After years of the Bears fighting off the obligation to be on HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” coach Matt Eberflus said Friday he was excited and optimistic about being featured on the show this summer.
Eberflus addressed the upcoming series, which will require the Bears to open up Halas Hall to cameras and producers throughout training camp and the preseason, in a team meeting Friday.
“We’ve got good people and a good thing going here,” he said, adding that he told players that no one should act any differently with the HBO crews around.
Eberflus was the Colts’ defensive coordinator when HBO featured them in 2021 as the first in-season “Hard Knocks.”
The Bears were an attractive choice in large part because of the arrival of quarterback Caleb Williams, the No. 1 pick in the draft this year. While it could complicate his first training camp, Eberflus believes Williams is well-suited to managing the extra attention, “because he’s comfortable in his own skin … and he’s been out there” as a star athlete for years.
The 2024 Bears will be the 24th team featured on Hard Knocks, which launched in 2001 covering the Ravens. The first 20 years were filmed during training camp, then HBO started an in-season edition with the Colts in 2021.