Caleb Williams probably made bigger impact with his sense of style in photographs for an article in April's Esquire by writer Brian O'Keefe than with his comments.
Not much new or surprising came out of it all except for a few leftovers from last season and Williams admitting he went home and cried in bed after some of his defeats last year.
"I'll be honest with you, I've never lost this much," he told O'Keefe. "I lost 10 games in one season. I think maybe 11."
It was 12 and O'Keefe reminded him. But who's counting when you're having fun?
"When I got home, I got in my bed. I just dropped a few tears," Williams told O'Keefe. "And I was just so beat-up mentally, physically, spiritually."
The crying would not surprise Williams' critics, who saw this as his normal behavior after he was crying in his mother's arms following a big loss his final year at USC.
Williams did point out the losing streak eventually could be beneficial.
"To go on a losing streak, to be in this position and be at the helm of it, was definitely important for me," he told Esquire. "Just being able to see how I need to be when times are bad."
Williams seems to have developed a tough hide when it comes to fan criticism, whether about his own appreciation for fashion or styles or about his play.
"The thing is, I don't think about what other people have to say about me," Williams said. "I can't please everybody, so it's not something I'm trying to do.
"I do have people in mind that I want to make sure that they know I care and know I work my tail off. And that's my teammates, my family, people that actually know me. And then from there I couldn't care less, is how I go about it."
Williams went on to talk about his financial creativity in starting up a solar panel company—good luck with that—and the investment company he helped start called 888 Midas, but the best part of his interview was easily the one comment made about the 2024 season under Matt Eberflus.
Normally when teams have troubles, the truth about what went on behind the sceneseventually comes out. Perhaps it's now just starting to, or maybe this is an extension of the reports about how a ticked off Jaylon Johnson stood up to Eberflus after the finish to the loss in Detroit.
Williams revealed that the Hail Mary pass, and how Eberflus reacted to questions about why he let the Commanders set up the play with a completion could have been the first sign there was a lack of accountability by coaches noticed by players.
Eberflus let Washington gain 13 yards on a completion and the clock stopped when they took it out of bounds. They could have easily forced the ball to the middle of the field so the clock would expire with no Hail Mary. Instead of admitting his mistake, Eberflus gave a lame comment about standing by his decision and that it was the right one because there would have been a Hail Mary anyway.
"How he handled it at that time, for that game, was, I think, one of the things that throughout the locker room people talked about and were annoyed by," Williams said.
Consider the seeds of discontent planted, or sprouting or something like that.
It took until everyone really got annoyed by the end to the Detroit game for the Bears to fire Eberflus.
The Ben Johnson hiring and what the new coach faces next is yet to be written, but the coaching stafff has already promised accountability and this would be an improvement over 2024.
