Early in Tuesday’s season premier of “Hard Knocks” featuring the Chicago Bears, Nick Saban made a cameo.
The recently retired Alabama coaching legend got his head coaching start in 1990 with Toledo. Bears head coach Matt Eberflus played linebacker at Toledo that season. He invited Saban to Bears training camp to appear in front of “Hard Knocks” cameras and offer up some of his wisdom.
Eberflus finds himself in the midst of a high-stakes opportunity with considerable upside and the downside of derailing his career. The third-year Bears coach enters the season with the promise of a No. 1 pick quarterback in Caleb Williams who’s already being hailed as a savior for a quarterback-starved franchise that’s never produced a 4,000-yard passer.
It’s a situation that comes with scrutiny for both Eberflus and Williams, who will both face intense pressure to succeed — perhaps earlier than is reasonable for a team starting a rookie quarterback. Saban offered up this perspective to Eberflus.
“Here’s my theory on why NFL quarterbacks fail at such a dramatic rate,” Saban said. “To me, expectations are a killer. This kid you’ve got — this kid’s got so much media, so much hype, so much expectation on doing well. And he has to develop so quickly to meet the expectations everybody has for him. It’s almost impossible.”
That irony that Saban doled out this wisdom during an hour-long episode of HBO’s annual training camp mini-series devoted almost singularly to Williams wasn’t lost.
How will Williams, Eberflus respond to pressure?
The weight of Chicago is on Williams’ shoulders. It’s a point that was hammered home on “Hard Knocks” repeatedly as it devoted the vast majority of the hour to Williams. Because what or who else would it focus on?
The episode started with a phone call from Eberflus to Williams on draft day that pointed its cameras behind Williams’ shoulders as he made his way from the green room to the Detroit draft stage to give commissioner Roger Goodell a hug.
It then followed Williams through his first training camp meetings and practices and some light rookie hazing that included a failed karaoke rendition of John Legend’s “Ordinary People” that drew good-natured jeers and laughter from his teammates in the Chicago film room.
Williams took the ribbing with a smile, surely ingratiating himself with his teammates. He then spoke with “Hard Knocks” about his preparation and his early experiences as an NFL pro.
“I think I’m on track to be ready,” Williams said. … “The reps are always paramount. Especially for a young guy like myself. Every day, I’m learning something new. … Obviously, it’s gonna be challenging at times. It’s not coming quicker or slower than I expected.”
It’s the right answer for a rookie quarterback set up to and expected to succeed. The Bears have invested heavily around Williams, including securing a strong trio of wide receivers in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and fellow first-round rookie Rome Odunze. It’s a strong group that gives Williams a leg up that most No. 1 overall quarterbacks don’t get. Thus exacerbating the already high expectations.
Jonathan Owens, rookie OL get some camera time
The episode didn’t spend all of its time on focused on Williams. It veered off into coverage of safety Jonathan Owens’ excused absence from training camp to travel to watch his wife Simone Biles compete in the Paris Olympics.
It also gave some shine to undrafted rookie signing Theo Benedet. The Canadian import made his mark with a speedo-clad rendition of “God Bless the USA” to ingratiate himself with his mostly American teammates. His speedo featured an American flag and an image of a bald eagle on the front.
But in the end, the episode was about Williams, much like what’s to be expected of the Bears’ season. How Williams and Eberflus perform under that spotlight will be one of the biggest stories of the NFL season.