Caleb Williams entered the NFL this year as the No.1 draft pick, but his debut campaign didn’t quite go to plan.
The Chicago Bears paired their Heisman Trophy-winning rookie with head coach Matt Eberflus, but that relationship ended 13 weeks into the regular season.
Eberflus was fired after a Thanksgiving fiasco saw Chicago lose a tight game in Detroit to fall to 4-8, and with Thomas Brown taking over as interim head coach, there was little improvement through December.
The Bears limped to a 5-12 finish, and would no doubt have been desperate for the season to end so that the search for a new head coach could properly begin.
Much of the discussion in recent days has been around Williams, and how he can grow under a new mentor.
Names like Ben Johnson, the Detroit Lions offensive coordinator, and Mike McCarthy, who has departed the Dallas Cowboys, have been linked with the role.
And now, the young quarterback has revealed exactly what he’s looking for in a new coach, admitting that some of his demands might be ‘selfish’.
“Strong-minded, a leader of men – I think that’s a cool thing about what you’ve got over there in Detroit,” he told Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown on his podcast.
“Selfishly, I want an offensive-minded guy so I can build with him and be with him for 17-18 years – so I can learn and grow.
“But if we get an overall, grand scheme coach, who is good with time management, helping to control the game… that’s a big factor obviously.
“And then helping find the right guys to win championships. That’s the only goal I have for my NFL career – to win championships.”
St. Brown, in response, joked that he has been trying to convince Johnson to reject an offer from the Bears after hearing Williams lay out the suspiciously similar qualities that he’s looking for.
“Just so you know, I told Ben that Caleb is f****** trash, you don’t want to go there,” he teased.
“I don’t know what he’s going to do with that information.
“I said Caleb is a diva, he’s selfish, he’s going to want everything on his own… thinks he’s the smartest guy in the world, not coach-able.”
Chicago’s quarterback will still have high hopes though, especially after being pranked into thinking that the deal to bring Johnson to the Bears was already done.
He received a text last Friday that claimed to be from Johnson, which said he would be accepting the head coaching gig.
Williams responded by saying he was ‘excited for the future’ and ready to ‘turn it around’ – but realised he had been catfished once he called the number and was met by fans on the other end of the line.
“It was a classic prank,” he told St. Brown, responding to the call on Wednesday.
“The text was so official. I’ve gotten that text from college coaches and other coaches before getting drafted, it looked mad professional.”
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