This is the time of year for the Bears to dream, when the sky above Halas Hall is the most striking shade of blue, the air is warm and everything is perfect — until it isn’t.
It felt like that a year ago as general manager Ryan Poles beamed about what should’ve been the final phase of his rebuild, which included top draft pick Caleb Williams stepping in as the new quarterback, but much of what the Bears showcased on “Hard Knocks” was a mirage.
This training camp brings the same mix of optimism and unknowns. Poles got the quarterback everyone wanted in Williams, then got the coach everyone wanted in Johnson, then checked off items on everyone’s offseason to-do list, like upgrading the offensive and defensive lines.
So has he finally gotten it right?
“We are all excited, but excitement does nothing,” Williams said Tuesday. “You have to go out there and put in the work to actually enjoy what we have.”
That work ramps up Wednesday morning when the Bears open practice. It’s been underway since Johnson took the job in January, but will jump to a new level now that the Sept. 8 opener against the Vikings is truly on the horizon.
Poles kept his poker face Tuesday. Veering from what he has done throughout his tenure, he declined to take questions as players reported for training camp. Instead, he symbolically deferred to Johnson to speak for the team.
“My sole focus right now is supporting Ben, his coaching staff, our players and our entire organization and football operation,” Poles said.
In a way, it was fitting that Johnson and Williams did most of the talking. Poles was letting his decisions speak for themselves, quite literally. He believes Williams is a franchise-transforming quarterback and that Johnson is the one to get him there.
Everything about Poles’ blueprint, both for the upcoming season and the long term, hinges on Williams. And his development hinges on Johnson.
Those bets must pay off for the Bears to leap from 5-12 last season to the playoffs this season. Poles made universally acclaimed acquisitions on the line of scrimmage, but those upgrades alone wouldn’t be enough to double their win total. Johnson and Williams arriving as the NFL’s next great coach-quarterback combo, however, would.
Bears chairman George McCaskey and president Kevin Warren made clear exactly how they feel about those prospects by giving Poles a contract extension this month. It put him and Johnson on matching timelines through the 2029 season.
That was based overwhelmingly on where the Bears think they’re headed under Poles rather than where he has steered them so far. In three seasons as general manager, his teams went 15-36 while firing a head coach and multiple coordinators.
Poles made only brief mention of the contract in the few minutes before he ceded the podium to Johnson.
“I am excited about the alignment and the stability that we have within our leadership group,” Poles said. “I have an unbelievable group of people that support me, believe in me, work with me … and that means a lot.”
Everything McCaskey and Warren have said and done has shown they have tremendous faith in Poles, but patience always has a limit. For Poles to deliver some proof that he has the Bears on the right track, he needs results from Williams and Johnson this season.
The standard for any team is that it should be competing for a championship or clearly headed that direction. Neither has been certain about the Bears in a long time. Poles is counting on his handpicked coach and quarterback to point them on that path soon.
