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Cole Kmet sees role change as sign of success for Bears

Posted on by angelo
Cole Kmet sees role change as sign of success for Bears

Cole Kmet arrived at Halas Hall just in time to see the fall, and now, he hopes, the comeback to competition.

No starter, other than Jaylon Johnson, can better chart the organization’s course from the locker room. For Kmet, a Chicago-area native, it’s even more important to see what’s happening inside the organization.

He attributes much of that to Kevin Warren taking over as team president just after 2022 and the first year of the rebuild.

“Since Kevin has been here, you can feel the energy coming from other aspects of the building, whether it’s in the cafeteria or when you hear people from the media department, whatever it is, there seems to be a different culture around the building, and you have to give Kevin some credit for that in terms of the people he’s brought in and maybe the structure that’s in place here.

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“You can definitely feel it. There’s a new energy with all the people we have here. It’s really cool to see and it’s a huge difference from when I got here my first year to now.”

The staff and coaching staff were improved before Warren arrived, Kmet said, with the change of coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles.

“It went well. I think the first year that Flus has his type of culture in place, there’s always a little bit of a culture shock with everyone,” Kmet said.

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“It’s new and it’s different, but I think coach and Ryan have done a good job of bringing in players that fit that type of culture,” Kmet said. “Just looking at the guys they drafted last year with Caleb (Williams) and Rome (Odunze), I can’t think of two better guys personality-wise that could fit into that locker room.”

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“I don’t think there’s a lot of players in the league that would necessarily fit in here and understand the way we operate on a day-to-day basis and the kind of work that we do. But you’ve got to have guys that are willing to accept that and take on that challenge and I think Ryan has done a great job attracting those guys and Flus has done a tremendous job identifying that type of culture (in the players).”

The talent level increased and it became evident when they started winning games mid-season in 2023.

“I feel like when I look around, we have a ton of good players all over the place, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams,” Kmet said. “I’m impressed with our punter, I watch him (Tory Taylor) bet every day. It’s like he has a 9-iron and a 6-iron in his bag every time he wants to. It’s pretty crazy.”

“I think there’s a lot of depth all around and I think that was evident in the pre-season games with the way we played and going 4-0 in those games and pretty much dominating most of those wins. I think there’s a lot of depth in the squad and I’m sure the roster cuts (Wednesday) and the other day weren’t too easy on Ryan. It just means he’s put together a pretty deep squad and I like what I see around it.”

The Poles had long predicted that this would be difficult.

With more talent comes a change in roles. Kmet has finished first or second on the team in receptions each of the last three years, but doing so now could mean something is wrong with the offense, given that they have Keenan Allen, DJ Moore and Rome Odunze at wide receiver and Gerald Everett at the other tight end spot.

“I mean, if I get more open points, that’s great,” Kmet said. “Ultimately, I just think it helps us win more games. If that means my target share goes down and we win more games, I’m all for it.”

“I’ve been here four years, and I’m really excited about what we have on offense. I think a lot of guys are going to play off each other. If they switch to DJ, it’s obviously going to help Keenan and Rome. If they take away the outside with the receivers, you’ve got the inside with the tight ends, and you’ve got to factor in the running game as well. It’s just about excelling in the role they give you every week. I’m looking forward to doing that, and I think it’s going to translate into a lot of wins this year.”

Twitter: BearsOnSI