Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show - Dan Wiederer: Bears must figure out keys to sustaining success

Episode Date: February 9, 2026

Leila Rahimi, Marshall Harris and Mark Grote were joined by Dan Wiederer of the Athletic to share his takeaways from the Seahawks beating the Patriots Super Bowl 60 and to discuss the Bears promoting pass game coordinator Press Taylor to offensive coordinator.

The score. Dan Weiderer, Bears reporter and senior writer for the athletic. You're going to be relying on a lot of young players, guys that have to materialize into who they thought they were. The Bears are who we thought they were. On-air contributor for 670 The Score. We'll mention this mainly because Dan Weiderer said we would mention this Nugget. Host of the Take the North podcast. We're going to take the North and never give it back.

Dan Weider. Thanks, Coach. We'll go first to Dan Whedier. On Chicago Sports Radio, 1043, The Score. Weezy. That poor bear is here. guy. I think about him every time. This is Rehmi Harrison Grotie

on 1043, the score, and we go to our Circa Resort and Casino hotline. Circle Las Vegas.com. That is where we connect with Dan Weiderer, the senior writer for the athletic who covers the Bears. He is the co-host of the Take the North podcast, DTN, alongside

our own Mark Grody. Dan, thanks for joining us. Hi, guys. Welcome to the NFL offseason. Oh, we've made it. Look at that. The weed man has spoken. The season is over. Dan, Mark is trying to call you the weed man. And I'm pretty sure that refers to something else.

How do you feel about this? Weed man, weed man, weed man. It does not apply to me, but I have been called that many times over the course of going to. Okay. dating all the way back to junior high. We can throw something out here right now. All of the people that knew me in childhood just call me weed.

And so my nickname has kind of evolved over the years during various markets. and on this station as well. And you can call me just about anything you want. Wait, wait, wait. What is your preferred nickname? Because I don't want to call you weed if you don't be called weed. What are you talking about? We've got to call him weed now.

I think of a little more endearing, but that's also Mark Grody, who put me on to the weedsy. So what do you, Dan Weider, want to be called? It's whatever you prefer. I will just tell you that, like, as I just shared, weed was what I was called through all of high school and really through college. And it's what my close friends still refer to me as. You get a wide. You get a wide too, right? Some people do the IE with the EI, the Weidner. No, don't get that. No, no wider. Stop trying to make wide happen, Grody.

I took it, I pushed it too far. Yeah. I have shared that my high school homeroom teacher added an N and would call me Weedner, which that was always fun as well. Yeah, that was what you said. Ah, yes, the Trubitskiing of your name. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Josh McGowan. We were, we're, of course, we shared our takeaways. And I think we watched the Super Bowl a little. bit differently now since the Bears did actually have two playoff games this season. You know, you're evaluating through a different lens. You want to say to yourself, what would the Bears do if they were facing Seattle in the NFC championship game? If they were pacing the Patriots, you know, we asked the question about Caleb Williams, if he were in Drake May's spot for the Patriots because they're drafted the same year.

You know, what about this Bears season and watching the Bears? What changed for you and you were watching the Super Bowl last night with that lens? So we'll never know how Caleb have performed against that particular Seahawks defense on that particular stage. We will get a glimpse next season of that matchup, though. And it'll be an interesting test to see what the Bears do with the offense that they have. That's obviously evolving, and we expect to improve against a Seahawks defense. Guys, it was great all year. And then it may have been at its best in the biggest game of the year, which is really

impressive because Mike McDonald does so much stuff that it just relies on the cohesion and the detail. and they just mastered it last night. They had the Patriots offensive line uncomfortable, which then made Drake May uncomfortable, and they just didn't really ever let up until the game was well in hand. And I think at the end of the third quarter, the Patriots were averaging two yards of play

after three quarters of a Super Bowl. And so you just got to give the Seahawks their flowers for how well they played, and it wasn't an anomaly because we saw that all year long from that group. I'm curious, Dan, what was your biggest takeaway from this game through the lens of what the bears need to do to get to be on the level where they can play in that game next year. Well, you just, I mean, you just have to understand how hard it is to get there,

you know, and I think that they do very well. And now it's just about going and finding ways to strengthen your roster everywhere you can strengthen it to understand that you're in a different class than you were in at this time last year. Like you have elevated yourself into the level of being a team that is a playoff football team that has a chance to stay there for the rest of this decade and beyond. and now you just have to figure out the keys to sustaining success that gives you the maximum number of opportunities to try to get hot in January, right? Like that's what this is all about because there is a lot of Super Bowl contenders that never play in a Super Bowl. You know, and so you can be a legitimate Super Bowl contender and never get to play in that game just because of how difficult this league is.

And so I think the Bears' next step is figuring out how to sustain success in order to give themselves the maximum number of opportunities to play in January. and like I said, get hot and ultimately be in February one day. Right now they are trying to replace success, if you will, at the offensive coordinator position. They have hired a press tailor. Yeah. And Dan, this is a great question for you because you talked to Press Taylor quite a bit this year in the hallway at Hallis Hall.

We were afforded that opportunity a couple times a month to talk to the assistant. But it feels like you spoke to him. It felt like just as much, if not more than anybody. What's he all about from your conversations with him? Well, the two places I'd start, Grody, is this is this guy who's very bright and he's bought in, you know, and that's very important for this position because you essentially are going to have to be somebody who amplifies Ben Johnson's messaging. If you're, you know, helping with installs, if you're leading post-practice, you know, film review, whatever it may be, your voice has to be almost identical to the head coaches.

And it has to spit out all of the points of emphasis that the head coach needs. And so for them to be able to hit the ground running, obviously, you said they hired, but it's a promotion. You know, Press was the passing game coordinator last season. And so he knows what Ben's all about, right? Like he watched Declan Doyle in that role. He knows what's expected of him. And I think you're going to have a guy that's truly dedicated to helping Ben be at his best, which then helps Caleb be at his best, which then helps the football team be at their best to make a run as long as they can make it. So it's going to be interesting to see how that evolves.

Well, and also, Dan, I feel like Press Taylor was another one of these names that, You know, it's kind of similar to Eric B. Enemy. There might have been a previous assumption of him or a previous understanding, but flourished with this coaching staff. You know, the same can be said for Eric B. Enemy, now the O.C. back in Kansas City. What do you think about Press Taylor, just having talked to him yourself and who he is as a person and what you can tell us about just, like, discussions you've had with him and how he'll fit into this? Yeah, you know, I mean, obviously he had experience with Chip Kelly when he first got in the league

and then with Doug Peterson and Frank Reich. And so he's got some knowledge from some people that have done this at a high level. A little Chicago-related tidbit. Press was a quality control coach, I think, at the time that the Eagles on Cork the Philly Special. And he was the one that lifted it from the Bears playbook, right? Like the Bears ran a version of that play in Minneapolis against the Vikings in a meaningless game. And then the Eagles took it. They applied their own sort of twists, formational and schematic twist to it

and ran it in the Super Bowl on a fourth down to win the biggest game that the franchise had ever won up to that point. And so that's a little nugget there of a guy who's always looking for creativity. And that's going to help a head coach in Ben Johnson, who's got the creative tendencies and the willingness to try things and take ideas from any angle. And so look, like this is going to be, again, like this is a continuation. And the Bears have to lean into continuity in 2026 with everything they're bringing back on the offensive side of the ball. From the quarterback to the play caller to, in this case, a coordinator who is here last year to all the personnel that they have in the offensive of the ball. They've got to take a leap forward because of the continuity

and press will play a small part in that. Interesting to see exactly how big of a role he plays going forward. Another position that's open right now for the Bears is that of assistant general manager. How do you think that gets filled? Do you have anybody that you're looking at that might step into that spot, whether internally or externally? Yeah, I don't know that they've made any decisions there. I actually cast some lines on that late last week.

and I still feel like they're making that decision. Jeff King is the obvious in-house promotion. You slide him over, I think his current title is Senior Director of Player Personnel. He's been here since the early days of the Ryan Pace regime, and so he knows everything inside that building and has been a trusted resource for Ryan Pohl. So we'll see if they decide to make that kind of easy slide-over promotion or if they've got other things in mind.

But yeah, that is something that they're going to have to kind of get solidified soon. You know, two weeks from now, we will all be at the Combine in Indianapolis. It comes quickly. And so most teams like to go there with everything kind of intact so that they can go do their business with maximum efficiency while they're down there. A couple of business items here. A score employee, Pardth has suggested that we need to get you a weed man lawn care endorsement. That's one possibility for weeds.

Yeah. Oh, yeah. Here it is. There it is. We're an edible endorsement. I mean, let's be broadcast here. Yeah. It's all out in the open.

The other one, one of the text is hilarious, what I won't do. I'm not going to read it. Is it from 574? That is pretty funny. Read it to me later, Gordy. We'll send you that message offline. Oh, that is definitely offline material. Hilarious.

I've been dumped one too many times on this program, so I'm not going to be the one to read that. I don't know. Could I read? No, I won't. I'm not going to do it. Mark, don't do it. Mark?

If I have to ask, I'm willing. losing my fastball, I guess. All right, Weedsie, will there be a vacay for the Weedsie family anytime in the off season? Well, spring break, we usually kind of attach spring break to one side of the owner's meetings, right? And so we'll go enjoy that. It usually works out pretty well. So that's a month away, I guess, just a little bit more than a month away. It will be heading down to Arizona where the owners meetings are this year. But on the front end, we're going to do Sedona for a few days and Scottsdale as well. Hold on. That's not a vacation if it's with the NFL owners meetings.

No, no, no. It's before the owner's meeting. So you go and you do the full week and then I stay and everybody else goes home and then I go back to work when the owner's meeting starts. All right. Now the serious question. You've seen the reports. Max Crosby apparently told Tom Brady there is no way he would ever return to the Raiders. Is there a scenario where the Bears would have enough wiggle room, so to speak, to entertain. even the possibility of somebody like Max Crosby on the Bears? To me, the amount of gymnastics that would need to be done to not only come up with the, I mean, you have the draft capital, whether you want to use it to trade for somebody of that caliber, but then you've got to pay them for a long time at a high price tag, and they're already strapped up against the cap. And so I just, I don't see that being realistic this offseason.

I know it's going to be a major talking point among Bears fans until Max Crosby has a new team. but it doesn't feel realistic with the stage that the bears are at right now to be able to make that work. You know, Gertie, we talked last week in just about the number of big ticket expenditures they've had over the last 18 months. There's a ton of them, and there is still a salary cap here in the NFL. It's not like Major League Baseball where you can just go do anything you want if you're a major market team. And so I just, I don't see that being practical or realistic for them at this point. Oh, they can't do anything they want either, as we have learned. But to that end, Anthony Heron did ask this.

And Brad Biggs gave us an update on this. I want to say somewhere around the time Micah Parsons was available. So August is what the bears are spending specifically out of their cap relative to the rest of their spending on the defensive line. It's a significant number. And he asked one of the scribes, aka Kevin Fishbane, Brad Biggs, et cetera, to try to figure that out. Do you have a relative number at least on the top of your head because a significant portion? of their salary cap is going to the defensive line. Yeah, I mean, look, I don't have the percentage right off hand,

but you're talking about the contract they gave to Montes Sweat. You're talking about the contract they gave to Dio Dengbo. You're talking about the contract they gave to Grady Jarrett. You know, those are three pretty big expenditures there. And so, like, I think people in this town are going to have to become comfortable with the idea that a good chunk of their 2026 improvement up front is going to have to be in-house improvement, guys that just take the next step in their own production. and then obviously you're going to try to find some bargain signings

and obviously the draft to add impact there. I wouldn't be surprised if they put some focus on the interior of the defensive line over the next six weeks or so to try to get that a little bit stronger and then find their way through the draft and get the roster set there. But yeah, like this is part of building the roster up and building it for sustained success. And some of that is with players you already have, you have to get the return on investment of what you put into them.

And so, like, that's why some teams fall off the side of a cliff and other teams keep going up the mountain because that's really hard to do. And that's something that the bears are really going to have to focus on. This is as optimistic as you've been about the Bears offseason since what year? 2019. Okay. Yeah, that was a, you know, that was a big offseason. People tend to kind of revise the history of that in terms of what the anticipation for what that season could be. Obviously, I think that the most notable difference this time around is you feel.

like your quarterback has a much higher ceiling than you had back then. And you feel like your head coach is more proven, you know, in terms of what he does best. And so that you look like Matt Nagy was the coach of the year that offseason. There was a lot of juice in terms of what people thought he was going to be in this town for a long time. But yeah, that year, like people should put themselves in the cold tub time machine, go back to the summer of 2019 and remind themselves of the juice that was here in the city then. This is going to be every bit of that, this offseason for sure, and headed for wherever they decide to play their opener.

Maybe it's in Seattle in September. Yeah, all the bears needed in 2019 was a kicker. And they let us see all the kickers out on field four at Hall. A lot of them. Saw a lot of them. They might have needed it. Hey, everybody thought, you know, based on the fourth quarter against Philadelphia, that's how specific it got, because he got good in that game.

In 2018, they lost to the Eagles. I was like, oh, man, if you could just build on that. and no. But you're right, Dan. Like we were talking about it earlier. I brought up the fact that get ready, get ready for not just us, because we know what's going on, all of us do with this team year to year. But the national audience is going to be on the Bears bandwagon to start this season.

It's going to begin soon. Don't you feel like that? Like Caleb Williams is going to be predicted as potential MVP. It's all coming, man. It's all coming, right? And so it's one thing for us to acknowledge that. It's another thing for the players and coaches inside the building to understand that and know how to deal with it. Because I'll be honest with you.

And I've said this a couple times in the podcast forum that I thought that that 2019 team wasn't fully equipped for the level of anticipation and expectation and everything that comes with that. Even in training camp, you could almost feel this attention exhaustion that they were experiencing. And you've got to set yourself up for success in that regard because you don't. don't want to get to the, you know, the starting line of the season and be like, man, I'm drained because every single national media member has come through our training camp in the last six weeks. There's been all these extra curricular activities. That year, we had the Bears 100 convention in Rosemont. That was super fun. But I think was another thing that, you know, it requires fuel to go through that for some guys. And so, like, you've got to be prepared for the level of expectation

that that's coming your way this season. And it's part of the, it's part of the equation for sure. And I I think sometimes it gets overlooked. Adam, we, Dan, we appreciate the time. Sorry, I was just reading something from Adam Schaefter. Nothing of note, though, unfortunately. Sorry, guys. No problem, Dolores. We'll talk soon.

Not Dolores. That's wild. Dolores. Okay, listen, I can't just call you weed and be like, okay, thanks, weed. Yeah, weed, I'm a no on weed. I just want to be on the record. Like, thinking weed just seems unstable. Again, you guys can make whatever decisions you need to make.

I'm here for all of them. I'll be flexible with whatever you decide. Dolores does not know what to do yet. That is now my alternate name. Weedy. Enjoy your week. Thanks, Dan. That's Dan Weiderer.

And, yeah, I was checking to see the latest from Adam Schefter just to see if there was any more on Max Crosby. But unfortunately, no. Why do you have a problem with weed man? It's hilarious because he says since childhood, he's talking about middle school. I'm like, there's a weed man in middle school at a lot of places. were asking the wrong questions. To Dan, Dan? I didn't want to put him on the spot like that.

Did you make a little extra money in high school, did you? Yeah, he did. You know how? He got out his weed whacker, and he was cutting weeds and doing yard work. Oh, that's what it is. That's part of the text, by the way, that device you just mentioned. I know. I saw the text.

It's pretty funny. It's pretty funny. That text sent me. I'm not going to lie. That did distract me a tiny bit. It was good. It was really good. And I will, yes, I'll screenshot it for you, weed man, and I'll send it.

I already sent it to him. Oh, you did. Okay. His response was war boy. Oh, boy. So thanks to 5774 and two texts or two texters who text us funny stuff because we appreciate it. Coming up next here on 104-3, the score, the discourse surrounding the Hall of Fame. And its class that was honored yesterday at the Super Bowl is continuing and in a very unlikely place where one member of a broadcast crew held another member of a broadcast crew accountable.

and I don't know that any of us got the answers we want it. That's next.