It sounds like you have it in hand. I do like to add some of the onions (I use a lot of them) towards the end, as well as red bell peppers. They retain a bit of a crunch and nuggets of flavor variety in each spoon full. Your tomatoes add pieces of flavor too. I sometime add some tomato juice but not so much that the chili is soupy. If it needs salt (taste it first) I often add beef bouillon, it adds flavor with the salt.

I always brown the meat before adding any other ingredients. I think that the carmelization adds flavor that you do not get just dumping the meat in with everything else.

Chili started as poor people's food probably with beans instead of meat or to stretch the meat. I like beans in it too and think with beans is more authentic. I think the meat only crowd is a bit snobbish.

Celery does not add anything for me but that is just my personal preference.

I have added cocoa powder (unsweetened) to chili to help keep it bitter.(which I like) I usually do not have the cocoa on hand though. I have had chili that had a bit of sugar added to it. I almost spit it out. It made the chili taste like spaghetti sauce which was not what I was expecting.

Chili means pepper (in Spanish) so if it does not have at least some heat then it is not chili at all.

The nice thing about chili is that it is a personal dish and rookie chefs should give it a try. They should just make sure that the hot spices and salt are added gradually and should taste test as they go. This way they stop when it is right for them.

As I said, it sounds like you already know how to make chili, most of what I have written is to encourage others to try chili. It takes some time but it is hard to go wrong. Steaks, cakes, and pies are all easy to ruin, chili will make a new cook feel like a chef.

Bob