Ron Turner and Bob Babich, Both Safe

by Adam T on Dec 31, 2007 11:19 AM CST in News

Coach Lovie Smith has stated that he does not plan on replacing either coordinator.

Ron Turner will be back to have his play-calling ability questioned again next season. Defensive coordinator Bob Babich -- Smith's hand-picked successor to Ron Rivera, who was run off despite a Super Bowl appearance last season -- also will remain.

This is Babich's first year as the coordinator, so some problems had to be expected. Throw in a massively depleted defensive line and some questionable free agency moves and you can see where some of this was out of his control, but the poor tackling falls to him. He must correct that problem. The Bears D started showing what they are capable of toward the end of the season.

Ron Turner does have some pros on his side. He was given a constantly rotating QB situation. He also had receivers early who dropped way too many passes. Devin Hester despite everybody's instance on him being more involved showed he wasn't ready to handle the playbook or the ball. He also had a line that was leaky at best, downright awful at worst and suspect running backs, but overall Turner showed a complete lack of imagination and an unwillingness to try anything new.

A lot of the Bears problems can be pointed to GM Jerry Angelo. He is making the the decisions here. It is his job to make the tough calls. If he cannot straighten out the line, QB and RB situations next season we are going to have to start questioning his job.

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Comments

sheesh

just posted this as a darn diary almost the same time it gets posted on the main site.

by lopey986 on Dec 31, 2007 11:24 AM CST reply actions

my conspiracy theory is...

that lovie was allowed by angelo to retain his 2 co-ordinators in exchange for having zero say in 2008 player personnel moves.

the pursuit of archuleta in 2007 should be enough to burn up lovie's cred as a personnel evaluator for many an off-season to come.

now one can only hope that angelo's love affair with mike brown is over. it's awful rough when one has hope, and not playoff football, to look forward to in january.

happy 2008 to all.

by dc60123 @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 31, 2007 11:27 AM CST reply actions

Dear God ...

Turner back again. This is f'ing pathetic. Windy hit the nail on the head, even with all of the constraints Turner was under he had very little imagination (save maybe this past game) when it came to playcalling. And it wasn't just what plays he called but WHEN he called them that were problematic. And maybe Hester had trouble transitioning to wide-out, but the way he has used Hester, even with the two bomb TD's, was almost always SOOOOO telegraphed.

I know the guy had some problems with the O-line and a rotating QB, but still those of us that WATCHED every game could pretty much call a spade a spade on this one.

My prospective consumption for New Year's Eve festivities just went up 10-fold, old acquaintances (or O coordinators) apparently not going to be forgotten as soon as I had hoped.

I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something. - Dick Butkus

by iowaBear on Dec 31, 2007 11:38 AM CST reply actions

HA!

Should O-coordinators be forgot and never brought to mind? (YES!)

Good one!

by Chad @ Windy City Gridiron on Dec 31, 2007 1:59 PM CST up reply actions

My prediction for this New Year ...

Ron Turner will SUCK in 2008.

I wouldn't ever go out to hurt anybody deliberately - unless it was, you know, important, like a league game or something. - Dick Butkus

by iowaBear on Jan 1, 2008 1:38 PM CST up reply actions

Give him a chance

I think all are willing to agree that we have, at best, below average:
QB
RB
OL
WR

TE is a strength, but that's it.

I don't know what everyone really expects. I'd just like to see him with some decent players. His offenses broke all the passing records in his last stint as OC. I know it's a different era in the NFL, etc, but I think he could do well. The fact is he'll be there trying. Here's hoping he gets some players over the offseason.

When they boo you, you know they mean you. George Halas

by allhailmark on Jan 2, 2008 11:52 AM CST up reply actions

The poor tackling doesn't fall solely on Babich.

If a player sucks at tackling, that's not likely to change when he's 24/25. That said, they can make it worse by over-emphasizing stripping the ball. This has been a staple of Lovie's since he's been here. (well, since he was D-coord in StL, too)

Personally, I don't think the Cover-2 and stripping the ball work together. If the Cover-2 is a bend but don't break defense (which I think it can arguably be called), the player needs to be tackled on first contact.

by tyger1147 on Dec 31, 2007 12:23 PM CST reply actions

Babich should take considerable blame

the bad tackling isnt because of the emphasis on the strip, lovies cover 2 relies really heavily on team speed, the first guy is supposed to stand the guy up long enough for the rest of the team to gang tackle, and in the process strip if possible, like they did to edge in the arizona game last season. The more you practice tackling the better you get at it, Babich obviously didnt emphasize it nearly as much as rivera, that being said I think he should come back for at least one more season our defense looked scary against the chargers, so heres hoping to see that again in the near future.

-leopoldjones

by leopoldjones on Jan 2, 2008 11:33 AM CST reply actions