Everything the Bears have done for the last seven months has been for the sole purpose of maximizing the rare opportunity they have in front of them after drafting quarterback Caleb Williams.
General manager Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus have developed a meticulous development plan for the No. 1 overall pick. Each step has been carefully mapped out as the Bears prepare Williams for his highly-anticipated rookie season.
That plan and its many prongs were on full display in Tuesday's debut episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks," as were some early learning moments for the talented signal-caller.
Stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Chicago sports teams! Sign up here for our All Access Daily newsletter.
During an early scene, Eberflus pulls Williams aside after a rep to point out something the defense did that they had not yet prepped the quarterback to face. Williams immediately pulls offensive coordinator Shane Waldron over to ask how he should get to the backside safety in that situation. Waldron quickly walks Williams through teaching points, and the quarterback acknowledges the lesson before returning to the huddle.
“I’ll be better," Wiliams said as he entered the huddle. "I’ll be better. Let’s focus in. I’ll be better.”
The camera then showed Williams hitting wide receiver DJ Moore for a deep touchdown against cornerback Tyrique Stevenson.
“You have to go through hard to be good," Eberflus said in a sitdown with HBO. "Caleb is learning that skill set. He’ll figure it out. He does. He does figure it out. We challenge him every day with the defense, with the looks, with the install and he’s accepted every challenge, and he is rising to the occasion. I think that’s very helpful to him. He’s a rookie and he’s soaking all of this in from Shane and myself.”
The majority of the first episode focused on Williams' growth during the early parts of training camp. Cameras caught Eberflus talking to the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner about a myriad of things: throwing off his back foot, recognizing how fast the window close, asking what he saw on a failed rep, and discussing the look of a crisp offensive operation.
The cameras also showed Williams asking for a play call relayed to him a second time in his helmet. The Bears have been working with Williams on hearing, digesting, and recalling the play call since he arrived in April.
A telling moment came during a one-on-one between Eberflus and Williams after the first stack of practices in training camp.
“This is time on task," Eberflus told Williams. "You just proved it. The first seven practices you were here. Now you’re here [gestures going up a level]. Then, from now, you got these three here, you just got to keep going up. We’re getting 213 reps offensively and defensively a day so that takes a strong mind to be able to wire in. You’re not in all those but you’re in most of those. I changed the set up because of you to be able to make sure you are getting the reps. That to me, you made leaps and bounds in seven practices. Which is great.”
Williams makes no small plans.
On draft night in Detroit, Williams told a group of beat writers that "immortality" was his next goal. He has never shied away from the expectations placed on him because outside expectations could never be greater than the ones he places on himself.
“Some of the—putting it where I want to—obviously can always be better in that aspect," Williams told Eberflus.
“You have. It’s night and day. You got to make every day count," Eberflus responded.
The Bears' all-encompassing plan for Williams took center stage in Tuesday's debut episode. The focus was not only on Williams but also on the supporting cast the Bears have assembled to help him blossom and their unfettered belief in and support of their rookie quarterback.
“It’s your team, bro," running back D'Andre Swift told Williams. "You’ve got the keys. Voice it, bro. If something’s wrong, you got the keys bro. Use it. Drive.”
“I think we coming together good though," Moore told Eberflus. "[Williams] is getting comfortable. Once we get on that, shoot, sky’s the limit here.”
CHICAGO BEARS
Eberflus and the Bears' plan for Williams remains fluid. For months, the Bears' brass has been downloading information from all pertinent sources as they look to set Williams up for a clean takeoff.
That included a training camp visit from legendary Alabama head coach Nick Saban. Saban has long been a mentor of Eberflus, and the Bears' head coach picked the seven-time national champion's brain about how he has developed quarterbacks.
"I always stood behind the quarterback," Saban said. "I always wanted to hear their version of what was happening. I was never negative with them in front of the rest of the team. It was always more effective for me to show than to tell.”
But Saban's most crucial moment came when he described the burden of being a transcendent quarterback and everything Williams needs to arrive at the place the Bears believe he is destined to reach.
"Your position is hard to play if the people around you don’t play well," Saban told Eberlfus. "How are you going to enhance that? How are you going to get the players around you to play well? You got to have good work ethic. You’ve got to be able to overcome adversity. You’ve got to be able to force positive performance from the other players.
"You can’t be a transactional leader. This is where a lot of athletes are. It’s all result based. If the play works, it’s great. If it doesn’t work, it’s terrible. Well, that ain’t really how it is. Being a transformational leader is you’re trying to serve other people. You are trying to hep them for their benefit. You have a vision for what you want to accomplish and what your view of the offense should be and you’re going to try to inspire the people to help you do that. You got to be somebody that somebody can emulate.”
Williams' franchise-altering ability continues to seep through even on rocky days in camp. The natural feel for the position combined with special arm talent, accuracy, and a rare aura can be what elevates a Bears franchise that has been wandering in quarterback hell for decades.
The side-arm throws and off-platform dimes are all well and good. But how Williams' leadership tentacles permeate the organization will determine whether or not he reaches the rarified air he dreams of one day occupying.
"I think he's going to be a positive type of leader," defensive tackle Andrew Billings said of Williams during the second week of camp. "He's gonna say, hey, let's go, let's keep going. If you mess up in a play, it's next play, next play. He's going to have a lot of poise."
"He is doing a great job of being in the role he’s in, being the starting quarterback of the 2024 Chicago Bears," offensive lineman Ryan Bates said. "He is a very personable person. We get in the huddle, and he gets that big smile on his face, like, ‘What’s up, boys? How we doing? Doing good today? Let’s rock and roll.’ I love seeing that coming in the huddle."
Williams' happy warrior vibe and his belief in himself and his teammates can be a rising tide that lifts all boats.
"It’s just the way he comes in here, and he’s got confidence in the huddle and in his abilities," center Coleman Shelton said. You can’t play without confidence. He does a great job of that. We feed off that, which is the biggest thing."
As Saban discussed the difference between a "transactional leader" and a transcendent one, HBO played a noteworthy clip of Williams and Moore discussing how they want to work a concept. As Moore explained the options, Williams gave a glimpse into his attempt to be the type of elevator that Saban described and that the Bears hope he'll be.
"You just find green grass and I'll find you," Williams told Moore.
It's very early in Caleb Williams's education. But so far, the rookie quarterback's rare wiring and the Bears' comprehensive plan seem perfectly aligned, and their early synergy should give hope that they can meet or exceed the high expectations that lie ahead.