I was going to come in and offer my condolences, Omniscient, but it seems like you’re okay with the hire. I personally think Fox isn’t that good of a coach - he’s one of those guys who can win if you give him a great team, but it’s harder and harder to do that in today’s NFL. He’s more of a caretaker than a strategist (so at least, he’s the opposite of Trestman). I saw a report that the Bears were interested in Mike Mularkey for their OC spot, which would be terrible.
Bears have been associated with Fangio, Allen Trgovac and Mike Smith as DC and Mularkey, Chudzinski, Case and Shanahan at OC.
I lean towards Fangio and Shanahan.
Well, reports say Kubiak is going to become the new head coach of the Broncos. Probably a great fit for him and increases the likelihood that Peyton comes back one more time.
This will have ripple effects since that Raven’s OC job is probably the most desirable one. Most think Shanahan will land there, which is disappointing since he was my favorite for the Bears. We’ll see if Fox can work a little magic and lure him away, if not Gase might be an okay consolation. Lil Shanny has a better track record though.
Is (Baltimore QB coach) Denison going with Kubiak to Denver? If not, he’s a potential OC for the Ravens as well - continuity-wise, that would be the best case for Baltimore’s offense.
Haven’t heard anything yet, will be worth watching. I don’t recall Dennison getting many OC interviews prior to now. Think he did in previous seasons though.
He was Kubiak’s OC in Houston - my guess is that he goes to Denver with Kubiak.
(on edit): Yeah, Denison and TE Coach Brian Pariani are both reported to be going with Kubiak.
Wonder if Gase gets a call from Baltimore. Seems like he and Flacco might be a juicy pairing.
In unrelated news. Ryan Pace apparently just stole the Saints top scout, Josh Lucas, and hired him as the director of player personnel in Chicago.
I obviously don’t know much about Lucas, but if Pace is the wunderkind people make him out to be in and around New Orleans, you’d have to think this is a coup since Pace knows him well.
Just saw the alert that Quinn and Shanahan are going to the Falcons. Bummer, but I get the appeal if Matt Ryan.
And Trestman has landed in B’more.
Pretty surprised frankly, didn’t hear that connection from anyone. I figured Gase was going there so maybe that means he’s the new favorite for the Bears job under Fox. We’ll see.
Wow, missed some other big news in my quick scan of the headlines.
Doug Marrone is off the market and has gone to the Jaguars to be the Assistant HC and OL Coach. Big step down for him. Suppose he’s hoping that this is a 1 year stopover. Sounds like he got passed over by the 49ers when they promoted their DL coach to HC. Not sure what that says about the 49ers and Marrone.
Joe Barry is moving up from the Chargers LBs coach to be the new DC for the 'Skins. The big takeaway there is that they apparently whiffed on Vic Fangio, and most people said it was between Chicago and DC for him. Might mean that he’s heading to Chicago…which excites me.
Gary Kubiak has apparently wasted no time in getting a staff together in Denver. The most notable hiring looks to be Rick Dennison as OC. Dennison was another guy connected with the Bears both this year and back in 2013.
Will all the moves that have happened you have to guess that the Bears will announce both Coordinator slots in a day or so. Gase and Fangio will be the big fan favorites at this point.
PFT seems to think the Bears have already settled on Fangio: Report: Bears hiring Vic Fangio - ProFootballTalk
Trestman seems like an odd hire, but there’s some history there. He was Ozzie Newsome’s OC for a couple of years in Cleveland and he was on the Raiders staff for a couple of years with Jim Harbaugh. I’m more than a little worried about the shotgun-heavy, wide open passing offense he ran in Chicago, though - he seems like a step away from what the Ravens ran successfully this year.
Gase must be a terrible interview if he’s still unemployed at this point. It looks bad, I think, that Fox didn’t immediately go after him.
The shotgun-heavy thing isn’t really in Trestman’s DNA. Things went off the rails for this offense in a lot of ways and Trestman seemed undisciplined in play-calling, but there was no one around to keep him in check. Traditionally, he’s be a really big pro-set, play-action, WCO guy. I think it might just be that Forte is useless as tits on a bull between the tackles making that an unappealing option.
But, with the Raven’s lack of a running game and Flacco’s deep ball heroics, it’s still a bizarre fit.
Yeah, I was lukewarm on him as a hire before Fox got canned. He has only been the OC for a couple seasons and those seasons were with Manning as OC-QB. Plus how much of his success was just maintaining the system that McCoy set up? His credentials seem super thin, but I trusted that NFL folks knew what they were talking about when he was a hot interview candidate.
Now that he’s been out there for a while, I’m starting to think he’s a paper tiger. Doesn’t mean he wouldn’t still be a capable OC, but he’s by no means a must-get.
I’m very excited about the Fangio hiring. I think that’s amazing. I’m very underwhelmed by the Jeff Rodgers hiring as STC, he’s one of the few guys out there with the dubious distinction of fielding a worse ST group than DeCamillis’s Bears over the last 2 seasons.
Halas Hall has be amazingly tight lipped over the last month which is, frankly, miraculous. Might be a sign that Pace and Fox will run a tight ship. It also means that I have no idea who the top candidates are for the OC job. Most fans are guessing Gase or Chudzinski. I have a old man-crush on Chudzinski and he’s interviewed with the Bears for their last 2 or 3 OC openings (and during the previous HC search too I think), so I’d be all for him, but he hasn’t exactly lit it up in the last few years. I like his scheme though. I’m a little worried that he’s moved around so much, but I think he’s got some executive skills which would be a nice counterpoint to Fox’s defensive minded leadership.
We here at St.Louis Rams headquarters have elected to injure Sam Bradfords knee ourselves and remain the bottom dwelling-- scum sucking team as always
PS… We have a stadium for sale on craigslist…Close to Downtown & Major highways
Raiders hired Bill Musgrave as OC, which pretty much burns out any good will I had over the Del Rio hire.
It’s finally official. Adam Gase to the Bears, completing the NFL brain trust that uses the fewest letters on their business cards. I already said my piece on him, but I honestly don’t have any convincing evidence that he sucks. At this point I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt and being excited about the talent the Bears have assembled.