http://sports.espn.go.com/chicago/nfl/columns/story?columnist=isaacson_melissa&id=4814118
Bears lack in player development
With 11 ex-Bears playing for six playoff teams -- some enjoying a career resurgence -- it also begs the persistent question regarding player development.
Bears general manager Jerry Angelo kept that discussion relevant late in the season when he said the team he gave Lovie Smith and his coaching staff was a good one. In other words, the coaching staff blew it for not developing its players......
So which is it? And how much is there to the development question?.......
To find the answer, we did what all self-respecting reporters with a crayon at the ready do, and offered a former Bears assistant coach -- whom we respect and who has no more bitterness than the next guy -- speak on the subject anonymously, on the off chance he should want another job in the NFL again.
"I don't think there's a lot of it happening," the coach said of player development. "I think what happens during the season is that coaches get caught up in the preparation of the games, then all the younger players go by the wayside, and at the end of the day, the younger players go home."
The advent of hiring assistants for position coaches (which about 50 percent of the league now has, as do the Bears at most spots) has helped, but it isn't always enough. Those assistants must be qualified and willing to work solely with young players before and after practice on fundamentals and technique, and must do more work on Fridays and more work off the field as well, with lessons such as how to study film, something many players do not master.
"They never fault scouts for bringing in bad players; it's always the coaches' fault for not developing them," the coach said. He said scouts, particularly in the Bears' front office, are generally preoccupied with athletic ability.
"They'll say a guy can jump, run a 4.5 40, or he's too short or doesn't have long enough arms," he said. "[Coaches] don't give a [hoot] about that. I want to know how productive he is. And with quarterbacks, I want to know about his decision-making ability. Then let's see how tall he is or hear about his arm strength or footwork."
"There are a lot of great coaches out there if you take the time to look for them," he said.
Unfortunately for the Bears, he said, everyone in the business knows the coordinators' jobs are "a one-and-done deal [next year]. You think you're going to get Green Bay's defensive coordinator? It isn't going to happen. [The Bears] have to restructure the whole organization."