Tag: thomas brown

Thomas Brown said he lost 20+ pounds because of Bears promotion stress

Thomas Brown’s stress levels after his Bears promotions seem VERY unhealthy.

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:

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.

Former Wisconsin football assistant elevated to Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin football assistant elevated to Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin wide receivers coach Chris Beatty was named interim offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears on Monday.

The move follows the Bears’ firing of coach Matt Eberflus and the subsequent promotion of fellow Badger coaching alumnus Thomas Brown to interim coach on Friday.

Beatty, who joined the Bears’ coaching staff this offseason, has been serving as the wide receivers coach through Chicago’s first eight games. He now inherits an offensive coordinator responsibility that Brown has held since Nov. 12 — the day Chicago relieved Shane Waldron of his coordinator duties.

Despite holding the OC title, Beatty will not call the plays. Brown, who has received two promotions in less than one month, will continue to orchestrate the offensive blueprint from the sidelines, per NBC Sports.

Beatty’s connection to Wisconsin goes back to 2013 under former Badgers coach Gary Anderson. As wide receivers coach, Beatty captained a wide receiver room that featured Jared Abbrederis and Kenzel Doe.

The next season, he was accompanied by Brown (running backs coach) on the offensive side of the ball. That crew went 11-3 and secured a 34-19 Outback Bowl victory over Auburn.

Following his time in Madison, Beatty spent time as the running backs coach at Virginia (2015) and wide receivers coach at Maryland (2016-18) and Pittsburgh (2019-2020), before making the jump to the NFL level. There, he served Los Angeles Chargers’ wide receivers coach from 2021-23 before being hired by Chicago in 2024.

Beatty’s journey to the NFL level is almost identical to Brown’s. The two will look to bring the Bears back to the win column when they return to the field on Dec. 8 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Former Georgia RB named as Chicago Bears’ head coach

A former Georgia running back takes over NFL head coaching vacancy.

The Chicago Bears promoted former Georgia Bulldogs running back Thomas Brown as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season. Brown’s promotion came after the Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus on Friday.

Eberflus’s time at the helm ended after two-and-a-half years with a 14-32 record. Eberflus’ firing comes after a six-game losing streak and a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions, where Eberflus mismanaged the clock in field goal range to tie it potentially.

Thomas Brown is in a head coaching position for the first time in his career. He will inherit a Bears team that has lost several close games, despite having a talented offense led by Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. The Bears also have a talented defense that has allowed the ninth-fewest points per game in the NFL.

It has been quite the turnaround for Brown, who was named less than two weeks ago as the offensive coordinator of the Bears after Chicago parted ways with Shane Waldron.

Brown has prior experience as a play-calling offensive coordinator for the 2023 Carolina Panthers, who went 2-15. Brown also served as offensive assistant for the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay. The highly-respected coach will get his first shot as a head coach even if it is just with an interim tag.

Former Wisconsin football assistant is now the Chicago Bears interim head coach

Former Wisconsin running back coach Thomas Brown was named interim head coach of the Chicago Bears on Saturday.

Former Wisconsin running back coach Thomas Brown was named interim coach of the Chicago Bears on Saturday.

The move follows the Bears firing of coach Matt Eberflus.

Brown, who had been serving as Chicago’s offensive coordinator since the team relieved Shane Waldron of his duties on Nov. 12, now inherits the most important responsibility on the team’s sidelines.

The decision to let go of Eberflus was nowhere near difficult for the Bears. The former Indianapolis Colts’ defensive coordinator went 4-8 with Chicago this season, including six straight losses.

The latest defeat — a 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving — prompted fans and leadership alike to scratch their heads. Eberflus failed to call a timeout in the final 30 seconds of Chicago’s last drive, a sequence that ultimately resulted in an incomplete pass to end the game.

Brown will take over a Bears team that entered the season with lofty expectations. After drafting former USC quarterback Caleb Williams with the No. 1 pick of the 2024 NFL draft, it appears the team has a franchise quarterback.

That, coupled with wide receivers DJ Moore, Keenan Allen and Rome Odunze, was enough to convince the fan base that Chicago could wind up as a wild-card playoff team.

The opposite occurred. Chicago is fourth in the NFC North with an uphill battle ahead.

Brown’s connection to Wisconsin goes back to 2014. Under former Badgers coach Gary Anderson, Brown captained a running back room featuring 2014 Heisman Trophy runner-up Melvin Gordon and future NFL running back Corey Clement.

Following his tenure at UW, Brown spent time as the running backs coach at Georgia (2015), Miami (Florida) (2016-18) and South Carolina (2019) before making the jump to the NFL level. There, he served Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach in 2020 and assistant head coach from 2021-22 before being hired as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in 2023.

Brown assumed duties as the Bears’ passing game coordinator in 2024. Over the past month, he has been promoted twice.

The Bears are next on the field on Dec. 8 against the San Francisco 49ers.

Former Rams assistant Thomas Brown promoted to Bears interim coach

Former Rams assistant Thomas Brown will now coach the Bears for the rest of the season after Matt Eberflus’ firing

What a wild three weeks it’s been for former Rams assistant coach Thomas Brown. He started the year as the Bears’ pass game coordinator before being promoted to offensive coordinator when Shane Waldron was fired on Nov. 12.

Now, he’ll be the Bears’ interim head coach for the rest of the year.

Following Thursday’s loss to the Lions, the Bears fired Matt Eberflus as their head coach and promoted Brown to interim coach. It’s a huge opportunity for the 38-year-old, who’s a potential head coaching candidate for the 2025 hiring cycle.

Brown got his start in the NFL with the Rams in 2020 as their running backs coach after several stints in college. He was promoted to assistant head coach in 2022 and the Panthers hired him as their offensive coordinator in 2023.

He’s had many different jobs over the last five years and it could eventually lead to a head coaching gig at some point in the near future – especially if this final stretch with the Bears is a successful one.

Chicago Bears fire head coach Matt Eberflus

Matt Eberflus is out in Chicago

Time ran out on the Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving in losing to the Detroit Lions. On Black Friday, time ran out on head coach Matt Eberflus.

After the disaster in clock management at the end of the game, the Bears fired Eberflus. Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will serve as the interim head coach. Brown recently moved into the OC position when first-year OC Shane Waldron was fired.

This marks the first time in the franchise’s 105 years that a head coach has been fired during the season.

It is the end of a disappointing run. Chicago is 4-8 in the NFC North. The Bears have more losses than the other three teams in the division combined (six).

Eberflus defended his clock management at the end of the loss to the Lions after the game. The last 32 seconds ticked off the clock painfully as Caleb William appeared lost while trying to call a play on a third-and-26.

The Bears had a timeout left and should have used it when it became apparent Williams was out of sorts. Ebeflus didn’t and that wound up as the final play in a debacle.

It also was the final play in Ebeflus’ tenure as head coach. He was 14-32 as head coach in Chicago.

After drafting Williams first, there was so much hope for Chicago this year. However, they have lost six in a row.

The one-score loss added to an awful statistic for Eberflus, who is was 5-19 in one-score games during his career with the Bears. According to the Associated Press, Eberflus is now one of 221 NFL coaches who have coached at least 20 games decided by seven points or less. His record was worst of any of those 221 coaches.

 

Who is Bears interim head coach Thomas Brown? Meet Matt Eberflus’ replacement

Brown was an All-SEC tailback with more than a decade of assistant work under his belt.

The inevitable happened. The Chicago Bears fired head coach Matt Eberflus, fewer than 24 hours after his abject lack of clock management scuttled a possible comeback win over the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.

That leaves Thomas Brown to step into the breach for his second firing-based promotion of 2024. Brown began his first season with Chicago as Eberflus’s passing game coordinator. A three-game losing streak led the Bears to fire offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, moving the former NFL running back up to interim offensive coordinator. Three more losses ousted Eberflus, leaving Brown in charge of the whole operation over the final five weeks of the season.

Who is Thomas Brown, and what can he bring to the Bears’ offense?

Brown was a freshman All-SEC tailback at the University of Georgia who racked up more than 3,000 yards of total offense and 25 touchdowns in four seasons at a Bulldog. That resume made him a sixth round pick for the Atlanta Falcons in 2008. He spent three seasons in the NFL but failed to record any stats in stints with Atlanta and the Cleveland Browns.

After retiring, he entered the coaching ranks at Tennessee-Chattanooga in 2012 and spent the next eight years bouncing around different Power 5 staffs, including the Universities of Wisconsin, Miami and South Carolina as well as his alma mater. He got a bit of the Sean McVay rub by spending 2020 to 2022 coaching running backs, then tight ends, for the Los Angeles Rams.

That led him to a promotion with the Carolina Panthers, where he served as Frank Reich’s offensive coordinator for the team’s ill-fated 2023. Reich was fired after 11 games and Brown moved on to Chicago, where he had the chance to mold the top overall pick as a rookie for the second straight season.

Brown’s tenure so far has provided moments of success in a small sample size. Caleb Williams has thrived with Brown as his primary play caller, operating a system of quick throws and a directive to use his legs to extend drives with the skill you’d expect from a former Heisman Trophy winner. But Thursday’s game against the Lions saw Chicago’s offense stagnate for 30 minutes before finally coming alive in the second half, where the Bears scored all 20 of their points.

Now he’s got a chance to stage another late rally. The Bears have the personnel to surge without Eberflus’s frustrating leadership on the sideline. A strong finish could lead to the full time job, like it did for Antonio Pierce and the Las Vegas Raiders. Or it may lead to nothing, like Steve Wilks’s 5-3 record to wrap up 2022 with the Panthers — a dismissal that led to Brown’s first coordinator job to begin with.

If Brown can continue to push Williams toward his potential — likely with a litany of short passes to mitigate his time in the pocket, designed roll-outs and runs and the occasional deep ball that crushes opposing secondaries — he could build a compelling case as Chicago’s full-time head coach. Five weeks may not be enough time to build out his resume enough to convince the Bears, however.

Former Panthers OC Thomas Brown taking over as Bears interim HC

Former Panthers OC Thomas Brown is getting his chance to run the show in Chicago.

Former Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown is taking another step up the ranks in the Windy City.

The Chicago Bears, less than 24 hours after their Thanksgiving Day loss to the division rival Detroit Lions, have reportedly fired head coach Matt Eberflus. Brown, who has been serving as the interim offensive coordinator for the past three games, is expected to now take over as the team’s interim head coach.

Brown’s first shot as an NFL offensive coordinator came last season with the Panthers. He did not, however, assume full-time play-calling duties until the beginning of Week 13—after head coach Frank Reich was dismissed.

Carolina finished the 2023 campaign having averaged a league-worst 265.3 total yards per game.

Chicago then hired Brown as their offensive passing game coordinator ahead of the 2024 season. The 38-year-old would assume the role of interim offensive coordinator on Nov. 12, when the Bears decided to part ways with Shane Waldron.

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Former Georgia RB promoted to be Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator

Former Georgia football running back receives promotion and is now the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator

The Chicago Bears promoted passing game coordinator Thomas Brown to be their new offensive coordinator. Brown, who is a former Georgia Bulldogs running back, replaces previous offensive coordinator Shane Waldron.

The Bears fired Waldron after a rough start to the season despite having a very talented offense surrounding quarterback Caleb Williams, who was the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Chicago has the ninth-worst scoring offense in the NFL at 19.4 points per game.

Brown has previous experience as the Carolina Panthers’ offensive coordinator in 2023. He was the Panthers’ play-caller for part (primarily the second-half of the season) of Carolina’s brutal 2-15 season.

Chicago interviewed Brown for their offensive coordinator role before the season. The Bears ended up hiring Brown as their passing game coordinator. Now, he’ll have an opportunity to prove himself and show he deserves to remain as offensive coordinator.

Brown served as an offensive assistant with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay before coming to Carolina and Chicago. He is highly respected throughout the NFL.

Former Wisconsin Badgers assistant becomes Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin Badgers assistant becomes Chicago Bears interim offensive coordinator

Former Wisconsin running backs coach Thomas Brown was named interim offensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears on Tuesday.

The move arrived shortly after the Bears brass fired former offensive coordinator Shane Waldron. The team’s recent three-game losing streak, coupled with lofty expectations surrounding star quarterback Caleb Williams, spurred the release.

With the Chicago Bears at 4-5 on the season, Brown will now manage the offense for the time being.

Brown’s connection to Wisconsin goes back to 2014. Under former Badger head coach Gary Anderson, Brown captained a running back room featuring 2014 Heisman Trophy runner-up Melvin Gordon and future NFL running back Corey Clement.

Backed by over 3,600 rushing yards and 38 rushing touchdowns from Gordon and Clement, Wisconsin rolled to an 11-3 record, Big Ten Championship Game appearance and victory over #19 Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

Following his tenure at UW, Brown spent time as the running backs coach at Georgia (2015), Miami-FL (2016-18) and South Carolina (2019) before making the jump to the NFL level.

There, he served Los Angeles Rams’ running backs coach in 2020 and assistant head coach from 2021-22 before being hired as the offensive coordinator for the Carolina Panthers in ’23.

Brown assumed duties as the Bears’ passing game coordinator in 2024. The former Wisconsin assistant will now take a stab at calling the plays for Williams and company for the foreseeable future.

The Bears are next on the field on Sunday against the Packers.