After unlocking some of Caleb Williams’ potential over the last few weeks, rising Chicago Bears offensive mind Thomas Brown is getting a trial run as the franchise’s interim head coach to close the 2024 NFL season. But while the 38-year-old Brown is a respected young coach around league circles — many people believe he is destined to run his own team on a full-time basis sooner rather than later — jumping up a few notches on an organization’s ladder in less than a month is quite taxing on an emotional and mental health basis.
Brown’s recent journey is a classic case study about the dangerous effects of unfiltered stress (and having way too much to do) on the human body.
So it’s no wonder that on Wednesday, Brown revealed he’d lost 22 pounds (from a body weight of 225 to 203) partly because of the sheer stress he’s been exposed to since getting promoted as the Bears’ offensive coordinator on November 12.
As Brown said, “If you increase tasks in your day, you forget about food.”
Hoo, buddy, ain’t that the truth:
#Bears head coach press conferences have not been this fun since the days of Ditka.
Ladies and gentleman, Thomas Brown… pic.twitter.com/sVdkLxJv1X— Barroom Network | Aldo Gandia (@BarroomNetwork) December 4, 2024
Brown was just the Bears’ passing game coordinator approximately three weeks ago. That job in itself carries a lot of duties and weight. Now, in basically no time at all within the context of an arduous NFL season, he’s responsible for the welfare of 53 grown men who also have to respect his leadership for him to succeed … on top of still running and calling plays for the Bears offense.
Oh, and all the Bears’ remaining coaches now answer to Brown. Plus, his direct boss is Chicago’s general manager, Ryan Poles.
That’s a HUGE leap to make in such a short time, dearest readers!
None of this kind of workload is unprecedented for a bog-standard NFL head coach. The profession has been known to produce relentless workaholics who had to learn to eventually dial it back for their own sake. Brown is still in the early stages of his professional coaching career in this capacity. He’ll learn about that balance one day, too.
For now, a young and hungry (for coaching, specifically) Brown is trying to stay above water while coaching a generational quarterback prospect and 52 other guys.
You’ll forgive him if he forgets about lunch now and then.