Bears 10.0: GM and coach watch before the draft

[Dresden]

Ownership sucks. No two ways about that.

I'd like to see a source on that. It sounds phony.

the actual context of what mccaskey said was that he was disheartened that there were enough lions fans at soldier field for there to be audible pro-lions chants, and he said the front office needs to do a better job of building a team that's playing important football in december so fans don't feel disinterested enough to sell their tickets. direct quote:

It's understandable that there's fans who sell their tickets because of the way the season has gone. And the challenge for us is to put a team on the field that Bears fans are so excited about they're not interested in selling their tickets.

So there's nothing about McCasket also selling his suite to Lions fans?

[nomorezorro]

oh no he did sell a suite to a lions fan. but a rich guy selling his suite to another rich guy isn't really a "gotcha" moment because mccaskey wasn't being critical of bears fans for selling their tickets; he was saying the mass presence of lions fans was a symptom of the fact that the team isn't good enough

[fleet]

McCaskey: It’s understandable, (Chants of “sell the team”). As Kevin Warren mentioned, our fans are passionate. They’re incredibly frustrated. They wanted to make their voices heard. I was more bothered by the week before when Lions fans tried to take over Soldier Field and force the home team to go to a silent snap count.”

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[Betta Bulleavit]

I think the bears are at. 17 interviews

I didn’t know that it was that many. I thought they were at 12 or 13. But I could be wrong.

Either way though, it’s important to keep in mind that these are pretty much ALL virtual interviews at this point and we don’t know how long these interviews are actually lasting. They could be an hour or less. If so, it’s conceivable that initial interviews may take 3 days or so. Then, you cut down the field to the top 3-4 guys and that’s when the interviews will get more in depth and likely, in person. From my experiences, this is kinda how you to being done these days.

[GetBuLLish]

Warren calls out the "passionate" nature of Bears fans: “Go into the search without your mind made up,” Warren said. “You need to go into the searches wide open and look at it from a global standpoint. Having a standard. What are we looking for? It takes a certain kind of person, and I say this lovingly, with all respect: This is a phenomenal franchise [but] our fan base is, because they’re so passionate, you have to be sturdy. You have to be disciplined.

“You have to be strong here in Chicago.”

Sounds to me like he's pointing out how reactionary many fans can be....

The Bears franchise is run by geniuses solely being held back by its reactionary fanbase!

If the Bears fans continue misbehaving, some other team is going to swoop in and steal Poles and Warren from us.

[dice]

Are we really arguing Lovie Smith was not a great choice?

Holy moly we've gone full meatball. Lovie Smith was thee best defensive coordinator and was there hot first time coaching prospect. Parcells liked Payton but he didn't have the reputation that Lovie did yet.

Did Payton turn into a great choice? Yes. Doesn't mean Lovie was any less of one.

If you're arguing Lovie wasn't great or wasn't the right choice, you might as well check out of the team because you're not going to be happy with any choice.

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why did lovie fail miserably at 3 subsequent gigs?

Why did Ditka fail with the Saints? Does that mean he was the wrong choice in 1983?

there's a difference between right/wrong and GREAT. clearly neither ditka nor lovie were great. many HCs could have won 1 or more titles w/ that bears team

Why have the Bears failed miserably since Lovie?

mostly lack of talent, somewhat lack of coaching

was lovie a great hire IN COMPARISON TO what came after? possibly. but that's a very low bar

[Jcool0]

Guess we have the surprise canidate

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[fleet]

why did lovie fail miserably at 3 subsequent gigs?

Why did Ditka fail with the Saints? Does that mean he was the wrong choice in 1983?

there's a difference between right/wrong and GREAT. clearly neither ditka nor lovie were great. many HCs could have won 1 or more titles w/ that bears team

Why have the Bears failed miserably since Lovie?

mostly lack of talent, somewhat lack of coaching

was lovie a great hire IN COMPARISON TO what came after? possibly. but that's a very low bar

In general, we are ascribing way too much blame or credit to coaching. And the players are taking a discount ride. Short of truly great coaches, or truly awful coaches, the players on the roster determine the majority of the wins and losses. So, we need a good coach that’ll can manage the clock ffs, coach up the talent, and call good plays against the defense. But right now, I think the current Bears fanbase is leaning way too far on this team’s success being determined by the coach. Like a savior could ride in and transmogrify the team into something else. There is something to that to a certain extent if you’re hooking into an elite coach. But even they are limited by rosters. This team was overrated. Eberflus had a nonexistent margin for error.

I might add, the very good quarterback hides a lot of roster issues, and conversely the very bad quarterback takes the edge off good rosters. But aside from that, focus on Ryan Pace. Focus on Ryan Poles. Those are the guys that have been really making your Sundays go to hell. Everyone..Mike Vrabel isn’t transforming this roster into a winner. Shane Waldron did not destroy the Bears. Matt Nagy didn’t either. He was JAG. The current team won 5 games for a reason. The roster. This roster will change before the Bears are in the playoffs pretty significantly. Vrabel or no Vrabel.

[Betta Bulleavit]

Why did Ditka fail with the Saints? Does that mean he was the wrong choice in 1983?

there's a difference between right/wrong and GREAT. clearly neither ditka nor lovie were great. many HCs could have won 1 or more titles w/ that bears team

Why have the Bears failed miserably since Lovie?

mostly lack of talent, somewhat lack of coaching

was lovie a great hire IN COMPARISON TO what came after? possibly. but that's a very low bar

In general, we are ascribing way too much blame or credit to coaching. And the players are taking a discount ride. Short of truly great coaches, or truly awful coaches, the players on the roster determine the majority of the wins and losses. So, we need a good coach that’ll can manage the clock ffs, coach up the talent, and call good plays against the defense. But right now, I think the current Bears fanbase is leaning way too far on this team’s success being determined by the coach. Like a savior could ride in and transmogrify the team into something else. There is something to that to a certain extent if you’re hooking into an elite coach. But even they are limited by rosters. This team was overrated. Eberflus had a nonexistent margin for error.

I might add, the very good quarterback hides a lot of roster issues, and conversely the very bad quarterback takes the edge off good rosters. But aside from that, focus on Ryan Pace. Focus on Ryan Poles. Those are the guys that have been really making your Sundays go to hell. Everyone..Mike Vrabel isn’t transforming this roster into a winner. Shane Waldron did not destroy the Bears. Matt Nagy didn’t either. The current team won 5 games for a reason. The roster. This roster will change before the Bears are in the playoffs pretty significantly. Vrabel or no Vrabel.

So, I tend to agree with the idea that very few coaches are good or bad enough to single handedly win or lose games for a team. However, I do think the Eberflus was a very unfortunate exception to that rule. I firmly believe that just about any other HC would have had us at 8-9 this season. And I say this just purely based on the WAS, DET and first GB game. That’s not to say that this roster doesn’t still need a lot of work. But there is a reason why (despite poor ownership) the Bears job is regarded as one of best (if not the best) jobs available. And I don’t think it has much to do with the rich history.

[dice]

Why did Ditka fail with the Saints? Does that mean he was the wrong choice in 1983?

there's a difference between right/wrong and GREAT. clearly neither ditka nor lovie were great. many HCs could have won 1 or more titles w/ that bears team

Why have the Bears failed miserably since Lovie?

mostly lack of talent, somewhat lack of coaching

was lovie a great hire IN COMPARISON TO what came after? possibly. but that's a very low bar

In general, we are ascribing way too much blame or credit to coaching. And the players are taking a discount ride. Short of truly great coaches, or truly awful coaches, the players on the roster determine the majority of the wins and losses. So, we need a good coach that’ll can manage the clock ffs, coach up the talent, and call good plays against the defense. But right now, I think the current Bears fanbase is leaning way too far on this team’s success being determined by the coach. Like a savior could ride in and transmogrify the team into something else. There is something to that to a certain extent if you’re hooking into an elite coach. But even they are limited by rosters. This team was overrated. Eberflus had a nonexistent margin for error.

I might add, the very good quarterback hides a lot of roster issues, and conversely the very bad quarterback takes the edge off good rosters. But aside from that, focus on Ryan Pace. Focus on Ryan Poles. Those are the guys that have been really making your Sundays go to hell. Everyone..Mike Vrabel isn’t transforming this roster into a winner. Shane Waldron did not destroy the Bears. Matt Nagy didn’t either. He was JAG. The current team won 5 games for a reason. The roster. This roster will change before the Bears are in the playoffs pretty significantly. Vrabel or no Vrabel.

dan campbell didn't drastically improve over the last couple of years. belichick didn't forget how to coach when brady left

[dice]

unfortunately, falling from 7 to 10 appears likely at this early stage to significantly affect the bears' choices. there are 3 distinct top prospect tiers at the moment:

1) the hunter tier
2) the elites - graham (DL), johnson (CB), mcmillan (WR), carter (EDGE)
3) the excellents - pearce (EDGE), sanders (QB), jeanty (RB), campbell (OT), ward (QB), burden (WR), starks (S)

w/ sanders and/or ward very likely to be drafted in the top 6, it was very possible and probably LIKELY that a 2nd tier prospect would have fallen to the bears at #7

at least pearce and/or campbell should be available, though it makes it hard to sign a starting EDGE like mack in FA should pearce be the guy who's there at 10

[Dresden]

unfortunately, falling from 7 to 10 appears likely at this early stage to significantly affect the bears' choices. there are 3 distinct top prospect tiers at the moment:

1) the hunter tier
2) the elites - graham (DL), johnson (CB), mcmillan (WR), carter (EDGE)
3) the excellents - pearce (EDGE), sanders (QB), jeanty (RB), campbell (OT), ward (QB), burden (WR), starks (S)

w/ sanders and/or ward very likely to be drafted in the top 6, it was very possible and probably LIKELY that a 2nd tier prospect would have fallen to the bears at #7

at least pearce and/or campbell should be available, though it makes it hard to sign a starting EDGE like mack in FA should pearce be the guy who's there at 10

I anxious to see Carter play v. ND. He didn't do much in the last game and was injured in quite a bit of it as well. It does look likely that one of the premier OT's will be there at 10, whether that's Campell, Banks, the guy from Oregon, or Simmons. I've seen a lot more mocks that have us taking an OT at 10 than an Edge.

[Dresden]

I"m coming around on the idea of Vrabel, to the point where I don't think it would be wise to just rush into hiring BJ. I've read one NE writer say the Pats are leery of hiring another rookie HC, and might prefer Vrabel over BJ more for that reason than the Patriots connection. There's a lot to be said for a HC who has won Super Bowls, comes from a franchise with a tradition like the Pats, and who would really set a tone in the locker room. Demarcus Walker, who played one year under Vrabel at TEN, mentioned that there is a lot of nonsense going on with the Bears players right now- lack of discipline; not doing things the right way, not being held accountable, that would all end if someone like Vrabel were the new HC.

You could probably say the same about Carroll.

[Jeffster81]

I"m coming around on the idea of Vrabel, to the point where I don't think it would be wise to just rush into hiring BJ. I've read one NE writer say the Pats are leery of hiring another rookie HC, and might prefer Vrabel over BJ more for that reason than the Patriots connection. There's a lot to be said for a HC who has won Super Bowls, comes from a franchise with a tradition like the Pats, and who would really set a tone in the locker room. Demarcus Walker, who played one year under Vrabel at TEN, mentioned that there is a lot of nonsense going on with the Bears players right now- lack of discipline; not doing things the right way, not being held accountable, that would all end if someone like Vrabel were the new HC.

You could probably say the same about Carroll.

I am leery about about the Bears hiring another rookie after the spectacular failures of the DoorMatts (Nagy and Flus), so I can see the logic of a guy like Vrabel or Carroll. For either of those it will come down to who they hire as OC. For me if either could bring Daboll to Chicago as OC ( he sucked with a hack like Daniel Jones but was awesome with Josh Allen and Caleb is closer to Allen than Jones in talent/abilities) I would be cool with that combo if they can not land Ben Johnson.

[TheGOATRises007]

I don't want Carroll at all.

Vrabel I can get on board with.

[dougthonus]

So he is one of the best of a mostly bad group. If that's what you want to hang your hat on... I remember most Bears fans were glad when he was fired. Its only because they have one 10+ win season since that we get this revisionist history with him.

If you think the coach that gets you to the superbowl with Rex Grossman is a bad coach, then you're going to be pissed off with every coach.

[biggestbullsfan]

Read on Twitter

Caleb’s contract renewal is gonna be a nightmare isn’t it lol

[nitetrain8603]

I don't want Carroll at all.

Vrabel I can get on board with.

Why is that?

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[nitetrain8603]

So he is one of the best of a mostly bad group. If that's what you want to hang your hat on... I remember most Bears fans were glad when he was fired. Its only because they have one 10+ win season since that we get this revisionist history with him.

If you think the coach that gets you to the superbowl with Rex Grossman is a bad coach, then you're going to be pissed off with every coach.

100% agreed. People act like Lovie wasn't a hot coaching prospect when the Bears hired him. I would argue he was the defensive version of Ben Johnson.

Smith is in his third season as the Rams' defensive coordinator, and has been viewed as one of the league's hot head coaching prospects since 2001, when his improved St. Louis defense helped the Rams reach their second Super Bowl in three seasons.

https://www.si.com/more-sports/2005/01/20/lovie-smith

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[fleet]

Regarding Vrabel, I think if the Bears were serious about getting him, or if they thought they had an even chance, they wouldn’t have brought him in on a zoom call with 15 squares to speak to. He would have been brought in to look at the facility, which is better than New Englands (currently). He would have been brought in to establish a human connection eye to eye with Warren and Poles. I don’t know what the Raiders are doing, but I would guess that the Bears think Tom Brady has an advantage over them as well as NE.