LAKE FOREST, Ill. – A winning culture is one of the elusive intangibles that every sports team in the world strives for, every season. It’s hard to qualify and impossible to quantify. It’s also what Bears GM Ryan Poles and head coach Matt Eberflus hoped to completely reshape when they took over the reins of the organization back in 2022 with sweeping personnel changes and the installation of the H.I.T.S. principles.
The Bears specifically wanted players with high motors who played through the echo of the whistle on every snap. They wanted guys who loved football because they loved football, not just because they were good at it. And they were going to focus on Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and Smart ball.
Heading into Year Three of the Poles/Eberflus regime, the Bears believe their culture is better than ever.
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“The way I’ve felt since the day we came in, from the first day, everyone’s just like starving, everyone wants to eat, some type of way, however it is,” said nickel corner Kyler Gordon.
Gordon has been with the Bears from the start of the new program as part of Poles’ and Eberflus’ first draft class. He’s noticed a difference in the culture from his rookie season to now, and called it “uncommon.”
“The way that we do talk, the way that we positively critique and get on each other, the accountability, the way we hold each other to the standard and stuff like that, we’re on top of it 24/7, really.”
The real talent influx for the team began in 2023, after Poles stripped the roster to the studs. He added notable veterans in free agency like Tremaine Edmunds, T.J. Edwards. Blockbuster trades brought in cornerstone players like DJ Moore and Montez Sweat.
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But last year the team was still getting a feel for one another. They were still figuring out what their identity was going to be as a team. Now they’ve spent much more time together to develop relationships off the field, which helps with their relationships on the field.
“Now that we’ve chilled a little bit more, now I know you more, and that trust factor going to the field knowing your brother is going to show up for you and make that play, that’s the game that we play,” Edmunds said. “Just having that experience and being able to do that, it’s going to make this team 10 times better.”
Edmunds said another big key is that the Bears have created an environment where everyone is comfortable being themselves, and folks don’t put up a front to impress anyone else.
“For me, I trust the individual more, I respect the individual more if you show up as your authentic self,” Edmunds said. “I think we have a lot of guys who what you see is what you get. It’s not like I’m going to show up for this person, I’m going to try to be this person, but behind closed doors I’m this person. Nah. It’s a genuine person. I think when you have a group of genuine people, I think that bond and that energy you feel, it’s going to naturally feel different.”
Edmunds listed a number of ways that players have gotten together outside the building to create those bonds, from going out to eat, heading to the pool, or even shopping at the mall together.
“All that stuff goes to us playing fast on Sundays or whichever day we’re playing,” Edmunds said. “I know– as funny as it sounds– things that might make (a teammate) smile or things that might get on his nerves… Whatever it may be, that type of relationship and that type of energy, man, it’s what drives winning football teams.”
The Bears see their culture as something they’ll continue to work at and develop. It’s not a finished product and the hope is it will improve with each year of continuity.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Edmunds said. “You don’t just develop that in the offseason or training camp and then that’s it. Nah. You develop that with adversity you face throughout the year. It’s going to be ups, it’s going to be downs, but the stuff we’re building now is what’s going to get us over that hump.”
For now, though, vibes are high and the team is ready to show the league what they’ve been cooking up at Halas Hall.
The starters may be done in the preseason, and if that’s the case, that’s alright with Gordon. He’s ready to rock with the team for Week 1, now.
“I would say it’s a real positive surge of energy.”