Growing Tremaine Edmunds: How the linebacker became the $72 million face of the Chicago Bears defense at 25

Of all the stories about how Tremaine Edmunds grew into the player expected to lead the Chicago Bears defense, Terrell Edmunds’ account involves actual inches.

Terrell remembers a track season early in Tremaine’s high school career when his younger — but not smaller — brother complained often about leg pain and didn’t run as fast as usual. It turned out Tremaine was on the verge of sprouting several inches, so much that he stands out even in a family full of NFL players.

“He hit his growth spurt that summertime, and we were like, ‘Yeah, he’s going to be the truth,’ ” Terrell said during the Philadelphia Eagles’ offseason program. “Because he got his speed back, he got his footing underneath (him) and he’s always been athletic. We just knew he was going to be legit after that.”

Tremaine Edmunds’ size will be the first thing fans notice when they attend training camp practices, which began last week at Halas Hall. The middle linebacker’s 6-foot-5, 250-pound physique looming in the center of the Bears defense is eye-catching even before he shows off his athleticism.

But there’s more to why Bears general manager Ryan Poles made Edmunds his highest-paid offseason addition with a four-year, $72 million contract. Why he is expected to be the face of coach Matt Eberflus’ defense after turning 25 in May. And why longtime NFL coach Bob Babich used the same word as Terrell to describe his former Buffalo Bills player.

“Legit.”

Babich knows something about coaching a physical specimen of a linebacker in the middle of a defense like the one Eberflus runs. He coached Brian Urlacher for nine seasons with the Bears and introduced him when Urlacher was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2018.

Babich also knows Edmunds after coaching him for four of his five seasons in Buffalo, two in which Edmunds made the Pro Bowl. Babich believes Edmunds’ combination of potential, experience, age and physical and mental gifts make him uniquely qualified to have an impact on the Bears.

“His upside is just off the charts,” Babich said. “And because of his football character and his character off the field ... I think that can enhance his chances to excel and be elite even more.”

The Bears share Babich’s belief that Edmunds can thrive in a defense that could use a boost. Eberflus touts Edmunds’ playmaking ability, the steady ascent of his game in Buffalo — and a leadership potential he has been building toward his whole life.

The EBoyz

Long before they became the first trio of brothers in nearly a century to play in the same NFL game in 2019, Trey, Terrell and Tremaine Edmunds trained for their football futures with their parents in Danville, Va., where they’re still known as the “EBoyz.”

Their father, Ferrell, was a 6-foot-6, 254-pound tight end for seven years with the Miami Dolphins and Seattle Seahawks and a two-time Pro Bowl selection. Their mother, the former Felecia “Cookie” Veal, was a Missouri Valley Conference champion at Southern Illinois in the indoor and outdoor hurdles.

Along with passing along their athletic genes, the couple set high standards and fostered a competitive environment for their sons.

“They always had us doing something hands on rather than just sitting in the house,” Terrell said.

Ferrell coached the boys at Dan River High School, and Felecia also participated in their training. Terrell recalled before-school workouts, often running hills or sprints.

Leadership and discipline were also big parts of their lives.

The boys were expected to follow through on their commitments, including sticking out a sports season even if they didn’t like it. Terrell said their parents demanded the boys maintain A’s or B’s — or be sidelined from sports.

If you’re wondering how Tremaine came to be a five-year NFL veteran by age 24, Terrell said each boy skipped a grade when he tested up after transferring from a private school to a public one.

The Edmundses also have taken in many foster children over the years, which Tremaine said drives his desire to this day to make an impact on the communities where he resides. The brothers hold football camps and charity galas in their hometown.

“When you put your mind forward to do something, they weren’t going to let us take our foot off the pedal,” Tremaine said during Bears organized team activities.

The brothers vary in body types, skill sets and personalities.

Trey, 28, is a 6-foot-2, 223-pound running back who played 37 games over five seasons with the New Orleans Saints and Pittsburgh Steelers. Terrell, 26, is a 6-1, 217-pound safety who signed a one-year deal this offseason with the Eagles after five seasons with the Steelers.

Terrell called Tremaine “quiet” and “observant,” soaking in everything the ringleader Trey and the gregarious Terrell did and said.

Despite their differences, Tremaine said he had an advantage watching how his brothers handled themselves on their paths to the NFL. And he never felt pressure being part of such a high-achieving family.

“Because I was always destined to get to a certain level and I wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Tremaine said. “That was just my mindset. It gives you a little bit more edge.”

Former Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster believes Tremaine’s family shaped him into an unusually mature and put-together 17-year-old as he made the transition from all-state high school player to college freshman.

“As freakish as they are as physical specimens, they are just extremely incredible people and an extremely incredible family,” Foster said. “With all of those boys, there was a standard set in how they were going to conduct themselves, how they were going to be as people, how they were going to treat other people … how they were going to approach school, all of those things. There was a standard of excellence already presented to them at a young age and an expectation — in a good way. Because they were a very close-knit family.

“You heard the Todd Marinovich stories where the dads were psychos, where they couldn’t drink this or eat that,” Foster added, referring to the former USC and Raiders quarterback. “I didn’t see that with that family. They were very caring.”

The next step

On a kickoff against Ohio State in the second quarter of Virginia Tech’s 2015 opener, Terrell, Trey and Tremaine lined up in a straight line a few yards apart, then turned and charged forward.

“I’ve never seen that,” Kirk Herbstreit said on the ESPN broadcast. “I’ve seen two brothers. But how about that? Three!”

The football flew through the end zone for a touchback, so the brothers didn’t get a chance to make a play together, but the thrill for Tremaine remains.

“It was history,” he said.

Foster said he coached 27 sets of brothers during his 33 years at Virginia Tech as a linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator and associate head coach. The recruiting of entire families — which included former Bears cornerback Kyle Fuller and his three brothers — was a hallmark of former Hokies head coach Frank Beamer.

So naturally Foster’s first exposure to Tremaine came when the Hokies were recruiting Trey, who joined the team for the 2012 season and transferred to Maryland for the 2016 season after one year playing with both brothers.

Tremaine played multiple positions in high school — linebacker and tight end mostly — but he wanted to play defense at Virginia Tech, and Foster promised to make that happen.

The player Foster took in was long but needed to build strength. He had outstanding movement and skills but was raw, Foster said, likely from playing so many positions.

“He had a great athletic and football IQ,” Foster said. “He was very coachable. And his vision was a lot better than I thought it might be. When you play all over the place, sometimes you don’t see some things. If there’s an edge guy, sometimes they kind of play with blinders on, and as a linebacker, you need to have a broad scope of vision.”

Tremaine started two games as a freshman and 27 more in his final two seasons, totaling 109 tackles, 5 1/2 sacks and three forced fumbles as a junior.

Foster said he saw him grow “leaps and bounds” over his three years in Blacksburg, especially physically. He attacked the weight room, adding needed strength to shed blocks and finish plays. Foster said players as long as Tremaine sometimes play more upright, and the coaches worked on getting more bend to his knees and developing better flexibility.

Foster also challenged him to become a more vocal leader. He would call on Tremaine often in team meetings, asking him to break down opponents so he would become more comfortable communicating with his teammates.

“He had a skill set that already put him on a pedestal,” Foster said. “He was just a great physical specimen and a great football player, and he already was looked up to. Now I wanted to challenge him to be that guy — because he didn’t speak a lot, but when he did speak, it made sense and his teammates listened.”

After Tremaine put together a third-team All-America season as a junior in 2017, Foster believed he could have benefited from more physical development in college. But he told Tremaine that if he was going to be a first-round pick, he should leave.

A few months later, Foster was with the Edmunds family in Arlington, Texas, as the Bills drafted Tremaine with the No. 16 pick and the Steelers took Terrell at No. 28, making them the first brothers to be selected in the first round of the same draft.

‘We made it’

At 3:04 p.m. on March 13, Terrell confirmed an NFL Network report with a tweet: The Bears were signing Tremaine.

“I can’t express how proud I am,” Terrell tweeted. “If anybody deserves it you do. God is amazing.”

After Tremaine totaled 565 tackles, 32 tackles for a loss, 35 passes defended, 6 1/2 sacks, five interceptions and two forced fumbles over five seasons in Buffalo, the Bears rewarded him with a big contract that included $50 million guaranteed. They’re hoping he fills the talent vacancy left when they traded Roquan Smith last season.

Babich retired after the 2021 season after 19 years in the NFL and nearly 40 as a coach, and his son, Bobby, took over his spot as Bills linebackers coach in 2022. Babich said he would have loved to see Tremaine return to Buffalo, but if not, Babich “couldn’t think of a better place for him to go” than Chicago. His length, athleticism, running ability and capacity to direct the defense at middle linebacker make him “a perfect fit,” Babich said.

Babich was, of course, struck by Tremaine’s physical gifts during his time coaching him.

“Most guys that are as tall and as long as he is, they have difficulty with change of direction, being smooth in the transition and that type of stuff,” Babich said. “He is a natural knee bender for a 6-foot-5 guy, and that allows you when you’re in coverage to plant, drive and burst in a straight line to get you to the ball quicker. And his movement skills for his size are elite.”

When Tremaine joined the Bills in 2018 at age 19, the speed of the game — and the speed with which a middle linebacker needs to quarterback a defense — caught him off guard, Babich said. But the way Tremaine studied football and held himself accountable facilitated his improvement.

By his second season, when he had 115 tackles, 10 tackles for a loss, nine passes defended and an interception, he was picked for the Pro Bowl. It was also in that season that the Bills played the Steelers and all three Edmunds brothers suited up. Family and friends trekked to Pittsburgh in split jerseys to watch.

“It was a ‘We made it’ moment,” Terrell said.

As Babich watched Tremaine grow, he also saw him become more comfortable making an impact off the field. He was quiet as a rookie as he felt out his new environment, but Babich witnessed a leadership handoff from longtime Bills defensive leader Kyle Williams midway through the 2018 season.

“For the next four years, that dude was running the show,” Babich said. “He did an excellent job of communicating and getting us into the right defense. And the thing I loved about him, when it didn’t go right, he’d go, ‘My fault.’ That’s what leaders do. And then they get it right.”

During Bears OTAs, leadership was among the first things Eberflus, defensive coordinator Alan Williams and linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi mentioned about Edmunds and new weak-side linebacker T.J. Edwards. Borgonzi said Edmunds’ confidence, understanding of the game and communication skills with his teammates helped practices run smoother.

“I’m not the type of leader where it’s got to be my way every time because I don’t think that’s good leadership,” Edmunds said. “Good leadership is being able to listen. Being able to understand that everybody is different. Everybody has different personalities. Everybody responds to stuff differently.”

The offseason program is a time to talk about things such as team bonding and leadership. But the Bears are paying Edmunds for more than that.

They want game-changing plays — interceptions, forced fumbles, fumble recoveries. It is a key tenet of Eberflus’ defense and was a topic of conversation when the Bears parted with Smith, who had seven interceptions and one forced fumble over 4 1/2 years with the Bears. Poles noted upon signing Edmunds that coaches thought they could get more out of him.

Borgonzi said ball production is where Edmunds can take his game to the next level.

“It’s not like he hasn’t done it,” Borgonzi said. “It’s just making a few more every year, a few more plays on the ball, whether it’s punching the ball out or getting an interception, just always having it on your mind. And he’s plenty good enough and hopefully he’ll make those plays.”

When the Bears introduced Edmunds at Halas Hall this spring, he was asked where he thought he was in his career trajectory — not yet 25 at the time with five years of NFL experience, a combination Babich called “unbelievable.”

He replied that he feels like he’s “just getting started,” and he expanded on that when the Bears reported to Halas Hall last week.

“I feel like there’s a lot of room left to grow in every area of my game,” he said. “That’s what I’m most excited about, just taking that next step. This is going on Year 6 now and I feel like I just got in here.

“My body feels good. Mentally I’m in a good state. It’s just about improving on everything. I’m making deposits in that bucket and knowing it’s going to pay off.”

The Bears made Edmunds their highest-paid offseason addition because they believe that growth can continue.