Holistic Building or Reaction to Complaints?

What happened to the days when football was simply lining and beating the snot out of someone?

Bears coach Matt Eberflus and GM Ryan Poles are all in on a "holistic" approach to building their team, according to a report from national writer Jim Trotter of The Athletic.

"One of the core beliefs that Flus and I have is, by investing in people, in our staff's development—the mind, body and spirit—you have a better chance of the whole building pulling in the same direction," Poles told Trotter in an interview with The Athletic. "The players feel whole. They feel like they're the best version of themselves in a holistic view, rather than just, 'Hey, come play football for us.' "

So the Bears have tried to make more of an effort to bring the team together by committing to the "mind, body and spirit," of each player according to Trotter's report.

One way cited in the story is a commitment to a team clinician who emphasizes the importance of mental health. They talk about the possible distractions off the field and about sleep and nutrition. Part of their commitment includes a session on breathing techniques.

Last year, fans will recall Justin Fields said breathing properly was a key to improvements he made.

One huge emphasis is on communication: Teaching better ways to do it and knowing the importance of it.

While in Chicago on business, I stopped by to see Bears GM Ryan Poles. There’s such a positive vibe about the franchise, I wanted his thoughts on the offseason and what goes into turning things around in Year 2. 👇🏾 https://t.co/Ou0vQQCJrG
— Jim Trotter (@JimTrotter_NFL) May 19, 2023

Trotter, long a writer of national prominence in the NFL, described a very positive vibe at Halas Hall and it actually is noticeable, especially considering they could be in such a worse state after so little success last year.

Trotter, though, isn't as familiar specifically with Halas Hall comings and goings. If so, he might have noted this all sounds like a reaction to something that happened at the end of last season.

It seems like a reaction to the the exit interviews with players after the 3-14 debacle had ended.

When players were going through exit interviews there was a backlash of sorts. Coaches seemed somewhat surprised to find some players unhappy with what sounded like a lack of communication by the coaching staff.

"There's a lot of things we've gotta correct as a team," defensive tackle Justin Jones said then as players emptied their lockers. "A lot of players were able to address some of their grievances and issues they had throughout the season and everything. I thought that was huge for the coaching staff to hear some constructive criticism from the players and vice versa."

It sounded like a real lack of communication had existed.

"Some guys are frustrated, some guys just want clarification on certain things," Jones said. "You have to give them the answer they are looking for, you have to tell them exactly what it was and the thing they could have been better at. And go about the business like that. Like I said, it's healthy for both sides."

Jones' comments themselves needed clarification.

"I guess just making this a better place for a lot more players to speak what's on their minds," he said. "You know if a player doesn't agree with some of the things that we are doing, I think there should be an open space for you to let air it out and say 'Hey, I don't know why we are doing this' and just be able to explain to them 'Hey, this is what we are doing, this is why your job is so important and this is what it means for our defense.'

"That will help a player feel like it's better doing it more properly because they know how significant their role is to our defense."

The Bears had described their approach as an open-door policy between players and coaches, but apparently this didn't quite exist in reality to the level coaches thought.

"Yeah, it's an open-door policy," Jones said. "You have to kind of reassure players that it's still here.

"When you're going through tough season and stuff like that, players tend to look at themselves and are like 'What am I doing wrong?' And with that being said, you (coaches) kind of have to reiterate like 'Hey, my door is always open if you want to talk.' Reiterate 'Hey, things aren't going the way we planned, I know it looks kind of bad right now, but if you really need to understand where you stand, come and talk. Really make it just that, don't make it seem like 'Oh it's a punishment if you come to the office' but instead 'Hey it's tough right now, come talk to me and we can hash it out right there.' "

If anything the coaching staff needed to become more "communicative," it seemed.

It was back then when Eberflus pointed out one thing the players wanted wouldn't probably be instituted.

"None of the players want ... they don't want to be in pads after Thanksgiving (at practice), Eberflus said. "'I said, 'well, that's too bad, you've got to be in pads.' So I said, I'll take that under advisement."

This led to plenty of laughter amid the press corps. Apparently communication has its limits.

"So yeah, there was a couple things in there," Eberflus said then. "But really what we can do is just improve our relationships. I think it was pretty good, but I think it will be even better coming up Year 2.

"We've built a foundation now with these young guys and the guys that we have currently in the locker room. It was good."

Through what Trotter has reported, there apparently is an even greater commitment to building relationships and communicate now. They want to find out what exactly players need and want.

Or if this approach already existed last year, well, then Poles and Eberflus weren't quite getting the plan across the way they wanted and perhaps this year efforts will be better in terms of implementing this "holistic" approach.

I still have to wonder, though, how Dick Butkus, Doug Atkins, Doug Buffone and Ed O'Bradovich would have acted if the Bears had said back in the day that they were going to take a more "holistic" approach to building the team.

Better yet, you have to wonder how George Halas would have acted if told he needed to communicate with his players, to be more aware of their wishes and desires.

Twitter: BearDigest @BearsOnMaven

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