If you want to know what to expect from Bears new offensive coordinator Thomas Brown as a play-caller, just remember his past.

The man was running back.

While everyone wants to see Caleb Williams get a chance to open up the offense and get the ball down the field, Caleb will do that through the running game. More running means successful play-action passes and the ball goes downfield.

Brown apparently understands this, too.

Although his playing experience is limited, what happened last year with Carolina showed that he understands the importance of rushing attempts. It doesn’t have to be rushing yards as much as rushing attempts.

When Frank Reich did this, it wasn’t because the Panthers were averaging 27.8 rushing attempts and Brown increased his play count to 23.8. Rather, it was the number of plays in which Brown hit over 30 yards per carry, as well as the trend in his play calling, that showed he was realizing the need to work it to support the passing game and his own defense.

The Panthers reached 30 shots twice with Reich calling plays and held under 20 shots in several games.

When Brown entered the game for three games last year and the Panthers beat Houston, there was no significant increase in rushing attempts. But this was still Reich’s offense, and he was only assigned playmaking duties while the offensive end coach looked over his shoulder. They ran just 22.7 times their average through three games.

However, once Brown took full control of the offense following Reich’s firing, with only former Bears special teams coordinator Chris Tabor taking over as head coach, Brown was free to move the offense wherever he wanted.

First game, 32 runs. They had not thrown 32 shots since the opener. Next three games: 34, 39 and 36 attacking attempts. The Reich never had more than 32 transports at its disposal.

The Panthers ran into problems in the postseason and were sidelined in the last two games as their rushing attempts diminished.

JAQUAN BRISKER PLACED IN INJURED RESERVE WITH CONCUSSION

BEARS DEFENSE MAINTAINS FOCUS AS THE OFFENSE COMES TOGETHER

JAYLON JOHNSON AND DJ MOORE TAKE THE HIGH ROAD AFTER PACKER INSULTS

GETTING CLEAR TARGETS AND KNOWNING FASTER IS IMPORTANT FOR CALEB WILLIAMS

They had at least 28 rushing attempts in six of the 10 games Brown called.

Brown’s account of his past provided another clue.

“I had a chance to be around (former offensive coordinator) Andy Ludwig a few years ago when I was at Wisconsin,” Brown said of the 2014 season. “It was a really good job in terms of the way you run and pass.”

Some would be surprised to note that the Badgers actually pass the ball, but when they do, they execute both play action and screen play well.

The problem isn’t that Waldron fails to run the ball adequately. The Bears were in the middle of the pack in rushing attempts, but they were flying high offensively as they had 28 runs against the Rams, 39 against Carolina, 29 against Jacksonville, and lost on a Hail Mary when they should have beaten Washington by rushing 33 times.

They then went back to 23 and were back to 20 in the last two games; They picked up on this trend early in the year when the offense struggled greatly. They made 22 shots in their first two games.

Brown made that very clear for everyone at his press conference on Wednesday. He danced around the topic a bit and talked about wanting to “marry” running and passing well, then delivered the main speech.

“For me, it all starts up front, it starts with the running game, how we attack, the mentality of throwing forward,” he said. “We’re building on that.”

Brown won’t just be busy running the ball.

This must be exactly what Bears fans, running back D’Andre Swift and Williams want to hear because it will mean more time to throw, more open receivers and chances to get to the red zone.

Twitter: BearsOnSI