Head coach Matt Eberflus is known for his ability to establish a culture.
His biggest achievement while with the Colts was turning their defense around from one of the worst in the league to a perennial top-ten defense. To do that, Eberflus squeezed the most out of his athletes.
That's what he's trying to do now with the Bears. And it's already taking notice on the players.
"It's different than what the standard was last year," cornerback Jaylon Johnson said. "I mean it's hard to say to raise it. But, they're coming in and reestablishing a different culture, reestablishing a different foundation, a different way of doing things, a different way of moving."
The new defensive scheme Eberflus and defensive coordinator Alan Williams plan to run consists of a 4-3 base with Cover 2 schemes implanted. In these schemes, however, there's an emphasis on attacking the ball.
Eberflus and Williams live by the HITS principle -- Hustle, Intensity, Takeaways and (playing) Smart. In this concept, the defense is expected to attack the ball with intensity on every play.
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"They haven't really changed the expectations for anybody in the building," Johnson said. "It really kind of just takes it back to the fundamentals. Playing football hard, playing football the right way. I feel like they established such a good sense of tough nose football.
Johnson's comparison of the new regime to the old in a brighter sense shouldn't come as a surprise to Bears' fans. The old regime's tendencies became eye-opening once it was said Matt Nagy "no-showed" meetings set up by Mitch Trubisky to work on his performance.
Under Ryan Poles and Eberflus, the new regime carries a sense of pride and care for the outcome of their team. They each understand they're in the midst of a rebuild. But, that won't stop them from putting full effort into the players they have now, even if some of them won't be on the team next season.
"The way they hold us accountable is crazy compared to what we're used to," Johnson said.