DBB joined Trent Condon in Des Moines to discuss a myriad of Bears and NFL topics including:
- Possible pairing of John Fox and the Chicago Bears
- Jay Cutler’s immediate future in Chicago
- Problems being caused by the complexity of the NFL rule book
DBB joined Trent Condon in Des Moines to discuss a myriad of Bears and NFL topics including:
Some reasons I believe John Fox should be the next head coach of the Chicago Bears.
More to come…
Adam Gase may be the best young assistant coach in the NFL. He may be the next great head coach in the NFL. But there is one major issue facing his candidacy, illustrated perfectly by a Google image search of his name.
The issue: Gase doesn’t come with #18.
So who is Adam Gase?
The Bill Parcells coaching tree has been the most profitable of the modern era, yielding six Super Bowl titles since 2000. The reason? Parcells teaches his coaches to coach the whole field, not just their specific positions or unit. He breeds men who can run the room a la Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Sean Payton.
From a Sheil Kapadia piece for Philly Mag:
While Parcells was making a name for himself as the head coach of the New York Giants, he faced Bowles, a safety out of Temple, twice a year.
“I noticed that he was making their secondary calls and adjustments and and all those things as far back as those days,” Parcells said during an interview with Jon Marks and Brian Baldinger on 97.5 The Fanatic.
Later in the piece, Bowles discussed the impact Parcells has had on his coaching career:
The Bears will be introducing their new GM, Ryan Pace, at an 11 am CT press conference.
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I will be traveling this weekend on a trip planned before the Chicago Bears went into despair and firings became inevitable. To keep up with my thoughts over the next several days, you will have to view my Twitter feed on the right rail or GO TO TWITTER AND FOLLOW ME.
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(If the Bears hire a coach over the next three days I will, of course, rush from the oceanfront bar or golf course I’m currently enjoying to edit a photo of the man in Microsoft Paint. This is sarcasm.)
There has been much talk in the Chicago sports media about the general repugnance of the Bears GM and head coaching positions. If one had no access to information outside The Tribune and The Score one would think taking over a leadership role inside the Bears organization was viewed similarly to taking over a maximum security prison with only a fly swatter and a Wiffle ball bat as protection.
Yet, here is Ryan Pace. Having rejected multiple opportunities to interview for positions that did not fit his specific criteria, Pace enthusiastically pursued the Bears GM gig. Here is Ryan Pace, not phased in the least by supposedly poisonous existence of Ted Phillips in a position of power. Boy does that spill hot coffee on the morning motives of certain folks.
What do we know about Ryan Pace?
Sometimes other writers do your work for you. I was readying an email to former Bears scouting director Greg Gabriel to arrange a podcast re: Ballard when I came across a piece by Bucs blogger Sander Philipse. (To read the entire piece, and you should, CLICK HERE.) Here are some thoughts from Gabriel:
“Chris was a very strong defensive evaluator and he was excellent with defensive backs. And the whole time I was there, Chris cross-checked defensive backs. So he knew number one what we were looking for, number two he knew the personality of the coach, and knew if the coach could work with the kid and knew if the kid could prosper under the coach. There’s not a lot of scouts, who can do that who have that skill. That’s where he was very very strong.”
“[Charles] Tillman, that was Chris’ guy. [Cornerback] Nate Vasher we took in the fourth round from Texas. Now that’s a great example, because Chris had a very strong conviction on Nate Vasher. Nate at his pro day didn’t run very good. Now his agility drills and stuff were outstanding.”
Ballard wanted to really sell Vasher, though. He was convinced Vasher was going to be good. So he went back to Texas to time him again, and gets a tenth of a second off his time. Gabriel said “What did you do, strap jet engines to his ankles?” But Ballard really believed in Vasher, and just told Gabriel “Oh no man, he can do it. He can run real good!”
“But fact of the matter is Nate Vasher, he couldn’t run fast!” Gabriel says. “And I always harassed Ballard about that after, but he was so quick and so instinctive he became an All-Pro. Fourth-round pick and he went to the Pro Bowl!”
It wasn’t just defense, though that certainly is Ballard’s specialty. “[Running back] Matt Forte was another guy. Chris and I both had a strong conviction. Jerry (Angelo) wasn’t as sold on Forte as Chris and I were.” Forte has since made it to two Pro Bowls and has been a very large part of the Bears’ offense since being drafted.
Ballard is a former defensive coach and defensive back specialist interviewing for a job desperate for that expertise. It is one of many reasons I believe he will be the next GM of the Chicago Bears.