How will management fuck this up?

I took that in good fun, like the "I enjoyed beating Matt LaFleur twice a year" comment. We'll see how he handles things when the firing squad opens after we lose a few games. Arrogance can turn into "I'm not an idiot, I know we need to run more than 7 times" - or maybe he'll handle it well.

 

I actually loved that.

We've had coaches and GMs that have quietly thought they were the smartest guy in the room. Maybe now is the time for a coach that loudly knows he is.

Fucking right.

 

So no coordinator hirings, but former Ohio State Qb JT Barrett is coming from Detroit to be Qb coach and Antwain Randel El coming to be new WR coach.

While I though shefter implied Dennis Allen was the guy, the bears interviewed one of Chris Shula’s guys from the rams, Aubrey pleasant for DC.

 

Oh Dallas, that is hilarious, never stop being Dallas.

 

Broncos TE coach Declan Doyle is the new OC.

 

Dennis Allen officially named DC.

Richard Hightower stays as ST coordinator.

https://twitter.com/RapSheet/status/1883680888405586324

 

At the moment I am in on this coaching staff.

Love the Allen hire. Not crazy about retaining Hightower but don't hate it either. And Doyle gives Johnson someone that is in a similar mold to he is that will be his eyes in booth on Sundays and can help gameplan during the week.

I like this.

 

Reddit is losing its mind over the lack of experience, but Johnson wanted basically an intern and he's going to continue to call plays as the HC, so it's really just about who he was comfortable with. And nice to see Allen is official, there's your veteran presence, and someone who was a good DC and bad HC. Hightower - I'd rather see fresh blood, but of the staff, he's one to keep, unlike the mind boggling decision to retain Chris Morgan last year.

Overall, everything here is still fine. There's enough talent on this team for some results next year. That doesn't have to mean playoffs, but it sure as shit doesn't mean 10 game losing streak.

 

I would also like a more veteran presence at OC (ie not a 28 year old TE coach) - this is someone who does more than just relaying what he sees from the booth on gamedays, and hell, even then, experience lets him see more of what matters - but I'm not sweating things. If the team sucks, Poles is gone, and I'll be happy knowing there's a chance for the future. Johnson is going to have to learn the most important part, which is transitioning from an OC to a HC. So, we'll see how that goes.

He did say that he's "talked with" Poles about the importance of the OL. He said they'll bring in an OL coach for the young guys and try to bring in some additional talent. We'll find out, based on the moves they make, just how much input Johnson has and how much Poles' "talent evaluation" is still in charge.

 

I have very little hope that Poles can figure out how to solve the offensive line even with the addition of Ben Johnson. It's still an abomination, and after three years, it's not even a serviceable abomination. He is no better in year three than he was in year one.

 

At least we didn't hire Liam Coen.

 

Like BWW, I’m in on the coaching staff.

Have to wonder if Hightower’s trick/fake return one td return other play saved him from one of the last weeks of the season. He’s tried that variation before.

I hope the 28 year old can be the guy in the skybox. Completely unimpressed with Denver TE production, but apparently the kid is bright.

The bears have a home game next year against the Dallas cowboys, who just hired Eberflush. I want Ben Johnson to hang 40 on them for good measure.

Now we’re in mock draft season, which is going to be painful till FA starts. The bad ideas are already all over the place, like drafting another WR or a RB in round 1.

EW Shrine game and Senior Bowl this weekend, seems a lot of players who don’t need either game are playing, which is odd—or they love football that much, so talk to an OL or four. Can’t believe we have to add ‘do you like playing football for a big paycheck’ to questions to ask a player, but loaf ass Nate Davis stole 15 mil.

 

Ben Johnson said:
..."the Bears have one (maybe two) starting caliber player on the line in Darnell Wright (and possibly Braxton Jones). That’s a major downgrade for Johnson, and he knows it."

"I think the offensive line is certainly an area that we need to get better play from going forward," Johnson said during his introductory press conference last Wednesday. “Something that Ryan and I have already talked about. We will develop a plan of attack for how to get that done, but I'm looking forward to getting an excellent offensive line coach into the building to help develop the young talent that we already have on the roster. We will certainly talk about acquiring talent to bolster that unit as well."

What are the possibilities of finding the right offensive players to satisfy Johnson's search?

Don't laugh, I'm really wondering about this.

 

I am so pleased they got the Dennis Allen hire over the line. By far the most important hire they've made after HC. If there was a better DC candidate out there from a 4-3 background i must've missed it. The experience and hopefully strong voice will be absolutely essential in that locker. And he's not going to any HC gig anytime soon so the Bears could get years out of this hire.

Hightower absolutely would've been fired if its my call. No doubt he saved himself with that trick return against GB, but to me thats more than trumped by the monster fuck that was the FG blocking assignments/execution later in the season. The worst part is it carried over week to week, to the point where they were switching players/positions up in-game after another fail. NO! This kind of thing shouldn't be happening in the first place, but for it to carry over and then have you scrambling about during the next game, that is 100% a coaching fail. Hightower was the coach so he carries the can. I would've fired him at the time tbh.

The new OC, who wasn't even alive for the Fog Bowl, would not have been my choice. The 10 game losing streak, which came entirely off the back of a locker room that couldn't be held accountable, is way too fresh in the memory. I def wanted an OC with experience, and pref a HC background. FWIW David Shaw was my hope and i fear they've really missed a trick here. New guy whatever his name will bring you absolutely zero on the experience front( he'll be younger than half the roster) and probably very little on the leadership front. The next big offensive brain they say. Sure. Except his position group was completely unremarkable in Denver and even if he is that great he'll be gone too soon in some Mike McDaniel reach type hire. Carrying future water for another team is of no interest to me. Maybe Johnson will be strong enough off his own back so that it won't matter, but we don't know that yet either way so personally i would've been going with an experienced hire here for OC.

Overall i can't hate things cos Allen is as good of a hire as you could hope for in an area that is a weakness for Johnson. But im generally not a fan of holdover coaches unless they're exceptional(Hightower certainly isnt), and in a fork in the road type moment re OC, i would've taken the path more travelled. We'll see if it makes all the difference heh.

 

I love reading that so much baby. The first step is understanding the scale of the problem, something Poles has completely failed to do. At least Johnson gets it.

They need to replace at least 3 out of the 5 positions on the O-Line. To do that in 1 offseason is ambitious to say the least, but its achievable with enough resources. The Bears have money for FA and they have draft picks so if Johnson means what he says and they back it up, its achievable. I have hope. Primarily because i think Johnson fully understands the importance of O-Line in this sport.

 

In three years from Poles Wright and Backspin Jones was the best he could do. Good Lord, The line is no better now than the shit he inherited. What are the odds in Vegas that Less than Zero Poles will turn this around in the next 6 months? Not a chance

 

To the ST Coach holdover:

What in the motherfuck about this team's performance last year makes you want to hold onto anything? I mean, for fuck's sake. Cleanse the building of that sickness. Leave no remnants of the absolute cancer that was last year's locker room. Burn it down, throw out the ashes, and sage the place for good measure.

My first reaction, seeing Hightower retained, was that it must've been Santos and co that asked for him to come back. That, or it's another of Poles' soft spots. Or maybe Ben Johnson just really doesn't give much of a shit beyond the offense, I don't know. But yeah, simply for the fact that you CANNOT allow last year to happen again - even a little bit - he'd have been out the door. It has to be made clear that the complete lack of individual effort and accountability last year was unacceptable, and the way the team was ran was unacceptable, and having someone coaching from last year doesn't feel like doing that.

Maybe I'm overreacting. But if it's me, I'm purging the building of last year in whatever way I can.

Also, yes, the OC is way too fucking young. I said it earlier, but I'll say it again - the OC does more than relay information to the head coach from the booth. Practices matter, film reviews matter, etc. Maybe he's just a complete fucking all star at all of that, I don't know. But something tells me a 28 year old doesn't quite have the experience to spin all of those plates most effectively (and I say that as a 34 year old).

Does anyone know if he has a history of working with Ben Johnson? That question is ultimately why I went on the mini-rant above. Whoops.

 

Should've known, Ev just said it all for me, as usual. Should just quote him and save myself the words, in the future.

 

Wonderful stuff.

 

It is amazing to me how short my memory is. I had literally forgotten the not once but TWICE blocked kick where the other team straight up coached them to take advantage of his stupidity.

I know I'm getting old, but goddamn, actually forgot about that whole thing. It's like most of the season is now a blur other than "bad".