Chicago Bears: Eagles and Rams Used Same Coaching Blueprint
By Erik Lambert
The Chicago Bears are hoping to mirror what the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams have been able to accomplish in 2017 by next year.
Key to that turnaround was a significant change with the coaching staffs. On the surface it may appear like two teams took different approaches. In truth they are remarkably similar in their structures. It follows a simple enough formula. The head coach and offensive coordinator must have backgrounds in coaching quarterbacks. The quarterbacks coach must have that and experience as an offensive coordinator.
Lastly the defensive coordinator must be somebody who can handle full automony over their job. The best way to do that is finding somebody who has prior head coaching experience from a previous job. Both teams have followed that formula to huge success. Here’s the breakdown as proof.
Philadelphia Eagles:
Head coach with QB experience: Doug Pederson
Pederson was offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs under Andy Reid. Years ago he was quarterbacks coach in Philadelphia and spent 10 years in the NFL as a backup QB himself. The man knows the position from both the playing and coaching perspective.
Offensive coordinator with QB experience : Frank Reich
Reich too brings extensive playing experience to the table. He was a great backup in Buffalo for many years. He didn’t get into coaching until 2008 but has taken to it quickly, spending time as quarterbacks coach in San Diego before elevating to offensive coordinator there and then Philly.
Quarterbacks coach with coordinating experience: John DeFilippo
In truth DeFilippo has been a quarterbacks coach since 2000 when he started off in college. He’s held that job since 2007 in the NFL but had a brief stint as an offensive coordinator with Cleveland in 2015. That experience was helpful to his growth and it’s showing with the Eagles.
Defensive coordinator with head coaching experience: Jim Schwartz
Schwartz was a successful defensive coordinator in Tennessee prior to his first head coaching job in Detroit. There he took the 0-16 Lions and got them to the playoffs by his third year. Things fell apart later but that experience has made him an even more effective coordinator.