, it comes from the media as well, your own players, your own families, let alone your own team. Everything is

very interesting and measured. Yeah, you know, when I think about that, Jeff, I think it goes back to the people. You know, you surround yourself with and we work in a passionate environment and there's a lot of ebbs and flows in our business. And I also think that's when communication is so important. So I think of the communication between new George and Ted and Matt, and I know that's strong. So it's really it's the communication and who

you surround yourself with. Yeah, I totally agree. Um, that's why I appreciate the support, um from George and Ted and Ryan. We have a you know, the communication is phenomenal. I love it. I think it's great and you have to have it and there's there's times where there's tough conversations, but um, there's a trust and there's honesty and um, you know it's it's it's all about, you know, winning and making sure you're out there and having a good time.

And inevitably we understand too. You know, there is the outside world and everybody wants everything, you know, wants to win, wants to win right now, and that's that's the goal for all of us. So we're really looking forward to doing it together and um, you get a chance of doing that, and I know our players feel the same way. Ted. Uh. Sports betting deals opening up a new very significant revenue stream probably most I would think since the stadium nat

naming rights started becoming a thing. How how does this help you prepare as a team to compete for championship From a business perspective, Well, you know, I look at sports betting, it's just the latest of new sponsorship categories that are going to be here to stay. You know, even at the early stage of teams being allowed to strike local sports betting sponsorship deals, off to say, our

sponsorship team did a great job. First they had to understand the sports betting landscape, they had to understand the league rules, they had to learn about the different companies involved. And when they did all that, it resulted in what's currently the largest sports betting team deal in the NFL with Bette Rivers Casino. You know, sports betting is not, you know, in part of our DNA as a club, but we're going to do it the right way within

the values of our organization. At the same time realizing that it is a way of life and a very significant future revenue stream, especially when Illinois starts to allow sports books in Chicago at their stadiums. You've already seen it possibly happened at in Major League baseball at Wrigley Field, all right, Ryan, front office changes include the addition of Ashton Washington through the Bill Walsh Diversity Fellowship. Tell us about her in the scouting world because it's it's big news,

it really is. Yeah, you know, for sure, Jeff, we made several promotions in the scouting department this offseason, Jeff King, Pro Director, Sam Somerville National Scout, bringing rehor Midwest Scout,

and Drew Rosina became the Combine Scout. But the addition of Ashton, you know, I go back to it, you know, Josh Lucas Champ, Kelly Mark Sadowski and Souper Campbell, they did a good job researching different candidates for a training camp fellowship program that we have and obviously they came across Ashton and she came in this training camp and made a really awesome impression right away at her short

time here. She comes to us from Texas Tech. So she'll be added as a scouting assistant and we're just really excited ever on board and ted growing number of women now in the NFL. Almost every week you hear about some department. How has this change impacted everyone's approaching? Thinking? Well, you know, it's it's not just women. It's it's actually having more of an emphasis on diversity, equity and inclusion, which includes women and minorities, and it's one of our

main topics of focus going forward. I like to look at it as it's creating diversity of thought. You get thought from new different areas, you get new ideas when you believe in diversity and the value it can bring your club. All right, Matt, best moment of training camp for you and your team, anything behind the scenes, a funny moment that or something that happened that brought you

guys closer together. Yeah, So, Jeff, we had a we had a few speakers come in and talk to the team, and there's some moments in there when when these guys were able to talk and reach our players from different backgrounds and different experiences and different ages too. We had Alex Smith who was here. He had a phenomenal discussion with the team just about living today right live in

the moment, and he had a great message. And then we brought in Udonis Haslem from the Miami Heat and he hit it from a perspective of what it takes to be leaders in the locker room. And it was fascinating. And then we had cl Schep come in, who's a keynote speaker across the world, not just the country, and he hit a lot of stuff not just from teamwork side, but from off the field, and you know, it was just really neat for me, Jeff to be able to see the faces and the note taking from our players.

And then when when these guys were done talking, the amount of players that we had wait to go talk to them afterwards, or there was a couple of players too, without getting into privacy, there was a couple of players that actually asked to talk to them in a room by themselves. When you see that, that's real, that's powerful, and that's what it's all about. So that was pretty neat, and now you know that was off the field, it was pretty cool. All right. One more segment to go.

We gotta step away from w bbm's trafficking and weather together Under the Eights with Abby Ryan. Welcome back to the Bears Coaches Show with Mattneggie, Ryan Pace and Ted Phillips, brought to you by Whipley CPAs and Consultants Time Jeff Joniak and now it's time to look ahead brought to you by Bette Rivers, the official sports book partner of the Bears. The Bears one and two against the Rams

over the last three years. The last time the Bears opened a season against the Rams nineteen fifty, when George Hallis coached his team to a twenty four twenty win at LA Memorial Coliseum. So let's talk about the Sunday night opener, Matt so Fly, you were there last year. Some of us were not able to see that place. Here at Spectacular, we'll be there to call the game. What do you need to see Sunday from your guys? Yeah, So obviously there's gonna be a ton of energy. It's

a primetime game Sunday night. Playing there last year in Sofi Stadium, there were no fans there, but it's beautiful inside. It'll be loud. It's just like a heavyweight boxing mat. To my opinion, it's going to come out and people are gonna come out swinging. But you got to you gotta be able to uh to play, you know, to box all twelve rounds. And so for our guys, it's going to be a really cool moment for us to go out there and get started. But in all three phases,

not just one or the other. And then and stick together and ride through the highs and the lows. But it's uh, it's just really neat the football's back. We're we're excited to be a big part of it on Sunday night. We got a big challenge here with La Rams are well coached and they got a lot of great players and it's going to be a challenge for us man. We've seen Andy Dalton for now ten plus seasons as he begins his eleventh year as a starting

quarterback again with the Bears. Any behind the scenes that we may not have learned about Andy Dalton throughout the course of his career that you have learned nothing behind the scenes other than what he does is he just comes to work every day and just tries to be the best teammate he can be. He's you know, he's definitely won over his teammates and they respect him. They understand he's here. He's a true professional. He does things

the right way. And again, I think on Sunday night, being able to see him go out there and and and play with his teammates and be a part of this thing will be real. He has a lot of experience. He's seeing a lot of different defenses, and he's played in some primetime games, so we're I know he's excited, our players are excited, and we wanted to do it

all together. Ryan, what do you see as the greatest improvement that you're looking for specifically on this team that will translate into what you want to see in the wind count. Yeah, we've increased competition in all areas and he got better as a football team. And I think you go to the quarterback room and I think things like getting Eddie Goldman back is significant for us. And we talked about adding speed the receiver position and just that vision Jeff that it all adds up to us

playing as a complete team. And you know that equating the wins is is what we expect. And ted new visits to La and Vegas as the stadiums, those are maybe part of the weekend checklist for you. I don't know if you went last year to so far, but with these new stadiums you'll learn new things for fan experiences and not unlike building your facility schools. I'm sure check it out see what they could take from it. And now what you're what you're thinking on these new

stadiums in the league. Yeah, you know, we we want to see those kind of new fan amenities are in place. We're always looking for ways, like you said, to enhance our fans experience, UM, in the stadium and outside of the stadium. And uh, you know you touched on how our staff UM including Ryan, visited a number of facilities when we planned for the expansion of Hallis Hall and that was immensely beneficial. So you know, going to LA

and Vegas will be exciting, UM. You know, given that those teams are in the midst of welcoming fans back to new buildings for the first time. UM, it'll be It'll be fun to see the game day experience. But in the future we might plan some trips to you know, really dig deep into what they did and why they did it. UM. So it should be exciting. It's a

great way to start the season, Bryan. I think my count is fifteen players of eight years or more of experience on this roster, and it's interesting how it's paired though per position with a young player to lean on maybe for guidance and experience insight, but there's a significant Corey young players that I think we all agree are ready to pop. What does that mean for this team

moving forward? Yeah, you know, you think of young guys like commeet, Jalen Johnson, Roquan Mooney Bellowed to name a few. They're not just good players, but they're emerging as leaders of our team. And that's exciting when you look at the future. You know, those guys stepping up, and I think it's a good mixture too though the Vets, you know, you reference that. You know, you've got high character guys like Jimmy Graham to Shaun Gibson and Jason Peters recently,

and they're mentoring that younger group. So it's a good mix. You know, as we build along the way, we gotta talk a little bit of scout on the rams. Sean McVay creative, moving all over the place with his offense. I'm sure we'll see a bunch of flash sweeps and but Matthew Stafford standing in that pocket. Interesting, isn't it? No, it is. And you know, Sean McVay does a great job of being able to scheme guys open and get

guys in spots they need to be at. And you know, and of course he brings in Matthew Stafford, who we know from playing against a lot of these years from Detroit. So again, they're going to be a team that is going to come out and do everything they can to keep you off balance on offense. And then let's not forget too defensively, right they had the number one defense in the NFL last year and their special teams is

tops in the league. So we understand where we're coming from there, and I think that's how we like it. You know, we want to be able to have a great challenge and it's our guys are going to be prepared for it. And but we have a lot of respect for the Rams and they do a great job. All Right, I'm gonna give each of you a chance to give a final message as we wind down our first show of the year here on the Bears Coaches Show. Final message to fans about what this team might be,

what they think they'll enjoy. It will start with Man, Yeah, I think the biggest thing, Jeff, for us is we just appreciate all the support and just the excitement that you feel right now in the city for this team, and our players are just internally motivated right now that just go out and play so hard for each other and for the city and for our coaches and just really do it together. It's time. So we're looking forward to a great season and we love the support and

we're looking forward to getting it started week one. You know what, it's finally here. You know, it's there's been so much build and excited to get the fans back. I think the support they give us is energizing. We all feel it. We honestly missed it all last year and starting this week. You know, our goals make them proud, you know, make them excited, make them walking to work on Mondays and be and be fired up to be ambarrassed fan walking to school on Monday, be fired up

to be ambarrassed fans. So that's our goal, and we're just excited to get started. Yeah, I agree with Matt and Ryan. You know, we want to win. That's the what's what we're here to do. We want to see the veteran players reach their ceiling. We want to see growth from the young players. We want to see a disciplined focus team in all three phases. Adding some little

bit of luck, a little bit of good health. We've got a quality depth of talent at many many positions and having the fans come back to kind of rekindle the social interactions they've missed, right and to bring that energy and joyfulness to Soldier Field. It's going to be exciting. So let's look forward to a great season. We're ready to go, Go Bears. All right, fellas, appreciate all your time for Bears. Head coach Man now you, President and

CEO Teth Phillips and general manager Ryan Pace. Producers Dan Billy, Jordan Trudup, Andy Gersher, I'm Jeff Joniac. Thank you so much for listening tonight, and thank you everybody, our season ticket holders and sponsors for your patients and understanding during these challenging times. Proud to say we'll talk to you from LA's Sofi Stadium Sunday, a four o'clock pregame with Ron Gleason, Jim Schwantz, and Jay Huggenberg, along on myself and Tom Thayre in the seven twenty kickoff live from LA.

That'll do it tonight. Good night, everybody. This is News Radio one oh five nine w b M