Rahimi, Harris & Grote Show
Press Taylor: Starting center 'drives' Bears' system on offense
11 May 2026
Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Rahimi Harrison-Grody. We are the best show in this town to have the coach and or quarterback sit right here. Because we're here for a good time. We are here for a good time. We're fun. We're funny. We're serious sometimes. Sometimes we cry. Sometimes we laugh. Like, this is perfect.
If you wanted a high chance of a drink spilled all over the studio, we are definitely here for you. Middays 10 to 2. Maybe we're the show for you.
On 104.3 The Score. I mean, I know I have two different 10 terabyte drives that I bring with me when I move and I give them to the video department and I don't think they love seeing me come down the hall, but I make sure they load those up for me and then I continue to add as the year goes and it builds on pretty good.
That is the Bears' new offensive coordinator, Press Taylor. This is Rahimi Harrison-Grody. On 104.3 The Score, Clay Harbor is in studio with us today. Clay is the big pro football show on CHSN, the nine-year NFL veteran, and the former Eagle. So you have seen Press Taylor over the years. How has he evolved, Clay, into this offensive coordinator position?
Hard worker, man. He was a quality control guy back in the Eagles when I was there. And he's one of those quality control guys like showing you the cards, showing the cards of the scout team. They're showing the plays that are going on right now to the guys that are sitting on the sidelines. All right, this is a play call, making sure you know what you got. And just a guy that's a hard worker.
I got to go down to Jacksonville and watch practice and get on field as a former player out there. Press was always really cool. Hey, Clay, how you doing, man? He's just a guy that grew up in ball. Obviously, everybody knows about his brother, Zach. And really smart guy. I think he's going to fit in perfectly with Ben because they're both... They have that same mindset.
He talks about his players wanting to be ultra-competitive, passionate, want them to be workers. That's what Press Taylor is. Obviously... He's not the guy that's cooking the meal, but he's setting the table. And that matters, too, when you're setting the table in the meetings. And that's something that's important.
He's a guy that's done it before, was an offensive coordinator in Jacksonville with Doug Peterson. He's called plays. He has a long list of places he's been, whether it's Andy Reid, whether it's Chip Kelly, whether it's Doug Peterson, big Rolodex. Obviously, like I said, Ben Johnson's a chef, but he's a sous chef.
When you look at Press Taylor specifically coming from situations where he wasn't as successful, how much could this turn into a whole Ben Johnson rehab center for offensive minds where they come here, spend a year here, and go on? I mean, if the Bears offense does what we think they're going to do, that seems to be what could be happening here in Chicago. Yeah.
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Chapter 2: What responsibilities does the center have in Press Taylor's offense?
Well, you see Declan Doyle, how many plays did he call last year? None. Zero, right? And he goes and gets a huge job, and he's coaching Lamar Jackson right now. So I think you see the tree, the LaFleur, the McVay, everybody coming from it. Ben Johnson starting his own tree. Johnny Appleseed, he's planting his own stuff. And you're going to see the offensive coaches that come out of this system.
Keep getting good jobs because the people, they see the creativity that Ben has, how he's able to attack these weaknesses. You got a team that's not good at 13 personnel. You want to get the base package on the field? Guess what? We got three tight ends now. You want to stay in 11? You want to keep them in nickel? You don't like their nickel package?
You got enough wide receivers to make that happen. A guy that just knows how to attack the weaknesses of defenses, creativity with the play calling, and just the situational football.
Chapter 3: How has Press Taylor evolved into the Bears' offensive coordinator?
I mean, people talk about Ben Johnson. They talk about him like he's just this passing wizard. Let's go back just three years in Detroit. 11th best rushing team in the league, yards per game. 6th best rushing team, yard per game. 4th best rushing team, yard per game. And then with the Bears, number one. So that's what Ben Johnson brings. He brings a hard-nosed style of football.
Or number three, excuse me, with the Bears. But I think he loves to run the football. That's what you're looking for. But also has a creativity in the pass game.
Let's also listen to, because I think he told a lot of truths about the offense here, specifically what the Bears need out of center. Like, Clay, I don't know how many times I've asked the question, whose job is it to call protection? Whose job is it to slide protection?
Well, listen to what Press Taylor ends up telling us when he's talking about the responsibility of centers and how they have to transition into the NFL.
I think like any of these guys, especially interior linemen, every single week there's somebody across from you that was probably some sort of college All-American or maybe he's a 12-year vet in the NFL, and they all present their different challenges. Whether you're playing a 320-pound nose, you're playing a 300-pound nose, it's super quick, or they're putting –
you know, typically a defensive end inside in certain pass rush situations. That's probably not as much as you see in the college game. And then for us, our center really kind of drives the system. He's making all the IDs. The quarterback will reaffirm them a lot of time. He's making the calls. I mean, everybody's kind of waiting on the identification process from the center.
I'm not sure if that happens in all the college systems. It definitely didn't used to as there was a lot more tempo, up-tempo systems in college. And now, you know, I don't really necessarily know how teams have changed with the quarterback communicator being huddled a little bit more if the centers are taking on more in college.
But I think that's one element that I think is a little bit different from college to the pros.
I think if their center wasn't an Iowa guy who's had the experience that he's had, we'd have a different conversation. But it feels to me like a rookie could be a day one starter for Ben Johnson and Press Taylor this season, correct? Yeah.
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Chapter 4: What makes Press Taylor a valuable asset for the Bears?
And how many times have we heard it be quarterback? This, I think this answer, Clay, helps us understand how truly catastrophic Drew Dahlman's retirement was to the process and the plan of this team. Think about how many resources they devoted to center immediately.
Yeah, it makes sense. And you could see the center making ID calls. I thought it was a blend, maybe, of the quarterback and the center. Because obviously you see Caleb doing some IDs, and he's got the ability to switch protection and move it still. So it's not like Caleb's just back there saying, ready, set, go. No, he's still got some pre-snap stuff there, but... It is. It takes a relationship.
It takes time to develop. When your center is the guy making the mic ID calls, I mean, I can't tell you how important that is. No protection is ever going to be right if your center, if you miss the right mic ID. You've got to know exactly what defense. Is it base? Is it nickel? Who are we micing? You go into a game plan, you might have the actual Sam linebacker.
You might have a safety when he comes in the box. Okay, when the safety comes on, we're going to mic him. It's high-level stuff, and it takes a lot of work. I was always glad I never had to do that. So basically for everybody else on the team, you make it simple.
But finding that mic ID, when you mic ID somebody, then for me as a tight end, I'd go, okay, I got end and buck, which is basically the defensive end and the Sam. And then if the safety comes in, there's a little bit of scan involvement there if the safety's blitzing the outside. But it's simplified for everybody else.
But for that center, finding the correct ID to make sure the protection, you got everybody picked up, it's huge.
So, chances that he is starting in year one and or starting early in year one.
This guy's different. Logan Jones is different. Just listening to him talk, and obviously he's on field. They're doing bag work over there with Dan Rochar. I can't give you any takeaways. I know we're going to talk about a couple of the guys real quick, what I saw from the rookie camp, but... Logan Jones, maturity, the way he carries himself. This guy's married. He's 25.
He's older than Caleb Williams. This isn't a typical rookie coming in the NFL. Yes, he doesn't have the experience, but this guy's all football all the time. One of the things I thought was very interesting, he's talking about Coach Ferenix in the offense they ran at Iowa. He goes, it's the same thing. We ran a lot of outside zone, ran off the football. Here they call it wide zone.
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Chapter 5: How do center responsibilities differ between college and NFL?
And I was a Jackie Robinson at Dwight, too, man. I was wearing the 42 out there, basically. I mean, it's a bunch of farmers now.
Wait, what track were you running?
I was a high jump long jumper. My claim to fame, 8th grade, 2nd place in state, high jump. Dang. 8th grade, Marshall. 8th grade middle school? Yeah, yeah. Okay. But I want to ask you guys, how do you feel about the Bears, sorry, how do you feel about the Bears receiver room?
I'm good with it. I think they're where they need to be. I think they have their top guys. They have their, not mid guys, but the utility guys, if you will. But I also think because of the way tight end works in Ben Johnson's offense, they don't need as many guys, but I think they have enough guys.
Scotty Miller was the veteran tryout guy that they signed.
Barrington guy.
Barrington guy. I thought he looked good, man. Caught the ball smooth, ran well. I think he's a guy that could add some competition to that room.
We still don't know in our hearts, like we're not overly confident who WR1 is.
I think that's simple.
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Chapter 6: What impact does a center's experience have on the Bears' offense?
Obviously, we're getting ahead of ourselves here, but I was really excited about what I saw from Sam Roush. Obviously, you didn't see him play a ton of football, but just his burst, his body, he's big, bulky. This guy's going to be a weapon this year. He caught a couple of nice passes in the seams. He sprints on his routes. He's not one of these guys who are kind of tempoing his routes.
He sprints. He can get in and out of breaks. He's way more explosive than you would think a big tight end of his size would be. that 38 and a half inch vertical, that 10-5 broad jump shows up. And I think he's a guy that that 13 personnel is going to be deadly. I think the Bears are going to be, I think they're going to have the best three tight ends in the league.
If they go 14 personnel or 0-4 personnel, I'm pretty sure that's Clay Harbor's turn.
The Hayden Large kid that Ben said he called at the draft, before the draft, he called Hayden Large to get him in the room. I think the Bears keep four tight ends.
I was laughing, though, because when they drafted Roush, you were like, Ben loves tight ends. Ben, give me a call. I'm like, just tell Ryan Poles you're available in the third round. That's their wild card round.
No, absolutely, man. But you see where the trend is going with the tight ends, though. You see what the Rams were able to do with their four tight ends. They used four, and they were the best scoring team in the entire NFL. Near the end of the season, you heard Press Taylor talk about it. He goes, our offense was trending to a multi-tight end offense.
I think Hayden Lawrence has a chance to make the team. I've been a fourth tight end, Marshall. To make the team as a fourth tight end, you've got to play some fullback. You've got to play some slot. You've got to play some special teams. Personal protector. Run down on the kickoff. Block on kickoff return. But I love the kid's story, and I'm interested in seeing him in training camp, too.
At least you're not a linebacker. Just remember that, Clay.
I'm also laughing at our 815 texter. Dwight, the gateway to Streeter. Fantastic. We have more with Clay Harbor. He's staying with us another segment. A famous man in sports got roasted, but then other guys caught strays. So we'll examine the tape next.
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