INDIANAPOLIS (670 The Score) -- When he was hired as the Bears' new head coach in late January, Matt Eberflus had a message for his players.
“Get your track shoes on, because we’re running,” Eberflus said.
The Bears are prioritizing speed and athleticism under the watch of Eberflus and new general manager Ryan Poles, and they aren't sharing hollow words. They're already reshaping the organization’s sports science department to reflect that goal.
After Eberflus and Poles were hired, they each noticed a weakness on the film. The Bears’ skill players lacked explosiveness to create game-changing plays, and their linemen were slow to the point of attack. As they evaluated the roster, it became clear a new approach to sports science was needed.
The Bears hired Brent Salazar to the newly created director of high performance position, a role in which he will oversee the team’s sports science and strength and conditioning departments. It marked the beginning of Eberflus and Poles implementing their analytics-driven vision. Salazar, who most recently was a performance strategist with Kitman Labs, will lead a modernized approach to strength and conditioning.
Salazar will work alongside returning sports science coordinator Jennifer Gibson and newly hired strength and conditioning coach Jim Arthur, who previously worked under respected strength coach Rusty Jones with the Bears from 2005-'15. Jones worked for the Colts for the last four seasons, and Eberflus admired his work.
Salazar, Gibson and Arthur have a new emphasis that prioritizes specifically designed body fat percentages and reshaping each player to peak performance.
In particular, Poles wants his offensive line to be lighter and more athletic. It’s part of a new standard.
“We're going to change it up a little bit just in terms of the style,” Poles said. “And the message has been pretty clear. We've got to change body types a little bit. We've got to get lighter. We’ve got to get quicker.
“There's some young talent that just needs to be pressed. That's part of our job, is to create competition and bring the best out of them. We'll do that and we'll see if the cream rises to the top.”
When Eberflus and Poles arrived at Halas Hall in January, they recognized the benefit of the recently renovated 162,500-foot football operations facility. It was a new building where antiquated approaches were being used in their view. They saw it as untapped potential.
By putting a greater priority on specifically designed sports science, the Bears hope to reveal the best of each individual player.
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago’s sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.