Former Bears OLine Coach a HOF Finalist............
January 25, 2012 Former Bears line coach a Hall of Fame finalist
By: Larry Mayer | Last Updated: 1/25/2012 4:11 PM
One year after Richard Dent was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, another individual who helped the famed 1985 Bears win Super Bowl XX could be enshrined in Canton.
Dick Stanfel, who served as Bears offensive line coach from 1981-92, is among 17 finalists for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2012. One of two Senior Committee candidates, Stanfel was a premier guard who was named to five Pro Bowls in seven seasons with the Lions (1952-55) and Redskins (1956-58).
“The recognition he’s starting to get for what he brought to the NFL is long overdue, just with his ability as a player and his intensity and knowledge,” said former Bears center Jay Hilgenberg. Stanfel was Hilgenberg’s position coach for all 11 of his seasons with the Bears from 1981-91. During that time, Hilgenberg started seven straight Pro Bowls after arriving as an undrafted free agent.
“I was lucky that he was my coach,” Hilgenberg said. “Being a smaller center, the fundamentals were important for me. For me to learn under Dick Stanfel, it helped me achieve what I achieved in the NFL.
“It’s huge what he did for me in terms of the fundamentals and the knowledge of the game he taught me—and not only that but how to play with heart. A football game meant something to him, and when you’re being coached by someone with that passion, you can’t help but to achieve as a player.”
Stanfel was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team of the 1950s after helping the Lions win back-to-back NFL championships in 1952-53.
“Playing for him was intimidating because he had been a great player and you wanted to earn his respect,” said former Bears guard Tom Thayer. “If you could earn Dick Stanfel’s respect as one of his players, you kind of made it over the wall. And that was something you strived for every day because he knew the position so well that you couldn’t impress him with a lackluster performance.
“He had already been there. He had been in the stance. He knows what a successful drive block is. He knows what it’s like to get beat in pass protection. He knows everything you’re going through.”
Stanfel coached an offensive line that helped the Bears lead the NFL in rushing four straight seasons from 1983-86. Thayer feels that Stanfel was “as instrumental as any player or position coach” to the Bears’ success during the mid-‘80s.
“He also dealt with the tight ends, the fullbacks and the running backs in terms of their blocking, so he had a lot on his plate,” Thayer said. “He worked with all those positions specifically about their technique and how it dealt with their position, so he was hugely important.” “As a unit, we couldn’t have achieved what we did in the NFL without Dick Stanfel being our offensive line coach,” Hilgenberg added.
Stanfel was selected as a Hall of Fame finalist by the senior committee last August. The Class of 2012, which will consist of 4-7 nominees, will be determined by the Selection Committee on Sat., Feb. 4, the day before Super Bowl XLVI, in Indianapolis.
