I’m kinda with you on Fangio. Not saying Fangio hasn’t done a very good job overall, and I DO want him back, but there seem to be some selective memories here. I recall quite a bit of bitching going on when the Bears couldn’t buy a turnover for the first ten games or so, a lots of questions about his lack of blitzing in obvious blitz situations. They also had a really hard time getting off the field when they needed to the most, and that cost them some games. Fangio overall did a really nice job, but I think there are other competent coaches out there that could fill his job without too much of a problem.
I’ve warmed to Nagy since my knee-jerk post Saturday afternoon on the heels of that KC meltdown. I just hope two things: 1. Bears become respectable again. I’m old, I can’t wait much longer. 2. Fangio is retained for continuity. Pay him and promise him he has genuine input to add some shiny new toys to plug in: FAs, draft and UDFAs. Not been talked about but sticks out like a sore thumb to me: I’m concerned and wondering what we do on STs. If I’m not mistaken Jeff Rodgers is actually Fox’s son-in-law and followed him from Denver. I figured he’d follow Fox right out the door carrying his lunch bucket. I’ve never been impressed with Rodgers in the least. Maybe after Nagy gets the keys to his office and directions to the executive bathroom he’ll bring in someone respectable. But I did like his answer during the PC about assembling his coaching staff where he essentially stated existing coaches will have to tell him who and what they are and convince him they need to be considered going forward. I think that’s a good sign. Displays leadership and really sets the tone that this is his team going forward. Well, here I go again. This should all be interesting and certainly intriguing. I just get tired of getting hyped each off season only to have to eat a shit sandwich week after week, year after year.
Pettine was a fallback, he did a great job in Buffalo as DC. And with Bradley resigning with the Bolts the options grow thin. The Bears really need to bring Fangio back or run the real risk of ending up with a Tucker-like turd. Packers made a very solid hire there i feel. Not happy about the guaranteed blitzfest Trubisky will be facing twice a season now.
Chris Tabor being brought in as ST coordinator. Was with the Browns...was also Dave Toubs assistant with the Bears. And Charles London is back as RB coach...he also served on Lovie’s staff in same position.
I've stayed away from this a bit to not make a fool of myself. I really lost a lot of confdience in the Bears and the NFL in general this past season. Still a fan though. All in all i'm growing pretty optimistic about the Matt Nagy hire. Its pretty clear to me that for better or for worse, Nagy was brought in because he was a big believer in Trubisky. Its been out now that Nagy built a good relationship with Trubisky prior to the draft and was a big fan of his, and Chiefs tried to get him. So if you ask me, that is probably the biggest reason he was hired. Still, I've always been a big fan of Andy Reid for his incredible consistency and his coaching tree is probably the best in the league right now. Since the hire, we've brought in rock solid RB and OL coaches. A very fine Special teams coach. And we just now bring in Oregon's Mark Helfrich to be offensive Coordinator. I actually really like this move. Helfrich was highly regarded in NFL circles apparently, and from the little I know about Oregon football, you cant place a whole lot of blame for their post Chip issues on his shoulders. He was also the guy who targetted Mariota early on for chip kelly, so that is something. In Helfrich and nagy, we have 2 guys who like mobile QBs. I think we are going to see these two use Trubisky's aestheticism very well, and they wont be shy to incorporate college style plays that work. It now all comes down to Fangio. I know not everybody here was a big Fangio fan, but I have always liked him. And right now he looks to be by far the best choice remaining to bring in at DC. I'm still not sold on all of this. I really dont know if we have the personnel to make this work. But if Fangio is brought back and can keep the defense where it was at last year, I truly believe Nagy and co can help make our offence decent enough to at least be an 8-8 team in 2018. And with the right draft picks and FA signings, who knows how much better.
I think you can look forward to a heavy dose of the run/pass option next season. You're going to see a ton of shotgun....a lot of the spread...and maybe even some pistol.
I hear some guys say what has Reid won? I say what has Belicheat won without Brady, One could argue Reid's tree has been more successful at this level. I don't know who isn't, at least they aren't vocal about it if they are. I know there has been some grumbling from time to time as would be with any coach, but I don't recall anyone calling for his head.
My one criticism of Fangio is the defensive calls on 3rd down for the most part, especially 3rd and long. I hate how he put them out there with no pass rush and loose coverage so many times. Maybe he was doing it because Fox wanted it that way, but it seldom worked unless the offensive player dropped the ball or the qb made a bad read or throw.
Yes, I'm too lazy to look up the stats, but it seemed to me every time it was 3rd and long hell even VERY long it would be a first down. I would bet it is among the worst in the league if not the worst on those long downs.
Dont know about 3rd and long but overall on third down teams converted 39.27% vs Chicago which ranked 20th in allowing 3rd down conversions. https://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/opponent-third-down-conversion-pct
