When the Chicago Bears hired Matt Nagy as head coach in 2018, he came in with a slogan: be obsessed. He basically said that if the team wanted to win and compete for a Super Bowl, everybody had to become obsessed with being the best they could be. It certainly had an impact. The locker room embraced it, and the Bears went 12-4 that year. For whatever reason, Nagy never used it again after that. One thing is already becoming clear. Caleb Williams would’ve embraced it without a second thought.
People always talk about the #1 overall pick’s massive media profile and his somewhat eccentric personality. That is nothing more than a convenient cover for the real person underneath. Williams is a maniacal competitor determined to achieve greatness. Bears coaches are already finding that out. While they already love the rookie’s approach to learning the new offense, quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph admitted to Josh Schrock of NBC Sports Chicago that sometimes Williams gets carried away.
“He’s one of those guys who want to know why,” quarterbacks coach Kerry Joseph said after the two-day camp wrapped up. “You put something in, you put a play in, you talk about it, you give him the progressions, whether it’s run or pass, like he wants to know why. Last night, probably about 10:30 or 11 o’clock, he texts me, ‘Hey, why are we doing this here? Why are we blocking it like that? Isn’t that his guy to block?’ He just wants to know. He wants to know those answers.
“So when you have a guy like that, he’s hungry for it and you love to know that because now he becomes a coach on the field for you. Once he gets it and learns this whole system, he’ll become a coach on the field now.”
It would be easy to get caught up in the moment. He’s achieved his biggest goal yet: being the #1 pick in the draft. Nobody would blame him for taking some time to enjoy that. However, he has bigger fish to fry. Williams hasn’t shied away from stating that his next goal is to chase Tom Brady. He wants to be the best to ever play. That will require a ridiculous level of hard work to come even remotely close to. Early signs suggest Williams is willing to do whatever it takes. That is a vital first step.
While the late-night texts might be annoying, don’t expect Bears coaches to reprimand him for it. They know his success will lead to greater job security for them and long-term success for the franchise. Caleb Williams wants to break the cycle of misery at quarterback in Chicago. He won’t cut any corners in his efforts to do so. One thing that made guys like Brady or Aaron Rodgers great was their ability to direct the offense as a coach would from on the field. That is where Williams aims to be as soon as possible.
