When Bears first-round pick Dillion Thieneman went to Oregon for his recruiting visit as he sought to transfer for his junior season, the Ducks’ sales pitch was a little unconventional. Rather than sweet-talk him, coach Dan Lanning and defensive coordinator Chris Hampton delivered a harsh critique of his film.
They pulled up clips of him missing tackles while playing safety at Purdue and gave an honest assessment while explaining how they’d demand — and undoubtedly get — better technique from him.
It worked.
“Most kids like hearing what they’re good at, but he wasn’t interested in that,” Hampton told the Sun-Times. “It was, ‘How can you make me better?’ That’s what you really like about this guy: He doesn’t need pats on the back. He wants to know how he can get better.
“His biggest area of growth was he really improved as an open-field tackler. Before he came here… it was not good. He was all about growth. He’s always going to ask the coaches how he can get better, and whatever you tell him, he’s going to attack it.”
That will play well at Halas Hall, where Thieneman arrived Friday afternoon. The Bears drafted him No. 25 overall the night before, and very quickly the vibe will shift from celebratory back to growth.
They’re counting on him to be an immediate starter alongside Super Bowl champion Coby Bryant. They passed on intriguing options at more valuable positions like offensive tackle, defensive tackle and defensive end because, general manager Ryan Poles said, their scouting intel pointed to stardom for Thieneman.
He said the tough, straightforward coaching Oregon promised to deliver “made it a very easy decision” to go there, and it’s good that he’s so receptive to that style, because Bears coach Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Dennis Allen specialize in it.
Johnson is so adamant and unvarnished about his expectations that quarterback Caleb Williams spent part of last season thinking, “Geez, this dude doesn’t seem like he likes me.” Tight end Colston Loveland said he was “almost intimidated” by Johnson as a rookie last season.
Thieneman, 21, met briefly with coaches Friday. He also sat down with the Bears at the scouting combine and described it as “a lot of positive energy going around,” so he seems ready to embrace it. He’ll get every bit of the experience Williams and Loveland mentioned, beginning May 9 at rookie minicamp.
That’s the next step in a dream that began when he was 4. Thieneman recalled pointing at a TV and saying, “That’s going to be me up there.” He watched old videos of Hall of Fame safeties Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu, but he also intently watched his older brothers, Jake and Brennan, who both played safety at Purdue, and chased their success.
“To see what they were doing, they were kind of teaching it, applying it to me, so I got it at a much younger age than other people,” Thieneman said. “That just sped up my development.”
That’s where this really came together for him. He has incredible physical gifts — he clocked a 4.35 in the 40-yard dash at the combine — but that wouldn’t be enough if not paired with an equally impressive mental game and a relentless hunger.
Those traits sold Poles and his staff on Thieneman and they were evident at a young age. Westfield (Ind.) High School coach Josh Miracle, the defensive coordinator when Thieneman played there, said the Shamrocks got him on the field right away at cornerback because of his speed, but he was destined to move to safety.
“His football IQ at that age was impressive, to say the least, and it spilled over to making other guys on the team better,” Miracle said. “There’s always been some natural athleticism, but when you combined it with the hard work he’s put in, you get the player he is now.
“He just always felt like he was going to be a great fit at safety. We play our top playmaker there, and a lot of communication takes place back there, so that football IQ really gets put to use at safety.”
There’s still some cornerback in there, though.
When Poles raved about Thieneman on Thursday night, he touted him as a versatile safety who can play up at the line of scrimmage as a hard hitter and cover like a corner. With Bryant and Thieneman playing safety, he’s seeking to put as much speed on defense as possible leave the opponent no airspace.
Hampton vouched for his coverage ability and believed he could even play nickel cornerback in a pinch.
“Most safeties are not great cover guys; he is,” Hampton said. “That’s what makes him different. This guy can actually cover in the slot. Obviously he’s fast, but he can also change direction and understands leverage and eye discipline and gets in and out of his breaks extremely quick.
“There’s a lot of great safeties in the NFL that you’re not going to see in man-to-man coverage, but if this guy’s in man-to-man coverage, you’re not worried.”
There’s a long way to go for the Bears to find out exactly what they have in Thieneman, but the necessary pieces are there.
He was an All-American at Oregon last season and was the second safety picked in his draft class. He’ll get about a month of practice time this spring to get a handle on Allen’s defense, then the real test comes in training camp. With his speed, intellect and drive, he should fit in nicely.