AZ54

Great players more often than not have a tough time being coaches so no don't see it happening. Average or below average players more often seem to make excellent coaches as those guys had to play well without the physical talent others had. I'd have to think for a bit but I'd bet the league is full of coaches who were average or below average players like Sean Payton and John Fox. It's seems rare to find a Hall of Fame player like Ditka who became a great coach. Besides all that, I don't want him coaching us because right now I prefer the route we're going down with experienced coaches. I don't know if Fox and Co. will win a Superbowl for us but this feels like the fastest path to getting a respectable playoff team on the field.

I don't expect a decision on Jay until we get the entire front office and coaching staff together and they decide on the long term plan at QB. If Cutler remains on the roster, which is a strong possibility, I'm certain there will be a long term plan to trade for or draft a QB for the future. This regime is not going to come out and call Cutler elite like Emery did. I wouldn't be surprised to see Fox say the QBs, whoever they are, will compete for the starting job this year. I only caught the last part of it but the press conference was funny because everyone was tiptoeing around using Cutler's name while speaking about the "QB position". FWIW…Fox seems like a guy we can just head down to the bar with and grab a beer and talk football, or anything. He does not pretend to be the smartest man in the room and admits he does not have all the answers, especially when it comes to the personnel side. In fact he said he has no time to wear two hats regarding personnel decisions so Pace is the man bringing in the talent for this team.

Probably disagreeing because I think it's pointless to worry about a personnel guy having a better PR person working for him.

Going to Harvard does not mean you are smart. Many people get accepted for a variety of reasons not the least of which is how much money your family has or how connected your family is. We can find proof of the lack of intelligence at the highest levels of our government but you only need to look at this to know how "smart" they are: http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2009...ard-18-billion/ …and then someone else from Harvard decided this was a good thing and put this guy in charge of our nation's economy. I don't really care much about this guy we hired because we have no basis for knowing if a scout or personnel guy is good until they get to a true decision making level. He's a guy Pace has worked with for the last 8 years so he knows him well and he's going to rely on him to setup our scouting department. What we do know from this is that we are going to strongly mimic what the Saints have done in their talent evaluations. Their defensive performance the last few years isn't awe inspiring.

Why do you ignore the fact he was there when they won the Superbowl?

I couldn't script that collapse any better. I can just imagine all the Bears fans and the NFL pundits ripping the Bears for this collapse but we won't hear that because it's the Packers. Poor coaching leaving the center of the field open on the last TD (fire Tucker for that). Poor coaching, poor play, when your blocker attempts to go up and catch the onside kick instead of blocking for Jordy Nelson (fire DeCamillis for that one). Poor play by the highly touted Haha Dix on a hail mary of a lob back across the field to give up a 2pt conversion (cut Conte for that play). Their great run defense (per Troy Aikman and company) gave up 156 yards to Lynch yet when our D does that we suck. 4 INTs and all they could get out of that was 22 pts (Cutler sucks). Two plays inside the 1 yard line and can't run the ball into the end zone (Oline sucks). Packers red zone offense was poor period (need new OC).

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2...ector/21964957/ Pace took him away from New Orleans.

Ignoring Rodgers 2 INTs?

All I can say is... it's about time. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/colum...117-column.html Fifteen extra minutes in the cold tub Monday morning. Maybe 20. Slowly get in and let that ice water crawl up to your neck. Just try to find some relief for a beaten-down, worn-out body. The day before? Man, downhill collisions in the hole that felt like a train wreck. That was my experience in the NFL the morning after playing John Fox's Panthers teams. I'm talking about old school stuff when you lined up versus those squads. Put on your big boy pads and get ready to hit. You were in for a fight.

True but Gase has several options as either OC, and possibly still as a HC. If I were in a similar situation as Gase, and I know you made a special trip back just to talk to me instead of making a phone call that tells me how high a priority I am on your list.

Or maybe he flew back to talk to Gase?

I agree on your assessment of him reading the defense and I don't think what I've seen will translate to the NFL well at all. However, saying he doesn't want to work for greatness and is dumb for thinking he's ready is wrong IMO. First, why can't he work to improve while he's in the NFL, with better QB coaching? Let's be honest about his college head coach…he did nothing that helped Tebow become an NFL QB. So why stay with that coaching when you are already 22 years old? If he's got any common sense at all he'd know this is the moment where his star is the brightest. He won't be in the national spotlight sitting on the bench next season and then going to the draft. I'd say his performance the last few games will likely earn him at least $1 million and maybe $2 million more on his first NFL contract than what he'd see after next season. Who will know he's improved if he's holding a clipboard? IMO he'd be wrong not taking the extra money that also comes with the opportunity to get the better QB coaching sooner rather than later.

When he was allowed to play he did well. I'm talking about the scheme allowing him to play because too often we sat back in that deep zone and it was horrible. Plus there usually was no underneath coverage from the LBs on the inside routes. He was definitely slowed by the knee injury mid-year and played through a broken hand. Not sure what more you can ask of a player in terms of putting his body on the line for the team. Later in the season he acquitted himself well against Calvin Johnson when allowed to play more man coverage. He wasn't great but your complaints about him echo the same things folks said about Tillman his first year. Most of the people on this board disliked Tillman his first couple seasons. Yes, I've been hanging around here for a long time. Tillman wasn't much appreciated until well into the middle of his career so perhaps you are right, folks won't forget Tillman for many years, but I already think Fuller was a good choice. I'll also add that he outplayed Jennings.

He was arrogant and petty when he was in Detroit. Might have worked with the stars they had in Buffalo but our young defense? Not sure I want to go that route.

Winning a playoff game with Tebow at QB is his best qualification. Losing two divisional playoff games with Peyton Manning, and again this year with all the big FA they signed on defense is his worst qualification. I'm on the fence with this guy but at least we know he won't let the locker room be run like we had with Trestman.

It's football, everything is linked and that's one reason I love this sport. We can differ on the priority. I prefer to fix the line and pass rush as a priority over fixing the secondary. Doesn't mean you can't, or shouldn't, do both this offseason. If I have two players equally rated in the draft, DE and S, available when I pick I'm taking the DE. We are no longer in a win now plan so I'll accept our new GMs belief in taking the BPA and use FA to backfill gaps on your roster. Short term that will leave some talent gaps on the roster. Long term we'll have better players we've drafted and it'll be easier and cheaper to fill gaps via FA since (in theory) we'll have our really-good to blue-chip players on the roster via the draft. Despite all the needs on defense I won't be upset one bit if he chooses a LT with our 1st Rd pick this year. I will be equally happy if he says BPA was Landon Collins and drafts him. Neither decision would change what I think is the biggest need on defense.

The biggest hole on our roster is a DE who can rush the passer. We can do whatever we want at S, CB, LB but in coverage if we give QBs 4-5 sec to throw the ball it won't matter. Jared Allen is not going to get faster this offseason but I think he can be more effective with less snaps. Willie Young mostly gets coverage sacks but just had a severe injury that will likely cost him some quickness and agility throughout 2015. Houston was never that type of DE. We are left with hope that Washington continues to develop and Bass. The most talented player available in FA is Greg Hardy and he's facing serious domestic abuse charges. I think our new GM will stay away from that media circus, besides when you need a roster overhaul you don't gamble on a guy like Hardy in your first year. Speculation on what we can do to address this really needs to wait on what scheme our new DC will be running.

No, he's not HC material. I think at this point he is likely headed to Arizona to replace Bowles and work with Bruce Arians.

I don't think our scouting department is all bad. I think that was one of Emery's strengths and obviously fit his background. Emery did a big overhaul and expansion of our scouting group after his first draft (with Lovie still having some personnel power) and afterward our drafts and UDFAs got much better. I expect some changes but i don't think we need to just push everybody out the door. If Pace does a clean sweep because of a need to change the culture then ok but I there is talent among our scouts. The Pro Personnel side deserves more scrutiny IMO. I haven't said it yet but I'm not ecstatic about Pace. I don't have any respect for New Orleans after bounty gate and that includes guys like Drew Brees who defended everyone for being good guys, Sean Payton who ignored what he knew was happening game after game, and the GM Loomis who ignored the situation after being warned sternly by the NFL. I hope our new GM was the diamond in the rough in that organization. Clearly Pace was not involved in any of that stuff, but Loomis is not exactly the first GM I'd want Pace to learn from. Add in that Sean Payton and Loomis are looking like Lovie in reverse….an organization that can run a good offense (with a HoF QB) but can't ever fix the defense. Lovie did ok with a Hall of Fame MLB on defense and I think would have won one Superbowl if Tommie Harris were on the field.

I don't care if we trade Marshall if the new GM and HC feel it's the right thing to do. I care a great deal that this rumor is out there before or around the same time as we hire a GM because that means ownership is meddling again and I don't want to see that. I think Marshall is fine if we get a coach who demands accountability from his roster and not just including Marshall in that statement. Briggs walking out on Marshall's rant…well Briggs walked out on his entire team to open a restaurant so he had zero credibility and was a much bigger part of the problem than Marshall IMO. Right now with our QB situation a mess I prefer to keep Marshall. He's a huge help in the redone and all over the field and not just as a receiver, he's a great blocker for running plays. We need to run the ball.

I have said that I don't care if Phillips stays or goes just keep him out of football decisions. He can manage the public relations, advertising, concessions, and other revenue streams while doing the accounting for the expenses of the contracts and so forth. Doesn't bother me one bit and I think a competent GM can handle all the football related decisions. I also think Ted has done a lot of good things on the revenue side that have benefited the team greatly since he came on board. There's a reason we aren't so cheap anymore with FA and our own players and it's not just the stadium deal. So I don't see that we must have a football guy as the President of the team. But you are close to being right because I think I'm the only one.

Who is the idiot reporting that he was arrested for a DUI? Sorry but the way reporters and some people treat pro athletes often pisses me off. Just jump the gun to get a story out so they can be first without any serious fact checking. Then everyone else piles on. Intentionally slandering people is also a criminal offense. That first headline is what people will remember a year down the road. In the interest of full disclosure I've been pulled over for criminal speeding (by 1mph) and my wife wasn't happy as she sat next to me.

That right there is the #1 reason to hire this guy. He backed off the Tampa job when Lovie came on board. http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/footb...0107-story.html "He pulled out of consideration for the Buccaneers GM job last year with coach Lovie Smith coming aboard." http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10246329...ccaneers-roster "Lovie Smith's contract contains a clause that gives him final say over all personnel matters on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' 53-man roster, according to league sources." He worked with Lovie and while I respect Lovie for being a good but not great coach, and I expect Ballard does too, things went downhill once Lovie got more control over personnel. Ballard saw that as it happened and he knew what working with Lovie was like as far as personnel selection and stayed away. Ballard knows what he wants in terms of control and he's definitely focused on that. That doesn't mean it will work out with the Bears giving him the job but I agree with DBDB; if he comes on board we know he's got the control he wanted. We also know he's a wise man who is not just looking to get the title, promotion, or big pay raise that sets him up for life. He wants to succeed as a GM, believes he knows how to do it, and is willing to wait for the right job to prove it. It's easy to find people in the first two categories but not the third.

Why then did Blank keep a GM who has failed to rebuild a defense for the last 3 years? A GM who gave up a lot to draft to get Julio Jones. Granted he's working out but that was an all-in move designed to get them to the Superbowl and it failed in a big way. I'm happier the Bears are being more decisive and cleaning out both levels at the same time. Start fresh.

I'd live with a trade of BMarshall if we go that route simply because I will defer to the new GM but I prefer not to do that. He's still a stud WR and we are going to have average to good Qb play, or worse if Cutler leaves, and having big quality WRs especially for the red zone situations is preferred. That should not stop us from adding more speed to the group and we will also have Marquess Wilson in the mix next year. I'm perfectly happy going LT in Rd 1. I don't see how that's coddling to Cutler, it's making our team better. Peat is a big man, the type who moves people backwards at will but he's got the quickness in his feet to handle speed off the edge. He also plays with the attitude I love to see on the Oline. Line him up next to Slausson right now and put Long/Bushrod on the right and we'll be running when we get off the bus. That's exactly what we need to do while we try to figure out this QB situation over the next few seasons.