I’m open about Tice as well in regards to creating a little continuity with the playbook but have someone who would be more interested in having a good running game, good blocking schemes, and set up play action.
Plus, if the Bears get to the Superbowl, he’ll probably sell his tickets so there’ll be some extras available. 
Just listened to the Bears presser. There were 4 big takeaways from the discussion.
They were frustratingly politick, as usual, but at least they seem to have seen the problem. No major organizational changes, but the problem they identified is the one that was glaringly obvious. Hopefully they are successful in addressing it. At least the focus is where it belongs.
Just so long as he’s not hosting the party boat cruise that week.
The strippers will be sticking to the poles out on Lake Michigan in February.
Martz was successful as the OC for the Rams, with a HOF QB. What else has he done in the last decade? I really can’t think of any successes for him.
I don’t think Tice is your answer in Chicago… but I can see them promoting him since they have him in house and under contract for another 4 years.
As an aside, Mike Tice has to be one of the dumbest-looking coaches of all time. He is a mouth-breathing, knuckle-dragger who looked like all he needed was a set of neck bolts to complete the picture when he was coaching in Minnesota. Everytime I see him interviewed, I’m waiting to hear “I will name him George, and I will love him and pet him…”
Sorry.
As for the news so far, Dave Wannstadt’s promotion with the Bills was a bit surprising, but I’m happy for him. He’s never been a good head coach at any level, but as a coordinator, he’s had success. At Pitt, his teams always underachieved, but he was a hell of a recruiter. I will always root for him. But not to get another head coaching gig.
Another thing is that Jim Caldwell is still employed. If I were a Colts fan, I’d be terrified. He’s Peyton Manning’s personal hand holder, so if Caldwell stays, it looks bleak for the Andrew Luck pick. As much as I respect Manning’s ability and skill, he’s getting up there in age and his health is always going to be a major concern. If Luck is all that people say he is, the Colts would be crazy not to take him. They have a chance to keep their franchise relevant for the next 10 years.
I simply don’t understand Norv Turner keeping his job with the Chargers. That team is so up and down, someone needs to take the hit. It’s either the coaches fault or the QB’s fault, right? Maybe they are looking to part company with Rivers. What has he done in his career?
Finally, the Eagles and Andy Reid. When will the Eagles admit that Reid is just one of those guys that is a better than average coach, but squanders talent and opportunities like no one this side of Marty Schottenheimer. The Eagles need a complete coaching purge.
That’s an extreme position to take. A complete coaching change can easily backfire. Especially with the personalities in that locker room.
Maybe they haven’t won a Super Bowl under Reid, but they’ve made the playoffs each of the last 10 seasons (except this year and in '07). They’ve a slew of division championships and reached the NFC title game several times.
That’s “better than average” like Shaq was a “better than average” center. There’s about 20-25 teams that would kill for that kind of success.
You know, I have always thought Tice looked like the Frankenstein’s Monster character in the movie Van Helsing.
<YAWN>
Division championships? Woo hoo! Green Bay didn’t win their division last year, but they won the SB. Which one would you rather do?
OK. Have it your way. Reid is a fine regular season coach. But I think he could use a change of scenery. Better than average is perhaps a harsh label, but even if you want to to call him a much better than average coach, or a great coach, it really doesn’t matter.
There is just something that doesn’t mesh with that guy and big games and/or the Eagles. Marty Schottenheimer is one of the best regular season coaches in NFL history, but he sucks in the playoffs. Reid is a bit better in the playoffs, but he has the same number of Lombardi trophies as Marty.
The truth is, up until this season, I agreed with you. He puts a decent team on the field almost every year and the Eagles are always relevant. That’s hard to find in a coach. The Cowboys would love to have his track record the last decade or so, and so would many other teams that don’t sniff the playoffs very often (I’m looking at you, Cleveland!)
But this season, I finally had to give up on the promise. The weapons they had this year were phenomenal and they finished 8-8. I can’t see what another season will bring except heartache for Eagle fans.
Fair enough, and I get the desire to change things up just for the sake of change.
But I don’t see it necessarily helping a team, either. Remember that Schottenheimer was replaced after a 14-2 season in San Diego by Norv Turner (and I’m still not seeing how he kept his job after this last season). I recall it was because he couldn’t get over the hump and win more playoff games. That one worked out great for the Chargers. 
They had a very strong finish (after the debacle with the Seahawks), going 4-0 with a scoring margin of 125 to 46. I think part of the reason they struggled early was the lack of cohesiveness as a team, with too many egos, too many adjustments, too little depth, and the (unsurprising) regression of Michael Vick. I really think that the team needed to figure how to fit all the new, high priced talent into a scheme, and that they had figured that out by end of the season. If Vick improves (I wouldn’t bet on it, I think 2011 was much more indicative of him than 2010), I think the Eagles could be a very tough team to beat next year.
With the lack of an offseason and the influx of new talent, I think the expectations for the Eagles by their fans was waaaayyy to high (not that I didn’t really enjoy watching the hubris devolve). But I also think they could have a very good year next year.
Not just that, but they also said that the incoming GM should understand Lovie’s team’ philosophy, which is, as far as I can see, defense and special teams.
I think that’s bad news for the Bears. First, it may take some of the best GM’s out of the pool. GM’s who want to have their own philosophy, who want to hire their own coach, and who want to evaluate talent using their own requirements. Second, I think changes in the rules and the way that NFL football teams play now have made Lovie’s philosophy very unlikely to produce a championship. With the change in the kickoff rules, I think special teams will play a less important role in determining wins, and I think with the rules favoring passing offenses so heavily, that winning a championship with defense will be tougher. The defense would have to be elite, which isn’t how the Bears are built anymore, they’re simply getting too old. Third, I’m thinking it’s just putting off the inevitable. I think the Bears’ window of opportunity for a championship is shrinking very fast, and it will be too hard to build up that WR crew, O Line, and secondary enough to make it work next year. I think the Bears would have been better off pulling off the bandaid and getting to work rebuilding.
But I’ve been wrong before.
I agree with you on pretty much all points. However, the one thing I’m taking solace in is that Lovie has had a tendency to win far more games than he should with wildly under-performing talent. I’ve been a Lovie hater for a long time, but the Bears tend to win a lot of close games and consistently outperform expectations. Maybe, just maybe, that a GM able to stock Lovie with elite talent could unleash something.
just a question, since I don’t follow the bears closely, but how many of these close games were won by a Devon Hester return? He’s getting a bit old, isn’t he? Plus, you add his offensive plays to his total, and he’s putting more mileage on his body than normal.
Impossible to quantify. There are a couple of games where Hester had a timely kick return TD that clearly was decisive but Hester’s contributions are spread across an entire game. He makes a ton of big 35 yard returns in the middle of the game that flip the field position battle whether they lead immediately to a score or not. Hester often allowed the inconsistent offense to get into FG range after only 1 or 2 first downs a lot too. You can’t say how many games he effected. But, field position tends to be important in close games and the Bears are one of the best in that aspect.
Also, the Bears special teams success is about more than Hester. The block, cover and kick better than just about anyone too. They have probably the best FG kicker in the game and the best gunner too.
He’s 29, true…but he was still as good as ever on returns (particularly punt returns) this season (2 punt return TDs, 16.2 yard average, plus a kickoff return touchdown), until he got injured partway through the season. He kept playing on special teams after the injury, but he definitely seemed to be hampered.
Absolutely. Toub may well be the best coach on their staff. The Bears are a complete PITA to play against on special teams, and it’s not just Hester (though he certainly is a big factor). They’re always a threat to block a kick.
Toub deserves a ton of credit, but it’s an organizational choice. Jerry and Lovie often drafted and activated special teams standouts when they brought little else to the table. Much of the depth issues on the roster is partly a result of decisions made to favor special teams. LB is particularly notable, they never made any effort to develop backups for Urlacher/Briggs/Tinoisamoa/Hillenmeyer and the backup LBs were usually more or less special teams starters above all else. Tim Shaw, Dom Decicco, Brian Iwuh all had no real prospect as a starting LB, but they always had a place on the roster because of the special teams skills.
Bears promote Mike Tice to O Coordinator. Start saving your cash for the Super Bowl tickets now, kids.
http://www.suntimes.com/sports/9850351-419/mike-tice-named-bears-offensive-coordinator.html
The two top candidates for the Bears GM job have gone elsewhere. Reggie McKenzie has accepted the same position with the Raiders. Ravens personnel guru Eric DeCosta has removed himself from the market in order to stay with the Ravens as the eventual successor to Ozzie Newsome.
The next guys on the list are supposedly Les Sneed from Atlanta, Tom Telesco from the Colts and Steve Keim from the Cardinals.
Apparently the Bears, as usual, are moving too fucking slow. Also, this quote sends shivers up my spine.
Fucking Lovie, every time he makes a power grab everything turns to shit. They definitely should have shitcanned the guy.
The Bears are also targeting a QB Coach/Passing Coordinator who has Cutler’s blessing in Titans coach Dowell Loggains. After promoting Tice, getting another coach with experience guiding an offense is key and if he and Cutler can work together in harmony all the better.
