Caleb Williams pinpoints a crucial shift beyond coaching. Discover the contagious element fueling the Bears' dominant 2025 season and renewed team confidence.
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams went through a lot as a rookie.
He started with Matt Eberflus as his head coach and Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator. Eberflus was eventually fired in the middle of that 10-game losing streak, losing his job after the 23-20 loss to the Detroit Lions on Thanksgiving.
Waldron was let go by the franchise even earlier, being fired after the 19-3 loss to the New England Patriots. Thomas Brown became the offensive coordinator in Waldron's place.
Brown was then named interim head coach after Eberflus was fired. Wide receivers coach Chris Beatty was the offensive coordinator for the remainder of that season.
Regardless of all the coaching changes, Williams still showed promise, finishing with 3,541 passing yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Bears are 8-3 under first-year head coach Ben Johnson, with offensive coordinator Declan Doyle.
Williams was asked at a recent press conference about the most significant difference between his rookie season and now. He pointed to the team's belief in all three phases of the game.
"Yeah, I would say uh, I've spoke on it multiple times now, it's the belief," Williams said. "When you have a certain amount of belief between all three phases, from the players, special teams, defense and offense, that belief becomes contagious. That's something that Ben has provided in us, and the other coaches have provided in us, and instilled in us is that belief, and the coaches. You have belief in your coaches, obviously, we believe in each other out there, but you got belief between the coaches and players, you could do a lot on the field."
That belief is translating to Williams and the success of the offense this season. He has 2,568 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions in 2025.
The offense as a whole has improved, too, as the Bears currently rank second in the NFL in rushing yards per game, averaging 142.3. Chicago also has the third-fewest turnovers in the league at eight.
On the defensive side, the Bears are forcing the most turnovers with 24.
Special teams may still need some work, as the Bears allow the most return yards per game at 145.39. However, Chicago hasn't allowed a return touchdown since the 47-42 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Winning can fix a lot of things for a team, but so can a solid belief in the coaches' and players' abilities in every phase of the game.