How A Single Sign In The Chicago Bears Locker Room Led A Team Culture Shift

Head coach Ben Johnson did his own research about the Chicago Bears before accepting the job last year. He needed to know what he was walking into. He came away with some important conclusions. He liked the talent, particularly quarterback Caleb Williams. There were pieces to work with. However, one thing became evident from watching the tape. The Bears weren’t tough enough. There were too many instances of guys being pushed around or not being aggressive enough. That could not and would not fly on Johnson’s watch.

So from the moment he took over, he had to set the tone with a message. One method involved putting up a sign in the team meeting room. It had to be something that conveyed exactly what he expected from players in no uncertain terms. Courtney Cronin of ESPN revealed what it was.

The sign in the Bears’ team meeting room at Halas Hall hammers home a core tenet: Physicality. And the message is not confined to certain position groups.

“I don’t care if you’re a lineman, which is [who] you normally think of [being] physical, but also our receivers and our DBs, between the blocking and the tackling, [being physical has] got to show up in terms of how they do things fundamentally,” Johnson said.

Johnson believes down to his bones that the more physical teams win the most football games. It was no different last year as the aggressive and tough Seattle Seahawks battered their way to a Super Bowl title. If the Bears want to get there, they have to adopt the same mentality. It became clear as the season progressed that they bought in quickly.

The Chicago Bears are finally going back to their roots.

Team founder George Halas understood the fundamental essence of football better than most. Throughout his illustrious Hall of Fame career, he learned lessons that carried him to multiple championships. Among those realities was the understanding that the game is demanding.

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“If you want to win, you have to be willing to pay the price.”

The physical aspect of the game was the toughest part. He never denied that. The key was instilling yourself with the spirit and will to endure the pain while inflicting it on the opponent. Make them break first.

“At least 80 percent of the success of the football team is determined by the fight and spirit that they put into their play.”

These were philosophies the Bears seemed to carry forward for years after his death, first by Mike Ditka and then by Dave Wannstedt and Lovie Smith. However, somewhere in the past decade, the organization lost its way. They became more focused on finesse over force, and it cost them their edge. It is why they always seemed to fold when games got tight. Johnson made it his mission to bring back the identity that made the franchise an institution in the first place.

Each offseason pushed the Bears further towards this.

Just look at their draft. Dillon Thieneman was a physical safety at Oregon. Logan Jones thrived in the run game at center for Iowa, as did Sam Roush at tight end for Stanford. All of these guys built their reputations on playing some form of bully ball. No doubt that was part of the reason Johnson wanted them. To have the kind of identity you want for a football team, you must acquire players who fit it. The Chicago Bears have done that as well as they have in years.

Opponents didn’t like it much last season. Teams like Philadelphia, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Washington, and Green Bay wanted no part of it. The Bears came at you like a jackhammer, hitting every weak point until you finally cracked. That figures to get even nastier as the roster moves further and further into that mindset. The best Bears teams in history were known for being bullies. Johnson is intent on reaching that same level, and one sign serves as a reminder for everybody.