Today was the day that someone with real power spoke at Halas Hall. His name was Ted Phillips, and when he spoke, both sides of his mouth were moving. He was (fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective) joined by Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith, and announced that while 2009 was his most frustrating year as Bears Team President, he believes that continuity is the quickest way to bring the Bears back to the level of Super Bowl Contender. I guess firing the Ron Turner and 5 other assistants is a part of "continuity" in Ted's world, but let's not get sidetracked with that detail at the moment.The Bears have done either one of two things. They have either begun their self stated "bolt tightening"...whatever the hell that means, or they have decided to try shoving this massive amount of elephant excrement under the carpet to see if it goes away. Time will tell what eventually was or wasn't accomplished today. The one certain is that the Bears are now in the market for both an Offensive and Defensive Coordinator. For now in Part I, let's take a quick look at some of the names that have popped up for O.C.:
Mike Martz : Martz wasted no time expressing his interest in the Bears O-Coordinator opening. Just months after getting on the Bash Jay Cutler bandwagon, he now says he's "excited" at the possibility of working with Jay. While The Beard won't pretend to know anything about X's and O's, the job should not be given to Martz. Aside from the amount of kissing Martz would have to do if he were to get the job, there are other, much more relevant reasons to not give the job to him. Namely, the lack of field turf as a playing surface in Soldier Field, the bad history quarterbacks have of getting destroyed by the lack of protection/very deep routes receivers are asked to run, Matt Forte not being Marshall Faulk, and Martz's variation of the Air Coryell requiring a rank and file pocket passer, instead of a rollout/throw on the run, veteran QB like Cutler.
Charlie Weis : Hahahahahahahahaha!!!! Seriously, Charlie is rumored to being going to the Chiefs. Good luck having to tolerate someone who was responsible for some of the most dubious losses in Notre Dame history and still acts like he invented football.
Al Saunders : Al is the one name that is intriguing, and coincidentally he's another Air Coryell disciple. Saunders' variation of the scheme seems to be much more of a conservative approach than Martz's, with a stronger emphasis on protection and running game. As evidenced by the success he had as K.C.'s offensive coordinator with Priest Holmes. Al's scheme also doesn't seem to need dominant receivers like Martz's variation either, as it's focus isn't stretching the field deep to open up the running lanes up front.
Again who knows who they will hire? The key will be that whoever they give the job to, will have to understand not only Cutler's strengths and weaknesses, but also the 10 other guys on the field with Jay. Essentially this means being the opposite of Ron Turner which involves coming in with a system and trying to shoehorn the pieces into it.
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