If anything has steeled Mitch Trubisky for the scrutiny, focus, pressure and roller-coaster ride that comes with being anointed a savior as a franchise quarterback, perhaps the darkest days he spent at North Carolina will provide him with the strength to deliver for the Bears, an organization in desperate need of a facelift at the position.
Trubisky's perseverance through three seasons as a backup for the Tar Heels is what makes teammates proudest of him. The Bears, like every other team searching for a quarterback, surely demanded answers for why Trubisky left Chapel Hill, N.C., with only 13 career starts after playing behind Marquise Williams, who signed as an undrafted free agent with the Vikings last May and then spent training camp with the Packers before being released Sept. 2 in final cuts. Williams hasn't spent a day in the NFL since.
How Trubisky managed biding time behind Williams and why the Tar Heels chose to keep the player that went second overall in the NFL draft Thursday night in a backup role is the story of why he might be the answer to the Bears' questions at the position that date to the end of the Sid Luckman era.
There are layers to peel back in explaining how Trubisky, who redshirted in 2013 after being named Mr. Football in Ohio in 2012, sat behind Williams in 2014 and, of more importance, in 2015. The Bears and other NFL teams wanted to know why.
Program politics were involved, there's no doubt, and opinions differed. Back in October, NFL scouts said the team's wide receivers had lobbied for Trubisky to be the starter the previous fall. Ultimately, coach Larry Fedora made the call. You can't argue with the team's results.
The Tar Heels had a school record 11-game winning streak in 2015 when they went 8-0 in the ACC Coastal Division and fell just short against Clemson in a 45-37 loss in the conference championship game. Williams, who did not respond to requests for an interview, set more than 20 school records before his career ended. He's fifth all-time in total yards in the ACC. North Carolina led the nation averaging 7.33 yards per play in 2015.
"I got asked that hundreds of times," Fedora said of Trubisky's pre-draft process. "I would say in the first two years, Mitch probably wasn't ready. In the third year (2015), Mitch could have been the starter. (But) we had really good chemistry on our team and Marquise took us to a conference championship game. It was one of those things."
The lowest moment for Trubisky came after Week 3 of his redshirt sophomore season in 2015 after his most extensive playing time. North Carolina was leading FCS Delaware 10-7 late in the second quarter when Fedora benched Williams, who had been touted as a fringe Heisman Trophy candidate before the start of the season after a strong statistical showing in 2014. What followed was an affirmation of Trubisky's preparation. North Carolina got a field goal on his first possession and he fired four touchdown passes in the second half of a 41-14 rout. He completed 17 of 20 passes for 312 yards.
"I thought, 'All right, I am going to start the next week. We're playing Georgia Tech,' " Trubisky said.
Said Fedora: "As the head coach, you don't just walk in there and say, 'OK, we're making a change after that.' Marquise was the starter. He was going to get the opportunity. Obviously, his leash was a lot shorter at that point. And he knew that and he came back and played extremely well throughout the rest of the season. Again, we won 11 straight games.
"We knew we had something special. We knew. And it was about bringing Mitch along the right way and not just throwing him out there. I feel pretty comfortable with the way we handled him. He is the second pick in the draft."
Coaches are in the business of winning and doing what's best for their program. As one general manager said last fall, it's possible one motivation in waiting to play Trubisky could have been the hope that he would stay for five years and start in 2016 and 2017.
"It was tough," said wide receiver and three-year roommate Ryan Switzer, whom the Cowboys drafted in the fourth round Saturday. "Mitch is a really even-keeled kid so he didn't show any frustration, any anger around the coaching staff, around the team. But to the people who knew him the best, and with us being as close friends as we are, he was frustrated. He was sad.
"It takes a lot to make an individual sad, especially a strong-willed guy like Mitch. Sad is the word I would use. But the only time he showed that was when he was by himself or with us. He was always a team-first guy. It was just a matter of when he was going to get his opportunity."
