When Durham Smythe signed with the Bears last Wednesday, he reunited with a pair of familiar faces in head coach Ben Johnson, his receivers coach with the Dolphins in 2018, and fellow tight end Cole Kmet, his teammate at Notre Dame.
After spending the first seven years of his NFL career in Miami — where he was drafted 123rd overall in 2018 — Smythe was released by the Dolphins in February. It didn't take long for the veteran to hear from one of those familiar faces.
"I hadn't actually talked to Ben in a while before he called me a couple weeks ago, and it's like we picked up just where we left off," Smythe told ChicagoBears.com.
While the pair only spent one year together in South Florida, Smythe's early impression of Johnson remains a vivid memory.
"The thing that stuck out to me was just how fired up he was every day, even to go to practice," Durham said, "He would wear cleats out to practice and get out there and run with the guys and go through drills with the guys. That's something that stuck out immediately, especially not knowing anything. That was my first experience in the NFL, and this guy's out here, coaching receivers with cleats on and running around."
Sure, Smythe knew Johnson couldn't put a helmet on and keep up with then-Dolphins receivers Kenny Stills or DeVante Parker, but the tight end thought he held his own for a coach.
While recalling that experience elicits some laughter from Smythe now, back when he was a rookie, Johnson's energy felt welcoming and refreshing.
"Another cool part of it is he obviously is still a very young head coach in the league, but he was young on that Miami staff," Smythe said. "So, coming in as a 22-, 23-year-old, it was cool to talk to a guy that's in your relative age bracket. He was just easy to get along with, and like I said, very fired up about the day-to-day, not just the goal. It was also about practice, the journey, things like that."
As a young coach for the Dolphins who was first hired in 2012 as an offensive assistant, Johnson searched for ways to create and foster close relationships with his players, no matter what position he was coaching.
His idea to run drills with the wideouts was a page taken out of former NFL receiver Shawn Jefferson's coaching book. Jefferson coached Miami's receivers from 2016-18 while Johnson was the assistant receivers coach.
"We felt like at the time that individual period should be the most taxing part of practice — that was just our philosophy," Johnson said. "So, I would be as sweaty as the players would be by the time we got done with that.
"We're all in it together, so it was just a just a way of sharing that."
As he recalls those memories from 2018, Johnson laughs at the thought of putting those cleats on today.
"The types of drills that we had set up were a little bit demanding," Johnson said. "I couldn't do them anymore."
While Smythe won't have Johnson running around the practice field with him in Chicago, the tight end is just ready to get back to work with his first-year head coach.
"More than anything, what you see is what you get with Ben," Smythe said. "He's fired up to be here. He's fired up to take over a very storied franchise and I'm excited to be a part of it."
Check out new Bears tight end Durham Smythe in action. (Photos via AP)
Smythe is also excited to team back up with Kmet for the second time in their football careers.
Smythe has known Kmet since the hometown kid was 16 years old and considering his college options, including Notre Dame, where Smythe was a junior at the time.
"Cole came on his first football camp visit that year," Smythe said. "I remember leaning over to our tight ends coach — because Cole had to have weighed 190 pounds at that point — and I was like, 'there's no way this kid is gonna play at tight end here. He'll play receiver.' The funny story is Cole shows up on campus a year and a half later, and he's much bigger than I am as a senior and he's 18 years old. So that switched really quick."
Even after Smythe graduated from Notre Dame in May 2017, he kept up with Kmet's Fighting Irish career and eventually, his NFL journey with the Bears. Now reunited as teammates, Smythe expects the same Kmet he's known all these years.
"I taught him everything he knows, so I have to start with that," Smythe joked. "But in college, he was the same guy he is now. Really smart, funny, about his business too, priorities are in check. So he's the All-American football player."
The familiar faces at Halas Hall will help Smythe settle into his new home, who is ready to continue building his NFL career. In seven seasons, Smythe has appeared in 112 career games with 74 starts, totaling 132 receptions for 1,228 yards and three touchdowns.
For Johnson, adding Smythe to the roster brings a level of versatility for his dynamic offense as well as a veteran presence with high football IQ.
"He's a little bit of a Swiss Army knife," Johnson said. "He can do so many things at a high level, so that versatility was really appealing to us. I talked about it with the interior line, but it's the same thing with our tight ends – we need smart players and he checks that box.
"He's done a number of things in Miami since I left — you can see it in the (Dolphins coach) Mike McDaniel offense. They're moving him around. It's motions, its shifts, it's base blocking the 9-technique, it's inserting through the interior of the O-line to block the linebackers, so the versatility really stands out. We have a smart player that can move all over our offense, filling at the Y (tight end), filling at the F (receiver). To me, the value for that particular role is off the charts."
