Bears News: Kmet on competing, mentoring, and Ben Johnson’s detail-obsessed culture

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 1 day ago

CHICAGO - Tight end Cole Kmet is one of the only players left on the roster who was on the Bears during Matt Nagy’s tenure as the head coach. Since then, Matt Eberflus went through his tenure as coach and now, Ben Johnson is starting his time as Chicago’s head coach.

When Johnson’s first draft pick as the head coach of the Chicago Bears was a tight end, Kmet was taken back.

“I think at first you’re taken back a little bit. But, Ben was awesome about it in terms of calling me right away and kind of explaining the decision and from there, you’re just all on board on it and you kind of understand their vision and you understand that there’s going to be areas where we complement each other and then there’s obviously, just like in any position room, there’s going to be areas where we compete for things and that’s football and that’s how it should be,” Kmet said. “So, I’m excited about it and I’m excited to not only push him and for him to push me and we’re going to make each other better and I think the goal with it is to become the best 12-tandem in the league and see where we can take it from there.”

It is a little full circle for Kmet to become the mentor to rookie tight end Colston Loveland. When Kmet was a rookie, he was able to learn from veteran Jimmy Graham who was going into his eleventh season.

While Kmet is not yet at that point in his career, he still has a lot of time ahead of him and is just the second tight end in franchise history to have at least five games with at least two receiving touchdowns; the other is Mike Ditka.

“I still got things that I got to work on and I got to achieve. When I was a rookie, we had Jimmy (Graham) here and Jimmy was, I think Jimmy was 32 or 33 at the time (and) probably on the back end of his career at that point and I don’t necessarily feel like I’m at that stage of my career yet. So, maybe a little different in that regard,” Kmet said. “But, that being said, getting to know Colston’s been great so far and I want to give him as much knowledge as I can and give him all the things that I’ve learned and get him up to pace as soon as and as quickly as possible so that he can go out there and be the best football player that he can be this year and going forward. I’m excited about that, and it’s been awesome to get to know him here these past few weeks since he’s been drafted, and I think he’s going to fit just fine in our room and in the offense as well.”

Matt Nagy and Matt Eberflus were very different as head coaches, but Johnson sets himself apart from the previous coaches Kmet has worked with. Johnson is obsessed with details and makes everyone earn their spot, something Kmet respects.

“I think what sticks out (with) Ben and this staff and just in general is just how detail-oriented they are. You can feel that in the meetings and they’re relentless on the details and I think that’s something that may be a little bit unique from what I’ve had in the past. Not saying other coaches weren’t detailed, but it’s like an obsession with the details and you can feel that from him and he just can’t let it go. So, you feel that from him whether it’s on the field, in the meeting room and he brings that with him with wherever he’s at,” Kmet said. “I think with Ben and I think it’s been evident, you got to go out and earn it, which I can respect and I can totally understand … You got to show it on the field and I think that’s what’s been cool about this process so far.”

Since mandatory minicamp has ended, the next opportunity to see Johnson’s offense start to take shape will be during training camp, which starts in late July.