How Bout Dem Bears?

aaronm13 · 29-12-2014 09:34PM

McCaskey and Phillips press conference coming up at 10 our time. Should be interesting. Hopefully hijacked the Harbaugh to Michigan deal.

Itssoeasy · 29-12-2014 09:58PM

Bears press conference on now on NFL network.

pksligo · 30-12-2014 04:06AM

Anything else happen in the conference earlier, are tucker and decamillis fired yet

Oat23 · 30-12-2014 08:46AM

This from Moon Mullin, who I've always liked as a writer and believe what he says.

http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-make-sweeping-changes-halas-hall-fire-gm-phil-emery

Emery’s search in January 2013 to replace Smith narrowed to three finalists: reigning 2012 coach of the year and Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, who has taken the Arizona Cardinals to seasons of 10-6 and 11-5, the latter getting the Cardinals into this year’s playoffs; Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell, who was behind the drafting and development of quarterback Russell Wilson and the NFL’s No. 11 scoring and No. 9 yardage offenses this season; and Trestman.
At the time, the plan was to retain the highly regarded Marinelli to run the defense. And he had planned to, remaining on even after close friend Smith was fired. But back in mid-January 2013, as part of their final selection process for a head coach to replace Smith, Emery and the organization had Marinelli interview the three finalists for the head-coaching job.

Marinelli was asked to rank the three. He did. Arians was his runaway first choice; Bevell was the second; Trestman was a distant third.

Emery selected Trestman.

When he learned of the decision, Marinelli abruptly angrily resigned and left Halas Hall for Dallas and a de facto demotion to defensive line coach.

The problems did not end with Marinelli’s exit. The exact level of Emery involvement below the head-coaching job is unclear. With Marinelli gone, however, Emery was involved in hiring Mel Tucker as defensive coordinator and Joe DeCamillis.

Losing Marinelli, very well liked and respected by the players, contributed to the difficult situation into which Tucker was thrust. It was nothing against Tucker; it was the manner in which Smith and then Marinelli were treated.

SameOleJay · 30-12-2014 09:18AM

God, that's depressing.

Realt Dearg Sec · 30-12-2014 09:46AM

SameOleJay wrote: »

God, that's depressing.

Yeah. Reading back over this thread (and most bears forums) and seeing myself and others defending Emery over that hire simply because he deserved the trust of the fans is equally depressing. If that story is true, then he is an absolute joke of a gm, and his firing is the best news yet.

Still no sign if Tucker and DeCamillis are fired. Which is weird in a bad way.

Realt Dearg Sec · 30-12-2014 09:55AM

Incidentally what do you think of hiring Ernie Accorsi to oversee the next gm hire? I'd never heard if him but he has a good cv (oversaw the Eli-Rivers trade, Bernie Kosar to the Browns, was involved in the drafting of John Elway by the Colts and wanted to keep him, recently held the Panthers in their last gm hire).

SameOleJay · 30-12-2014 10:45AM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Yeah. Reading back over this thread (and most bears forums) and seeing myself and others defending Emery over that hire simply because he deserved the trust of the fans is equally depressing. If that story is true, then he is an absolute joke of a gm, and his firing is the best news yet.

Still no sign if Tucker and DeCamillis are fired. Which is weird in a bad way.

It’s just a courtesy to any prospective coach. Let them come in and decide if they want to keep Tucker and Joe.

If said new coach decides to keep both I suggest you refer to my previous post on finding a CFL team.

Itssoeasy · 30-12-2014 11:14AM

Just watched the Bears Vikings game from sunday.Matt forte is a big bright spot for ye lads. That last drive by the bears probably sums up your season though, bar the play cutler made with his feet.

SameOleJay · 30-12-2014 11:56AM

Itssoeasy wrote: »

Just watched the Bears Vikings game from sunday.Matt forte is a big bright spot for ye lads. That last drive by the bears probably sums up your season though, bar the play cutler made with his feet.

And Forte will need to be restructured or traded this off-season. 8 mill is too much for a back this weather.

It really is amazing how bad the Bears have been in every facet. You look around the league and there are any number of reasons for teams struggling in different areas- injuries, inexperience etc. But the Bears have just been awful in every area with whatever personnel all year.

Rented Mule · 30-12-2014 06:17PM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Yeah. Reading back over this thread (and most bears forums) and seeing myself and others defending Emery over that hire simply because he deserved the trust of the fans is equally depressing. If that story is true, then he is an absolute joke of a gm, and his firing is the best news yet.

My favorite part of the Bruce Arians' story is that Emery made him go through a 'fake news conference' to see how he handled himself.

He was the reigning NFL Coach of the Year and he made him jump through hoops. Emery was a joke from the beginning.

padraig_f · 31-12-2014 12:09AM

Oat23 wrote: »

This from Moon Mullin, who I've always liked as a writer and believe what he says.

http://www.csnchicago.com/bears/bears-make-sweeping-changes-halas-hall-fire-gm-phil-emery

That's brutal on several levels...

- Didn't realise we could've held onto Marinelli.

- Shows Emery's tone-deafness for creating a cohesive unit (ignoring who Marinelli wanted to work with), which turned out to be a major problem.

- Why ask Marinelli anyway, if you're just going to ignore what he said?

- Marinelli voted with his feet and was right on both counts: that Arians would be successful, and that he was better jumping off the Trestman ship.

- Doesn't fully excuse it, but goes some way to explain the lack of buy-in from some of the senior players.

padraig_f · 31-12-2014 09:35PM

Dan Durkin on some of the HC candidates:
Durkin: Early Bears’ Coaching Candidate Breakdowns

And they're interviewing Adam Gase:
Adam Gase to interview with Bears Saturday

I was high on the Trestman hire on paper at the time, so I'm not gonna get too up or down about anyone until the 2015 starts. You don't really know til you see them in action.

They seem to be going about it the right way, I like the fact that they've brought in an ex-GM as a consultant.

padraig_f · 31-12-2014 09:37PM

Only thing I didn't like about Gase from Durkin's profile:

The Broncos’ system is rooted in simplicity and relies on Manning’s ability to pinpoint the weakness of the opposing defense on that particular play using a “check with me” system at the line of scrimmage. In that system, the quarterback is given a package of plays to choose from and must read the defense in order to chose the optimal play.

Not sure that works quite as well with Cutler's decision-making.

kennyb3 · 08-01-2015 09:24AM

So who do people favour for the coaching position (i.e. want not who's likely)?

I definitely don't want Gase anyway.

The GM thing seems to be a bit of a joke - nobody with any real credentials - will be another crapshoot and hoping to get lucky.

Realt Dearg Sec · 08-01-2015 11:54AM

kennyb3 wrote: »

So who do people favour for the coaching position (i.e. want not who's likely)?

I definitely don't want Gase anyway.

The GM thing seems to be a bit of a joke - nobody with any real credentials - will be another crapshoot and hoping to get lucky.

Ballard looking likely for the gm. I'll be honest ihave no opinion on it, haven't a clue about it. Been reading a lot though. He seems to be in demand around the league but many suspicious of his ties to older crappy bears administrations.

Would be happy with Bowles or Toub as coach though. Not buying the idea that a special teams guy shouldn't get it. We mainly need someone who commands respect from players, and is able to get in really top quality coordinators. If they can do that I'll be happy to wait and see how things develop.

Definitely don't want shanahan, we've brought in enough Cutler guys by now, get the best guy for the team, let them decide whether they want Cutler short term, long term, or not at all, cap room bedamned. We wouldn't hire someone with a view to getting the best out of the expensive underperforming d line, I don't see why we should do any different anywhere else on the field.

Anyway I won't believe in any coach until I see how they get on in 2016 at this stage. Overall I'm not optimistic about our prospects for a good few years, but a sense that it's going in the right direction (a la the Vikings) would be all I ask.

kennyb3 · 08-01-2015 12:00PM

Why did we have no interest in scot mccoughlan as GM? Restocked 49ers roster & involved in russell wilson & Richard sherman being drafted.

The fact he has some GM experience with 49ers also a plus.

Ballard looking highly likely - hard to tell how he'll do given he hasn't been a GM before, hasn't been in the media prior to this. could be good, could equally fall flat on his face. Ties JA very worrying though.

How much say will he have over coach? They've interviewed Gase & Quinn without him.

I want Bowles as coach at present but even he is a step into the dark. Not really much in the way of ready made candidates.

And I agree 100% no to shanahan (done nothing for decades).

Innish_Rebel · 08-01-2015 12:18PM

kennyb3 wrote: »

Why did we have no interest in scot mccoughlan as GM? Restocked 49ers roster & involved in russell wilson & Richard sherman being drafted.

The fact he has some GM experience with 49ers also a plus.

Ballard looking highly likely - hard to tell how he'll do given he hasn't been a GM before, hasn't been in the media prior to this. could be good, could equally fall flat on his face. Ties JA very worrying though.

How much say will he have over coach? They've interviewed Gase & Quinn without him.

I want Bowles as coach at present but even he is a step into the dark. Not really much in the way of ready made candidates.

And I agree 100% no to shanahan (done nothing for decades).

I think the reason they interviewed Gase & Quinn without GM in place is down to the fact that if either of their respective teams get through to the SB these guys can only be interviewed in the week after the conference game & only by teams that have already interviewed them before...

Realt Dearg Sec · 08-01-2015 12:24PM

Innish_Rebel wrote: »

I think the reason they interviewed Gase & Quinn without GM in place is down to the fact that if either of their respective teams get through to the SB these guys can only be interviewed in the week after the conference game & only by teams that have already interviewed them before...

Yeah I assumed it was to do with being playoff tied. I would hate to see us once again going down a road of foisting a HC on a new GM, or vice versa. Or attempting to foist a coordinator on someone for that matter. If they are cleaning house they need to do it properly with no holdovers, but also with no false starts involving guys being hired before the GM is, thereby scaring away good candidates.

kennyb3 · 08-01-2015 12:27PM

Innish_Rebel wrote: »

I think the reason they interviewed Gase & Quinn without GM in place is down to the fact that if either of their respective teams get through to the SB these guys can only be interviewed in the week after the conference game & only by teams that have already interviewed them before...

Yes it's totally the reason - still if they are liked will they be pushed on Ballard or if disliked will they be disregarded?

Suppose I'm wondering if George/Teddy are going to have a bit more say than in the Trestman hire (which seemed to be all Phil).

Think they should just get GM in place. Then sit down with him and discuss his candidates (and their own) etc. Do interviews together and all try agree on a coach. That seems logical to me. (in fact Teddy shouldn't be part of interview)

There's got to be an argument for firing Emery & Trestman earlier so you have a new GM in place for Black Monday ready to move. Why wait till Black Monday and now have this confusion of interviewing HC without a GM in place.

Realt Dearg Sec · 08-01-2015 01:26PM

kennyb3 wrote: »

Yes it's totally the reason - still if they are liked will they be pushed on Ballard or if disliked will they be disregarded?

Suppose I'm wondering if George/Teddy are going to have a bit more say than in the Trestman hire (which seemed to be all Phil).

Think they should just get GM in place. Then sit down with him and discuss his candidates (and their own) etc. Do interviews together and all try agree on a coach. That seems logical to me. (in fact Teddy shouldn't be part of interview)

There's got to be an argument for firing Emery & Trestman earlier so you have a new GM in place for Black Monday ready to move. Why wait till Black Monday and now have this confusion of interviewing HC without a GM in place.

Certainly with Emery you have to wonder were they still undecided before the season ended? If they were, what on earth did they think would happen in the last couple of games that would swing your opinion of a GM either way after three years of his tenure? And if they had made the decision to fire him, why not just make that move? It doesn't bode well.

kennyb3 · 08-01-2015 01:43PM

Realt Dearg Sec wrote: »

Certainly with Emery you have to wonder were they still undecided before the season ended? If they were, what on earth did they think would happen in the last couple of games that would swing your opinion of a GM either way after three years of his tenure? And if they had made the decision to fire him, why not just make that move? It doesn't bode well.

Exactly my thoughts.

They seem to be f'ucking it up - where is accorsi in all this? Is he in on the interviews?

Then you have someone who served under JA as main candidate at outset - he might be great but it stinks a bit.

Realt Dearg Sec · 08-01-2015 01:55PM

kennyb3 wrote: »

Exactly my thoughts.

They seem to be f'ucking it up - where is accorsi in all this? Is he in on the interviews?

Then you have someone who served under JA as main candidate at outset - he might be great but it stinks a bit.

I amn't sure what Accorsi's role actually is. Is he just there to serve up candidates, with McCaskey and Philips making the decision? If so, expect Ballard, as a best case scenario. Or is Accorsi actually part of the decision making process? If not, they needn't have hired him at all, as he's just window dressing. If Philips can't relinquish control of these kinds of issues even at this point, then they will never, ever learn.

padraig_f · 08-01-2015 05:31PM

I think Ballard looks good on paper, just reading Brad Biggs article there:

Despite Bears ties, GM candidate Chris Ballard his own man

very rounded resume. Played in college, did coaching, several years scouting, and then director of personnel. Turned down the Bucs last year, and declined to talk to the Eagles and Jets this year, so he's in demand. I think it's a good thing he's been with the Bears before, both sides would know what they're getting.

Won't be getting over-excited about paper resumes, but as far as it goes, looks pretty good to me.

padraig_f · 08-01-2015 06:10PM

Random thoughts on coaches...

No standout candidate, well there was one, that was Jim Harbaugh, but he's gone. Pretty big gap after that, but that's reality, proven great head-coaches don't typically become available.

Mike Shanahan/Kyle Shanahan. Ambivalent about Mike Shanahan, but like what Kyle Shanahan has done as OC. RG3's rookie season was pretty remarkable offensively, and probably Shanahan didn't get enough credit at the time, but think the scheme was a big part of that. Passing was pretty good in Cleveland this last season, even with a limited talent like Hoyer. It fell apart at the end, but I think that was more on the QB.

Gary Kubiak. Probably an unsexy pick, but think the style of team he ran in Houston may be a good fit. Offense built around running, tight-ends, and play-action off that. Just seems a good fit for the personnel. Maybe reunite him with Wade Phillips. That was a pretty good Texans team they had, just didn't have the QB with Schaub.

Dan Quinn. DC in Seattle for the last 2 years, when they've had the #1-ranked defense, doesn't happen by accident. When I look at their defense, it doesn't seem that complex, they just seem to execute really well. I say that as a good thing, I think it can translate well, maybe moreso than a heavily-schemed offense, that can get outdated or depend on personnel. Good execution never gets outdated (look at Marinelli in Dallas).

Todd Bowles. Similar to Quinn. DC in Arizona for the last two years when they had the #2 and #7-ranked defense. Don't know the Cardinals game as well, but understand it's a different style to Seattle, a lot more blitz-heavy. Bit lower on Bowles than Quinn. Just heard he's a bit of soft-spoken character. We had one of those last year, and the players walked all over him.

Adam Gase. Don't see the Bears going here, just because of the previous head-coach. Trestman was the offensive guru and it was a disaster, don't see them going for another one directly after.

Rex Ryan. Don't think they're interviewing him. Not a big loss I don't think, good DC, but it was in a 3-4, and never got the Jets offense functioning. After the circus in Halas Hall last season, probably not a bad idea to pass over the guy who was just fired from the Jets.

padraig_f · 08-01-2015 06:26PM

Just saw this:

@MaryKayCabot: #Seahawks DQuinn wants to hire KShanahan as his OC if he gets job, Quinn's a top candidate, Shanahan also interviewing for #Bills top job

That's a pairing I'd be excited about.

Spongey1975 · 08-01-2015 08:16PM

Ryan Pace, the Saints director of player personnel, was appointed GM today

SameOleJay · 08-01-2015 08:40PM

Naturally enough it's hard to get a read on his credentials. Noone knows how great his role was. However he was very highly thought of, especially by Mickey Loomis.

His first move can be dumping Tim Jennings. Gets his contract, stinks the city out all year and then gets a DUI. Moron.

SameOleJay · 08-01-2015 08:43PM

http://chicago.suntimes.com/?p=274799

padraig_f · 08-01-2015 10:28PM

Yeah impossible to project, but I preferred the look of Ballard's resume. Looked more rounded, this guy's very young, 37, will be youngest GM in the league, and been with the Saints his whole career.

Also have the Saints been that good in drafting? They seem to be on a downward slide with a bad cap situation.

@BearReport: "I'm told Bears were on verge of hiring Ballard but Pace blew them away in his interview. Team went other direction."

Don't exactly like the sound of that either, I prefer track-record to interview skills.

Can see a lot of positive comments on twitter from various people.

@JayGlazer: "Ryan Pace is a fantastic hire by the Bears. He's been ready for years but always wanted to wait for his dream spot. Great move."

And upside, I suppose at least it'll be a new direction.

How Bout Dem Bears?

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