Thread: Ditka's coaching tree is blossoming

Ditka's coaching tree is blossoming

Da Coach's former players are all over NFL sidelines, including 3 new head coaches

By Dan Pompei, Tribune reporter 1:29 p.m. CDT, May 21, 2011


It has been a dozen years since Mike Ditka coached football. It has been 19 years since his tenure as Bears coach ended.

But a part of him remains on NFL sidelines on Sunday afternoons. You can see vestiges of Da Coach on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays too, from big-time college venues to out-of-the-way high school stadiums.

Even though Ditka, 71, no longer wears a whistle, his former players are coaching everywhere.

Six of them went on to become NFL head coaches. Nine others became NFL assistants. At least a dozen others have become coaches at some level.

This year, three of his former players — Leslie Frazier, Jim Harbaugh and Ron Rivera — became NFL head coaches for the first time.

None of this appears coincidental.

"I credit coach Ditka with a lot of what I was able to accomplish as a coach," Frazier said.

Said Rivera: "A lot of things he used to say to us, I say now. I talk about doing things the right way, being accountable, taking ownership, challenging yourself — just like he did. I've taken so much from him in my everyday coaching."

Ditka's coaching "tree" is different. Usually coaching trees, such as those of Bill Walsh or Marty Schottenheimer, form when assistant coaches go on to become head coaches. But Ditka's tree is filled with former players.

"It is strange that so many have gone into coaching," Ditka said. "I'm happy for their success. They probably thought they could do a lot better job than I did, so they got into coaching."

One of them, Jeff Fisher, has won more games than Ditka. Fisher, whom the Titans let go this year, has 142 victories to Ditka's 121. He has coached for 17 years to Ditka's 14. Ditka's .560 winning percentage is better than Fisher's .542.

Saints coach Sean Payton, who played for Ditka on the 1987 strike team, has a .613 winning percentage and a Super Bowl championship with Ditka's other old team, the Saints.

The other Ditka proteges who have become NFL head coaches haven't had enough time to build impressive resumes.

Mike Singletary went 18-22 in parts of three seasons with the 49ers before being fired in December. He's now assistant head coach of the Vikings under Frazier.

Of all the Ditka players who became coaches, Singletary might be the most similar to his former coach.

Both were Hall of Fame players. During his time with the 49ers, Singletary sent a player to the locker room during a game after the player committed a penalty. He dropped his pants during a halftime speech to make a point. He changed offenses on the fly.

"I'm disappointed by what happened in San Francisco with Mike because he's a special guy and a good coach," Ditka said. "Mike wears his heart on his sleeve. He said exactly what had to be said. You have to understand these are different times. If you don't have an owner strong enough to support you in a case like this, it's totally unfair to Mike.

"What he did was take those boys to men and understand that they had to get a grip on what was right and what was wrong. Unfortunately he didn't have the time to finish it."

Ditka remembers Singletary as a coach on the field. In fact, he says many of his former players who became coaches had leadership roles on his teams. That might be partly due to Ditka, Jim Finks and Bill Tobin seeking out leadership qualities in draft picks.