Two months ago, we brought you a story relating to the current state of the Bears football team, broken down by players, coaches, and management. There were a lot of mixed feelings coming from the Bears faithful two months ago... but a lot has happened since then.
I would like to take a moment to compare the evaluations of then to the evaluations of now. After doing so, let's vote again on our level of faith in the Chicago Bears management, and see if anything has changed.
Let's take a look first at the player perspective.
March's analysis: From a player perspective, we have many talented young players, with the potential to make an impact for many years to come. We have great veteran leadership as well that still have a few good years left in them. True, we have some holes to fill... but doesn't every team? Are we worse off than the rest of the league? I think the Bears are probably middle of the road when it comes to our roster.
Current analysis: I would have to say the roster looks a lot better than it did in March. We made an outstanding trade for a Pro Bowl quarterback, had some solid Free Agent signings with Orlando Pace, Kevin Shaffer, and Frank Omiyale, and had what seems like will be a pretty decent draft. Compared to the rest of the NFL, we definitely improved our roster better than a lot of teams have.
Next comes the coaching perspective.
March's analysis: We have a talented Head Coach, who has been given more responsibility with the defense. We brought in one of the best DLine specialists in football with Rod Marinelli. Our special teams have been one of the best in the league for several years, but offensively... well, not so much. Shouts of "Fire Ron Turner!" will undoubtedly commence once the season gets underway... and who knows how much Bob Babich will actually do? Compared to the rest of the league, I'd say the Bears coaching staff is probably average.
Current analysis: Nothing has changed since March in the coaching ranks, but I will add that Jerry Angelo seems to have put some pressure on our coaches, saying that we are acquiring the talent and that it is now up to the coaches to figure out how to best utilize it. I'd still say the Bears coaching staff is average compared to the rest of the NFL, but the expectations are probably a bit higher than a lot of teams.
And finally, the management perspective.
March's analysis: Outside of a few obvious names around the league (Parcells, Millen, Smith, Shannahan, Jones), most people are not that familiar with the executives that make business and personnel decisions for their football teams. But I do know one thing: most of us are very familiar both with the history of our management and the current staff. A lot of criticism gets thrown in the direction of McCaskey, Phillips, and Angelo. But is it warranted? How would our executives compare with the rest of the league?
Current analysis: A lot of people seem to think that Jerry Angelo might have saved his job this offseason, most notably by orchestrating the monster trade that brought Chicago one of the most talented QBs in the league. It has been stated that Angelo's moves are ultimately decided by his bosses... so maybe Ted Phillips and his bosses loosened up a bit more than usual.
Overall, last March showed that the Bears were a typical "middle of the road" football team, something that had its fanbase very unsettled on. A lot of you stated, through voting in the poll, that your level of trust in the management team was not all that high.
Has that changed since March? What is your current level of trust in the Chicago Bears management?