Thread: I'm Satisfied....................For Now!

Originally Posted by soulman

I see your point mo but I still believe if you dust the coaching staff too you put a giant order on the plate of a GM who hasn't even been hired yet and who knows how much longer that will take. In addition to that you have to take into consideration the enormous respect his defensive stars have for him. If you fire Lovie and his staff you may just as well trade those guys for the draft choices to rebuild with ala Dallas and Jimmy Johnson because you'll have a whole bunch of unhappy campers on that side of the ball.

I also think Lovie has Jay Cutler absolute loyalty since he met with him and asked for his input before he let Martz go. I really don't see much difference in beginning a rebuild next year as opposed to this one. If Lovie can't turn things around at least the new GM will have had a year to digest what needs to be done and the shortest route to get there. I'd just like to see them get this done with the guys we have here since the players overwhelming favor Lovie and their coaches.

The other factor is whether or not there is actually any better choice than Lovie out there who would take the job. I don't think you'd see proven winners like Gruden or Cowher expressing any interest and Jeff Fisher isn't really an improvement on Lovie no matter how much he'd like to coach here. JMO brother.

Jeff Fisher is as good of a coach as Lovie Smith, and I don't think he's as stubborn. He's definitely a better game day manager than Lovie, and he's even more in tune with the traditions of the Bears than Lovie is. He believes that having a balance of run and pass is key to a winning offense perhaps more so than Lovie, and his defenses were always good in Nashville.

Originally Posted by Jimmors

Whoever comes in as GM, i hope they are smart enough to realize that the future of the NFL is with the Passing game and offenses, and utilize that knowledge to build around Jay, and NOT give into Lovie's wishes or temptation to further bolster our defense every year. While this may appease Bears fans who love D, it isnt going to help us win a Superbowl. That era has passed, they need to build around Jay, secure Forte long term, draft/sign OL and WR and a receiving TE or two.

Good points Jimmors. If the new guy is smart he'll look for vet help in FA where we need the most immediate improvements and those positions take rookies awhile to adjust to. To me that would be the need for a more consistent LT and a quality #1 WR. Drafting those postions delays improvement for at least another year if not longer.

Good CB's and pass rushers are tough to get in FA without spending a pile of cap money to get them. We can't afford to commit Julius Peppers money to another DE so if we can't sign an effective LDE like Cliff Avril to boost the rush opposite Pep then we have to draft for it. Same thing at CB. Based on what Asomugha got last year the going price for a starting CB is astronomical and not a good use of cap in the defense we run. Now that the CBA has been revised rookies come far cheaper and neither DE or CB positions take long for guys to contribute so even though that benefits the defense you virtually have to draft those guys.

We have 4 picks in the top 100 this year and probably at least $20-$25 mil of cap excess to work with. Spend that cap on locking up Forte, a handful of other core players and then go get a Vincent Jackson for Cutler to throw to and anybody who can play LT with more consistency than Webb does. Those two positions and another good pass rusher is where the free agent cap money needs to be spent. The rest we can draft.

Originally Posted by Dagan81

Jeff Fisher is as good of a coach as Lovie Smith, and I don't think he's as stubborn. He's definitely a better game day manager than Lovie, and he's even more in tune with the traditions of the Bears than Lovie is. He believes that having a balance of run and pass is key to a winning offense perhaps more so than Lovie, and his defenses were always good in Nashville.

Maybe he is an maybe he isn't but if he'd been all that successful these past few years he'd still be coaching the Titans. If we make a change why make a lateral one? Why hire a coach who may be just as good as Lovie. If Lovie isn't good enough then neither will Fisher. If you fire Lovie you want a guy who is better and right now I don't think the Bears see anyone on the market they believe would be an improvement. That as much as anything else is why Lovie still has his job.

My guess is that the Bears will go after a DE or a CB in the first round per what several publications I have read are predicting. I agree that going after a corner or a DE in free agency would be pricy unless by some miracle Cliff Avril were to be reasonably priced for a DE. WRs are hard to develop unless they are athletic savants, as are LTs for some reason.

Originally Posted by soulman

Maybe he is an maybe he isn't but if he'd been all that successful these past few years he'd still be coaching the Titans. If we make a change why make a lateral one? Why hire a coach who may be just as good as Lovie. If Lovie isn't good enough then neither will Fisher. If you fire Lovie you want a guy who is better and right now I don't think the Bears see anyone on the market they believe would be an improvement. That as much as anything else is why Lovie still has his job.

Jeff Fisher was very successful when he had the talent around him to coach to division titles and playoff appearances. I think a lot of people remember him for what his career was like when he had Vince Young quarterbacking his team, how wildly inconsistent they were at the time. Even then, the Titans still appeared in the playoffs a couple of times. Fisher, remember, coached under the thumb of Bud Adams for 17 years, and Adams rarely gave him any talent to work with except for those drafts in the mid-90s when he got guys like Steve McNair, Eddie George, Jevon Kearse, etc. Even those teams weren't solid or dynamic enough to win the Super Bowl offensively, else they would have won in both 1999 when they actually got to the dance and lost to the Rams, and in 2000, when they got beat by the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game. I think if Jeff Fisher were given the ideal situation, like Lovie Smith, he would thrive and produce consistent winners. However, if he's in a situation like he was with Bud Adams not giving him the necessary talent with which to win, and Lovie was in this situation with Angelo, he will flounder. I think, then, that the best case scenario, should the Bears ever fire Lovie Smith in the future, would be for a Jeff Fisher to take over the Chicago Bears. It would mean a lot to him emotionally, which would drive him to make the team as successful as he can possibly make it.

Originally Posted by Bantam50

Probably a dumb-question, but why do proffesional sports teams never have a replacement in mind BEFORE they fire a GM, coach, etc? These are multi-million dollar businesses so to trust a 'interim', even for a short time, just makes no sense to me. Are the Bears going to let Ruskell do anything for them between now and a GM is hired other than keep a seat warm? I get that there's candidates they can't talk to until the season truly ends, but there's work to be done. Think I heard someone say that the main college all-star game, which every team attends, is in a couple of weeks. Do we want Lovie down there scouting for talent? I'd think not.

I think the Bears had several people in mind before they fired Jerry Angelo. The fact that they didn't let Lovie go seems to indicate they didn't see any better choice for a coach out there but they saw several candidates for a better GM. I think Eric DeCosta from the Colts and Reggie McKenzie from the Packers are two of the guys on their short list and if the rumors are true they've already approached and are interviewing DeCosta. I'm guessing if he turns them down McKenzie will get the next call.

Ruskell is almost certainly keeping the seat warm for now so that the new GM can decide whether to retain him as an assistant GM or not. Lovie and the coaches always go to the Senior Bowl and the Scouting Combine which also takes place later this month. Their scouts will hit a few of the other bowl games.

I think the Bears have a very good idea of who they'd like to replace Jerry Angelo and I think they'll try to get that guy on board asap. Keep following the news over the next few days. It wouldn't surprise me if they announced a new GM by this weekend or early next week.

Originally Posted by Bantam50

Thanks, Soulman! I hope you are right because there's lot's of work to do here.

Well according to the reports the short list currently includes; DeCosta (Ravens), McKenizie (Packers), Snead (Atlanta), Sundquist (Former Broncos), Polian (Colts) and of course Ruskell I think more as a courtesy than a serious interest. I also think that's about the order they rank them going in as well. There's no doubt that DeCosta and Snead are probably the best personnel guys followed by McKenize who I think has a good shot of being Lovies first choice.

Windy says DeCosta interviewed with Indy today and the Bears tomorrow. If he doesn't accept an offer from the Colts look for the Bears to push real hard to get him to come on board. That's why I say there may be an announcement as early as tomorrow evening or over the weekend.