Kmet embraces coaching upgrades, TE competition in new-look Bears offense

Ariana Pensy · Correspondent · 14 hours ago

CHICAGO - Tight end Cole Kmet is one of the only players on the Bears who has been there for the Matt Nagy era, Matt Eberflus era, and now the Ben Johnson era in Chicago.

One aspect about Johnson that sets him apart as a head coach from Nagy and Eberflus is his attention to detail and how this obsession with details permeates throughout the coaching staff.

“Just the feeling I get from my position coach, (tight ends coach) Jim (Dray), and I know that’s coming from Ben setting the tone with those guys upstairs and you feel that from (offensive coordinator) Declan (Doyle) leading the offense as well and then obviously from Ben and himself,” Kmet said. “But, no detail goes unnoticed, and despite the result that might happen, you may catch a ball, and it might be a big play in practice. But, he’s harping on the detail of your alignment’s off or your steps are off here and even though we got the result right, we didn’t do it the right way at times and those are the details that you need to hear and you can’t be result-driven all the time, especially this time (of) the year in training camp. You really got to be detail-driven and Ben’s all about the details and you feel that in every meeting.”

At 26 years old, Kmet is working with an offensive coordinator who is only a few years older than him. Doyle is going into his first season running the entire offense after spending the last two seasons as a tight ends coach with the Denver Broncos.

Although training camp is just starting, Kmet has already taken notice of how Doyle commands respect in meetings and on the field.

“He handles meetings really well, and he demands a lot of respect on the football field, and the main thing is he knows what he’s talking about,” Kmet said. “If you don’t know what you’re talking about, guys can sense that. But he knows what he’s doing. He knows what he’s talking about. So, I don’t think it really matters how old you are. If you know what you’re doing and know what you’re saying, guys are going to respond and guys are going to listen, and I think guys have done that so far.”

Going into the NFL Draft back in April, tight end did not seem like a high-priority position for the Chicago Bears. Nonetheless, Chicago elected to draft tight end Colston Loveland with the No. 10 overall pick in the draft.

Although the Bears will most likely be using 12-player personnel with two tight ends on the field, Kmet still sees training camp as a competition between himself and Loveland in some areas.

"I think there’s naturally areas where we’re going to compete with one another just (because) we’re in the same position and we’re both pass catchers and I always feel like despite if you’re a tight end, running back, receiver, we’re all competing with one another for certain roles in the offense and nowadays, they can put you anywhere and so as long as you can show the coaches that you can handle certain things, they’re going to put you all over the field. So, there’s aspects of it that’s competition and then there’s aspects where I think that we’re going to be able to complement each other’s game really well.

"So, looking forward to seeing how that pans out. Looking forward to the competition. I think it’s going to make both of us a lot better. But then, when it comes to the season, it’ll be fun to see how we complement one another on the football field,” Kmet said. “I know he’s got a little bit more to go, but excited to see where he goes and can see where he can fit in the offense and those type of things. Obviously, a great athlete, got a great size, really fluid in his routes, got great speed. So, looking forward to see him develop this training camp and how he’s going to help us this season.”