Bears Coaching Then (3 Months Ago) & Now
by Mike Mueller on Mar 1, 2010 10:00 AM CST
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The long NFL off-season is filled with many milestones leading to team improvement (we hope). Coaching changes, free agency, draft, OTA's, etc. all progress towards training camp and eventually the opening of the 2010 season. Back in December, we looked at the Bears' coaching. A lot has changed and a lot has stayed the same. What do you think now? (See below for more analysis)
When we look back at what the WCG community thought back in December, it certainly looks like the Bears have addressed your two biggest concerns; and 3 out of the top 4.
Receiving 29% of the vote was the Bears' coaches' incompetent development & cultivating of young talent. Mike Martz is no stranger to young talent on offense. He took young receivers named Holt and Az-Hakim and made them household names. Although not young in age, Kurt Warner was definitely young in experience back in 1999. He ended up winning the NFL MVP a few times. Developing young talent is not a concern for me anymore, at least not on the offensive side of the ball.
With 19% of the vote, your next biggest concern about the Bears' coaches was the play calling. You might think Martz will pass too much (not always true - LINK), but I do not think creativity will be a problem. I do not think we'll be groaning too much about yet another 1 yard plunge up middle.
The Bears' coaches inability to coach the receivers and Jay Cutler, so they're all on the same page came in 4th place with 14% of the vote. Once again, the addition of Mike Martz addresses this concern. For more on Martz's work with receivers, see Lester's post here.
So 62% of WCG's concerns have arguably been addressed (I do not know if they will work, but the Bears have done something about it). That still leaves a lot on the table. The reliance on the Cover 2 is still out there, and that looms large because the Bears do not seem to have the proper horses to run it well. A few free agent acquisitions could make this point moot. A stud DE (Peppers) and a good safety (Rolle, Clark, or 3rd round draft pick) could go a long way to making the Bears "Lovie-proof" so to speak.
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the talent development issue
Martz has made his thoughts on the TE situation pretty clear. The TE must be a blocker first, otherwise why not just put in another WR? Right or wrong, that is how he views the situation with Olsen, and blocking is not Olsen’s strong suit so unless Olsen steps up his blocking game, things don’t look good for developing him much under Martz’s regime. I think that overall, Martz will be good for the offense but unfortunately, Olsen may be a square peg trying to fit in a round hole. I just took the above as a small representative of the talent development issue, because there is so much to the topic I could not comment on all of it.
"I am not an animal!" - Merrick
Incompetence in developing draft picks/FAs
has to be the most impeding aspect of this team’s recent failures. None of these other options are even questioned if these players produce at the levels they were expected to produce.
"The country is full of good coaches. What it takes to win is a bunch of interested players." -Don Coryell, ex-San Diego Chargers Coach
Talent Development
Lifelong Arizona Cardinals/Chicago Bears fan.
I can't stand fair-weather/bandwagon fans, stick with your team, throughout the good and the bad.
the buddy system
Lovie’s Lackeys.
You can't see California without Marlon Brando's eyes.
by ifuwannacrownem on Mar 1, 2010 11:19 AM CST reply actions
other.
the fact that we could be trading away a stud TE for one season pisses me off. as bad as this may sound i really wish we do terrible in 2010 so we can fire lovie and his kronies before too much damage is done for the long term.
Bear down Chicago
-1
Bad karma to hope you do bad, methinks.
I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule. -Randal Graves
Writer at windycitygridiron.com -/-I http://www.twitter.com/kdoggers
I feel your pain, though.
I'm a firm believer in the philosophy of a ruling class. Especially since I rule. -Randal Graves
Writer at windycitygridiron.com -/-I http://www.twitter.com/kdoggers
poor drafting
this may fall under the “Incompetence in developing & cultivating young talent” option (though I voted it as “other”):
- Poor drafting is my biggest complaint. We spend 1/2 of our draft picks on D-linemen and Safeties, yet their the 2 weakest positions on our team. We also continue to draft LBs even though its are deepest postion (I realize, that’s why it’s our deepest postion).
We continually trade down so that we have a boatload of 4th thru 7th round picks who will never make an impact.
Trading Thomas Jones for a pair of used cleats is also something that I will never forgive.
Cultivating you talent is my problem
Look at Daniel Manning. Everybody knows he should be starting SOMEWHERE, but they have moved him around so many times that he is worthless.
Lack of being aggressive for to long and then going overboard.
Lovie and Jerry played it to conservatively in drafts and free agency. Their jobs are on the line and now they have been trading away our future to save their jobs. Jerry always trades down in the draft and never takes a risky player. We only sign the cheapest or the safest player in free agency. Jerry should have taken bigger risks earlier rather than later. Our lack of draft picks will come back to haunt us.
The sad thing is...
you could have chosen any of the 8 options and not been wrong. I wanted to choose 4 total myself.
by Dewey LaMarr Hoyt on Mar 1, 2010 9:37 PM CST reply actions
I wanted to choose them all
but I went with the “lets run up the middle some more!!” our play calling was soooo predictable my 12 yr old nephew knew what was coming next. It just seemed like the previous OC didnt know how to use Cutler’s ability to scramble and his rocket of an arm. Just left him in the pocket and hand the ball off on the 1st two downs. It took nearly the entire season before he had Cutler roll out of the pocket.
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