With the Bears set to open their preseason slate this Saturday at noon against the Cleveland Browns at Soldier Field, host Dan Proft used the occasion to check in with Mike Tomczak, the Ohio State product and former Bears quarterback who holds the franchise record for wins by a signal caller, on the state of the team’s stadium search and the outlook for the 2026 season.
Tomczak, who has spent the last 11 years at Youngstown State after being brought in by then-university president and former Ohio State head coach Jim Tressel, said he has stayed connected to football at the collegiate level while also running an industrial maintenance business with a longtime friend. He now lives in Northeast Ohio.
Asked about the prospect of the Bears relocating to Northwest Indiana, Tomczak said he initially doubted the plan would advance after the team purchased the former Arlington Park site five years ago, but said years of inaction from Illinois state government, combined with an aggressive offer from Hammond, have shifted the picture considerably. He noted that Indiana has offered roughly a billion dollars through a sports authority to help build a stadium complex, an offer aided by the state’s budget surplus, in contrast to Illinois. He also pointed to political dynamics in the region, contrasting a Democratic mayor in Hammond working alongside Indiana’s Republican state government with what he characterized as dysfunction between Chicago and Springfield.
Tomczak said what looked like a roughly even proposition as recently as May, when Bears president Kevin Warren addressed alumni at a golf outing and described the team as being at a standstill after decades of paying rent at Soldier Field, has now shifted toward Hammond being the likely outcome, particularly since the Bears’ board voted to proceed with the Indiana site. He estimated the team would save close to a quarter of a billion dollars in property taxes by making the move, even accounting for any remaining obligations under the Soldier Field lease with the Chicago Park District, which he expects to run into the early 2030s. He also noted the team would need three to four years to complete a new facility, meaning the Bears would remain at Soldier Field for the near term regardless of the ultimate decision.
Proft and Tomczak also discussed the history of the stadium debate, recalling that Bears founder George Halas explored an Arlington Heights site in 1978 before his death, an idea that resurfaced decades later. Tomczak reflected on his relationship with former team owners Ed and Virginia McCaskey, recounting that he read scripture at team chapel services during road trips and received a handwritten note from Virginia McCaskey after his release from the team in 1990.
Turning to the current roster, Tomczak praised quarterback Caleb Williams and head coach Ben Johnson following a 12-win season and a playoff victory over Green Bay in Johnson’s first year leading the team. He said Williams has shown the ability to close out games but cautioned that self-inflicted mistakes, such as turnovers and failed conversions, remain the biggest obstacle to building on last season’s success. He predicted another 12-win season if the team can cut down on those errors, crediting Johnson with helping Williams develop better decision-making and situational awareness compared to his college career at USC.
The conversation also touched on the state of college athletics, with Tomczak weighing in on the name, image and likeness era. He said he values the education he received at Ohio State and expressed concern that some players entering the transfer portal prioritize compensation over completing their degrees. He predicted collective bargaining could arrive in major college football by 2028 or 2030. Asked about the growing role of sports betting in broadcasts, he acknowledged the tension between leagues promoting gambling as advertisers while still disciplining athletes who wager on games, citing past cases involving Iowa State football players and a Texas Tech quarterback.
Tomczak closed the interview by inviting Proft to an alumni football event over August 30th and 31st at a club in Poland, Ohio, featuring former Michigan and Ohio State players, and the two agreed to reconnect in December to revisit the stadium situation and the Bears’ season.