Joe DeCamillis Picking Up Where Dave Toub Left Off

With Dave Toub heading away from the Bears for greener pastures since the departure of Lovie Smith, it was somewhat questionable if new special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis would be able to achieve the same semblance of success that his predecessor had.

It's too soon to tell since training camp hasn't even started yet, but as far as Adam Podlesh and Robbie Gould are concerned, things will be just fine.

"There's a reason why it has been a very fluid transition between having Dave and Joe D.," punter Adam Podlesh said. "It's because the ideologies and a lot of what they do are similar."

DeCamillis' strategies - which encompasses providing good, efficient coverage, creating manageable space and using directional punting and kicking - is familiar to the special teams and for Podlesh in particular. Podlesh played his first two seasons under DeCamillis at Jacksonville.

"He was a good part of the reason I got drafted to Jacksonville in the first place," Podlesh said. "The ideology that he has for special teams is basically the ideology that I had my first two years in Jacksonville, which has built me up to where I am today. We're both on the same plane."

"We're lucky to get a guy like Joe D., who has been around the league for a long time, who is very well respected," Gould said. "Anytime you're getting a special-teams coach or any coach that gets interviews for a head-coaching job, obviously he is a very good coach."

Again, file it under "preseason optimism," but if things are as good as Gould and Podlesh say they are, it doesn't seem like Podlesh and Gould will experience a dropoff. More like, a downturn in special teams play will largely be due to the capabilities of the players on coverage and blocking, which means players with good special teams skills will get a leg up in camp.