One of the more disingenuous campaigns of the 2024 season was the Chicago Bears fans and media pumping up the idea of Thomas Brown being a head coach candidate.
Brown shot up from passing game coordinator to interim head coach within a month, and while the offense had three good games with him calling plays as offensive coordinator, it led to hyperbole to an extreme level.
Brown was being compared to Mike Tomlin based on three games as offensive coordinator and one press conference as interim head coach. His latest press conference showed anything but the confidence of a head coach who has a Super Bowl ring.
Brown said that calling a timeout to take the punt team off the field to go for it was not an issue, but changing his mind during the team's loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday. It probably would have helped if he had made the right decision first and did not have to change his mind.
Either way, this is a small indictment of a coach who will once again find a role below offensive coordinator somewhere next year. This speaks more to the idea that Bears fans and media need to calm down with whoever the coach is based on the introductory press conference.
Yes, the Bears are starving for a legitimate head coach and they would love for the next Tomlin or decade-long coach to fall into their laps.
A caution when talking about the next Chicago Bears' head coach.
Still, this is a cycle that the Bears use to build hype consistently. The old man John Fox was replaced with Matt Nagy and it felt like a breath of fresh air. Matt Eberflus was everything Bears fans wanted Nagy to be but was not in his introductory press conference, and of course, Brown had the same reaction.
Whether the candidate is the guy you want or a complete question mark, fans have to realize that the games are not won in the introductory press conference and that the press conference after a two or three-game losing streak will reveal a lot more about whether or not a coach can hang, be accountable and answer the questions rather than point fingers and lack accountability.
This is where Nagy stumbled, this is where Eberflus stumbled, and this is where Brown has already stumbled. Until this happens, a coach cannot be evaluated based on their press conference.