Something is getting lost here in the reporting of this. We all know that Smith called the plays for the Bears’ atrocious defense in 2009. But his buddy Bob Babich was the official defensive coordinator. Yes, only the Bears could have a head coach that was really the defensive coordinator (with a defensive background and whose unit sucked), and a defensive coordinator that was really the linebackers coach.
So what is Bob Babich officially now? Just wondering.
I found it interesting that at least in the first day or two after Mike Martz’ hiring as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator, I didn’t see any of the local writers remember that Dave McGinnis intended to hire Martz as his OC at that time.
But we all remember what happened with the 1999 Chicago Bears, when Michael McCaskey announced that McGinnis was hired before the coach had settled on contract terms. The Bears hired Dick Jauron, Martz was hired as the Rams’ OC, and St. Louis won its first Super Bowl that very year.
Dan McNeil of WSCR discussed the events of that time with McGinnis on Wednesday, and you can listen to that interesting interview right here. McGinnis also says that he was planning to hire Les Frazier (’85 Bear and current Vikings defensive coordinator) and Mike Singletary on that same staff.
OK all, you’ve seen plenty of frustration from me over the three plus seasons I’ve been updating this blog in conjunction with my main site www.bearshistory.com. (Hard to believe that sucker has been online for 10 years now).
And in my opinion there is a 50/50 chance that Mike Martz’ system will flop in Chicago, and due to a combination of the offense, Lovie Smith’s defense getting steamrolled, and Jerry Angelo insisting guys like Kevin Payne and Craig Steltz are starting NFL safeties, all of them will be run out of town following the season.
But as Perno mentioned, it’s the season of optimism and believe it or not, I’m actually excited about Martz’ arrival. As mentioned above the questions are there and I am by no means predicting it’s going to work out, but would anyone out there still prefer to have Ron Turner? I really was never a Turner hater at any point and was glad to see him come back in 2005, but I prefer Martz, Mike Tice and Shane Day to Turner, Harry Heistand and Pep Hamilton.
Or is there really anyone out there that is lamenting the fact we didn’t get Ken Zampese, Hue Jackson or Rob Chudzinski? Not me. In retrospect, as much as Jeremy Bates had struggles at USC in 2009, I probably would have preferred him but that’s water under the bridge.
I realize Martz’ system has many pitfalls. But in an article by Dan Pompei of the Chicago Tribune, it was written that Martz has always emphasized getting as many points on the board as possible in the first half to build a lead that can be protected late in the game.
When’s the last time we heard that in these parts? Certainly not under John Shoop from 2001-2003, who was not afraid to admit that he would run plays to get into the best position to punt the ball. Or Ron Turner, who took about 13 games to figure out what everyone already knew-that Jay Cutler performs his best out of the pocket.
Well, I guess it was for real, as the Bears have hired Mike Martz as their offensive coordinator. And as Pro Football Talk writes, if it doesn’t work out Martz, Smith, Tice, Marinelli (and Jerry Angelo hopefully) can all look for work together in 2010.
So the Chicago Bears have interviewed Mike Martz for the open (that’s an understatement) offensive coordinator position. This is somewhat of a surprise given that he was the fourth or fifth candidate to interview.
I had many concerns with the potential of hiring Martz, before the clown car pulled up and five candidates said no thanks, then piled back into it and it scooted away tooting its horn. Now that it’s clear he would be the only logical candidate, I do hope they hire him.
Question for you all though….is there anyone else that’s a bit suspicious as I am that the possibility exists that the Bears simply interviewed Martz to placate the fan base? That when they actually hire a no name with no coordinating experience, they can say “well we gave you what we wanted, we looked at Martz but it just wasn’t a fit?”
There have to be others that have grown very cynical watching the Bears organization buffoon around for 30 years, as I have.
I couldn’t say it any better than www.profootballtalk.com does.
And I quote:
“Now this is getting ridiculous. The Bears have lowered their standards, and they’re still striking out [finding offensive coordinator candidates].”
This is in reference to the face that Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has declined to interview for the job.
Do you think Pitt coach Dave Wannstedt is having a little chuckle over this? Knowing that the organization he failed over 12 years ago is still being run in an incompetent manner?
The Bears fired Ron Turner and his staff, only to have no plan of action and find out that no one that is more qualified than Turner wants the job.
Brilliant. Bravo.
Should I submit my resume? Maybe they’ll interview you or I because pretty soon they’re going to have no other choice.
In 2003, I did want to see Dick Jauron and his staff fired. However, it was also my opinion that if Jerry Angelo didn’t already know who the right person to replace Jauron was–the person that would be better than Jauron thus the reason for terminating Jauron, then he might as well not do it.
Angelo fired Jauron, then embarked on a trip rivaling the Bears’ 1925 Barnstorming Tour, offering the position to Nick Saban, Jeff Tedford and Kirk Ferentz, all of whom said “no thanks, Jerry.” He then got two candidates to interview, Lovie Smith and Russ Grimm, hiring Smith.
Could we have hoped that Angelo and the staff of a professional football franchise valued at a billion dollars would learn from that folly? Flash forward to 2009. I hoped for some sort of shakeup (actually hoped for both Angelo and Smith to be launched) but short of that, some change. And what we got was the firing of Ron Turner and any assistant associated with him, even though Lovie Smith’s defense is more responsible for the team’s flat record since Super Bowl 41.
Too much to ask that Smith and Angelo would actually have a thought as to whom was out there to replace Turner before firing he and his staff? Yes, as now the count is four potential candidates, none of them spectacular names, that have said “no thanks” to Smith and Angelo. Next up is another unspectacular candidate, Minnesota quarterbacks coach Kevin Rogers. Exciting!
As Dan Bernstein of WSCR said last night, currently the most qualified candidate to replace Ron Turner is….Ron Turner. And that’s no joke.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Bears’ situation has become “fodder for discussion” at the annual gathering of NFL personnel in Mobile, AL for the Senior Bowl. The article also quotes an NFL coach as stating he has never heard of a quarterback interviewing candidates as the Bears are allowing Cutler to do.
The years may be flying by fast, but it seems the situation of incompetence in Lake Forest never changes.
I was happy to see the New Orleans Saints presented with the George S. Halas Trophy tonight rather than mercenary Brett Favre’s Minnesota Vikings. Look, I give him credit, he and his team played their hearts out, but good for the Saints.
I have heard some say they don’t want to listen to two weeks of talk about how the Saints have brought New Orleans back from Hurricane Katrina. I’ll take 7 million of those over two weeks of Favre (body part) slobbering stories.
As happy as I am for the Saints, I was much happier three years ago today when I witnessed this Saints loss:
Come on, isn’t an NFC Championship presentation in the snow and cold more fun? How time flies, and how quickly things change.
I caught Zach Zaidman and Dan Hampton talking Bears on the Score this morning. Hampton was highly critical of the current state of affairs, stating that he doesn’t think Lovie Smith will change any of his ways of thinking despite the situation in which he finds himself. Zaidman’s opinion is that Smith and Jerry Angelo know that their backs are against the wall, and they will do anything to win in 2010, even if it means making changes to Smith’s defensive philosophy he has so far refused to abandon.
I may be wrong, but I have the strong opinion that Smith won’t be willing to abandon any of his principles in 2010. My opinion is that Smith doesn’t really think that he has his back against the wall–that he’s going to stick to the defense that he runs, even if he doesn’t have the personnel to run it successfully. I think he feels he’s going to roll the dice and try to prove to everyone that his system can win, and if it doesn’t happen, he’ll be content to take his $6 million severance to not work anywhere in 2011 if that doesn’t work out.
Again, I could be wrong, but that’s my opinion, and we’re going to find out eventually.
