The Bear’s Den, February 9, 2022

THE DAILY SPONGIE SPECIAL

BEARRRSSSS

The Bears Are Reportedly Hiring Travis Smith to Coach Their DL - Bleacher Nation - Khalil Mack and Maxx Crosby are among the names who developed along the Raiders' defensive line while Travis Smith was coaching out west.

Sounds Like Pro Bowler Jakeem Grant Sr. Would Welcome a Return to the Bears - Bleacher Nation - It sounds like Jakeem Grant Sr. wants to return to the Bears, even though the GM who brought him to Chicago is long gone.

A Look at Some of the New Bears Coaches [VIDEOS] - Da Bears Blog - Check it out.

Report: Bears to hire Travis Smith as defensive line coach - 670 The Score - The Bears have hired Travis Smith as their new defensive line coach, the team announced Tuesday.

Sanders: 'Absurd’ if Hester isn’t 1st-ballot Hall of Famer - 670 The Score - Bears legend Devin Hester is one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2022, joining former Texans receiver Andre Johnson and former Cowboys outsider linebacker DeMarcus Ware as one of just three players eligible for the first time.

Devin Hester thinks he’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer, eager to get the call on Thursday - ProFootballTalk - The Pro Football Hall of Fame class of 2022 will be announced on Thursday night, and Devin Hester believes his name should be called.

Bears pick Raiders assistant Travis Smith as defensive line coach - Chicago Sun-Times - Matt Eberflus took the recommendation of a mentor — and, presumably, the blessing of star pass rusher Khalil Mack — into consideration when picking the Bears’ new defensive line coach.

Rams, Bears ended 2018 in heartbreak; one team saw clear path to bouncing back - Chicago Sun-Times - Coach Sean McVay set an incredibly high standard by reaching the Super Bowl that season. Then the Rams made all the right moves to meet it.

As Chicago Bears eye move, new group will reimagine lakefront - Chicago Tribune - With Soldier Field’s future up in the air as the Chicago Bears eye potentially greener suburban pastures, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has empaneled a group to recommend ways to improve the lakefront Museum Campus.

Devin Hester: Making Hall of Fame case for Chicago Bears returner - Chicago Tribune - Devin Hester changed the way teams stock their special teams units. He created an urgency for every team to find a special returner. He forced kickers and punters to get better at their craft. He gave opposing teams headaches and heartbreaks. That’s why the Chicago Bears great is a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

How Bears’ Matt Eberflus plans to develop Justin Fields - RSN - The new Bears head coach made it clear he wants an offense built around the second-year QB.

Sanders: ‘Absurd’ if Hester isn’t 1st-ballot Hall of Famer - 670 The Score - Bears legend Devin Hester is one of 15 finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s class of 2022, joining former Texans receiver Andre Johnson and former Cowboys outsider linebacker DeMarcus Ware as one of just three players eligible for the first time.

POLISH SAUSAGE

Mike McDaniel to Tua Tagovailoa: My job is to get greatness out of you - ProFootballTalk - The Dolphins appear to be all-in on quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

Why Tony Dungy is 'frustrated' by lack of NFL Black head coaches - RSN - Tony Dungy has been involved in the fight for more diversity in the NFL for over 20 years.

KNOW THINE ENEMY

Packers announce Rich Bisaccia as special teams coordinator - ProFootballTalk - The Packers had a special teams debacle in their divisional round loss to the 49ers and they now have a new coordinator charged with making sure they don’t repeat those errors in the future.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ON WINDY CITY GRIDIRON

Duerrwaechter: Bears Hire Travis Smith as Defensive Line Coach - Windy City Gridiron - The former assistant of the Las Vegas Raiders heads to the Windy City and re-unites with Khalil Mack, among others.

Zeglinski: Lovie Smith, the Chicago Bears’ best non-Halas coach, is an NFL head coach again - Windy City Gridiron - Forcing turnovers and Texans’ players love for their coach will undoubtedly be a Houston trademark now.

Zeglinski: The Chicago Bears’ Justin Fields was the top jersey-seller in Illinois and ... Wisconsin - Windy City Gridiron - It appears those up North can’t resist the temptation of Justin Fields’ talent either.

Infante’s 2022 NFL mock draft: 4 QBs go Round 1 post-Senior Bowl - Windy City Gridiron - With the Senior Bowl over with, let’s look over what the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft might look like.

Wiltfong: NFC New Coach Grades - Grading the Matt Eberflus hire - Windy City Gridiron - Now that all nine NFL teams that were looking for a new head coach has hired — or reported to have hired — their guy, SB Nation has graded each team’s new head coach addition. The hit rate on..

THE RULES

Windy City Gridiron Community Guidelines - SBNation.com - We strive to make our communities open and inclusive to sports fans of all backgrounds. The following is not permitted in comments. No personal attacks, politics, gender based insults of any kind, racial insults, etc.

Windy City Gridiron Podcast Channel which includes Bear With Me from Robert Schmitz, Bears Over Beers featuring Jeff Berckes & EJ Snyder (their BOB YouTube Channel can be found here), Bears Banter hosted by Bill Zimmerman, Rule of 3 with R. Schmitz, Danny Meehan, and Brandon Robinson, Bear & Balanced from Jeff and Lester A. Wiltfong Jr., and T Formation Conversation from Lester; EJ also co-hosts The Bootleg Football Podcast with Brett Kollmann; R. Schmitz has a film breakdown show on YouTube titled Run Pass Opinion; Will Robinson II has his WhiskeyRanger YouTube channel, and Steven’s Streaming Twitch Channel from Steven Schweickert.

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Jack R Salo; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Will Robinson II; Robert Schmitz; T.J. Starman; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like WCG on Facebook.