(670 The Score) New Bears general manager Ryan Poles wasted no time endearing himself to the fan base and setting an initial standard for the organization as he was officially introduced Monday at Halas Hall.
“We’re going to take the North and never give it back,” Poles said.
Poles and new coach Matt Eberflus understand well that the Bears’ path for success starts with winning the division, which they’ve only done once in the past 11 seasons and only twice in the past 15 seasons. With that in mind, Eberflus detailed his recipe for producing success.
“I would like to have a statement, really to the Chicago Bears players and fans,” Eberflus said. “We will play at a high-tempo, a high-effort, attacking, physical style build upon speed, quickness and explosive athletic ability. We will carry ourselves with an attitude of energy, passion and intensity. We will play with maximum effort on every play. And my next piece of advice for the players for sure is get your track shoes on, because we’re running.
“And then people always ask, ‘How do you get a football team to play hard, to play fast, to play physical, to know exactly what they’re supposed to do? How do you do that?’ That’s always a question I get asked. It’s a foundational piece. So what we want to do is build the foundation. This first year, we want to build this foundation of what we’re going to look like, of what Chicago fans, alumni can be proud of. And the foundational pieces are hustle, effort. We’re going to be an effort-based team. OK? That’s the No. 1 piece, and we’re going to have measurable ways for standards of performance that are going to be detailed. Every single rep, every single practice, every single game, it’s going to be an effort-based team.”