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On Monday afternoon, Brown's attention was focused on the Bears' upcoming game in San Francisco with the 49ers, but that morning was his first address to the team as interim coach.
Brown has clearly laid out his plan of attack for the remaining five games of the regular season.
“Before we talked about Xs and Os, before we talked about our game plan for San Fran, I talked about making sure our house is right,” Brown said. “The original goal is to unite this football team. Everyone is on the same page, moving in the same direction, speaking the same language and attacking vigorously. No more divisions. As for outside noise, we ignore it. That is not the case. It doesn't matter whether it is positive or negative. What matters is our daily approach, our collaboration and execution when the time comes.
Brown also discussed with the team the need to be more disciplined, with a focus on correcting game day penalties, establishing a “non-negotiable” identity of physical presence in each position, and utilizing the three “skills” – coachability, Responsibility and reliability.
“This affects all of us, including me,” Brown said. “I’m not above coaching. Not above responsibility. So we will do this together. It's about being resilient. No matter what happens, no one cares what happened before or what will happen in the future. Get over it, fight through it. “It’s not about the event, it’s about the right response, together and together, and attacking.”
Brown also announced that while he will continue to call offensive plays – now from the field to the press box – receivers coach Chris Beatty has been named interim offensive coordinator. Beatty is in his first year with the Bears but has three seasons of NFL coaching experience and 15 seasons of college experience.
On the other side of the ball, coordinator Eric Washington will now be the defensive player. A longtime NFL assistant, Washington joined the Bears this offseason after spending four years in Buffalo in various defensive coaching roles. Brown added that he has “tremendous trust and confidence” in Washington and the defense staff to “do their jobs with excellence.”
While Brown will take on more responsibility in his new role, he remains an integral part of Caleb Williams' Development. In the last three weeks with Brown as play caller, the offense averaged 363.3 yards per game, which includes an average of 275.7 passing yards per game from the rookie quarterback.
For Brown, consistency is key to the continued success of his partnership with Williams. Brown will continue to help lead quarterback meetings alongside position coach Kerry Joseph and will be heavily involved in Williams' weekly operations on the practice field.
“We all have to make adjustments,” Brown said. “Life is constantly changing. It's not an excuse. I don't make excuses. So I think I have the ability to communicate.” [with Williams] to be effectively on the same wavelength, to continue to demand that we do things right, but also to take it one step at a time, one day at a time.”
Through the end of the season, Brown will focus on leading and unifying not just Williams and the offense, but the entire locker room. It's an opportunity and a challenge that he doesn't take lightly.
“I think it's just about the day-to-day approach and being able to get that message out into every unit,” Brown said. “Obviously I'm the offense, Eric is the defense, HT (special teams coordinator Richard Hightower) from a special teams perspective, so we're all on the same page and saying the same message. But even the best teams are led by players.” When it comes down to it, it has always been and will be a players' league to make these people understand the importance of family and the family business and to stay in the family business.
“…We are in this together. We communicate together. I want these people to understand that they always have a door and a way to communicate with me. I won't just do whatever they ask of me. It's not like that.” But every thought process is about understanding how we can solve problems, how we can improve people and the situation so that we can achieve a better result.
