Bears Coaching Then (3 Months Ago) & Now

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.