Chicago Bears: Finding a Coach With an Ax To Grind

A common theme regarding successful Chicago Bears coaches over the years is simple. All of them came in with a chip on their shoulder. They had something to prove.

Love Smith was viewed as nothing more that a decent defensive coordinator who’d failed to win a championship in St. Louis. He was also a black man and back then black head coaches still had a certain stigma about them. That they weren’t quite up to the same caliber as traditional white head coaches. Then he and Tony Dungy faced off in the Super Bowl.

Mike Ditka wasn’t viewed as head coaching material for different reasons. He’d spent almost a decade as assistant head coach with the Dallas Cowboy. Most felt he was simply the right hand man to Tom Landry. When it came to running his own team, there was no way. There was also the long stretch of losing the Bears had endured when he arrived. Being a former Bear himself, there was even more incentive to shut the critics up.

They’ve gone away from this methodology of late

Marc Trestman already made his career in the CFL, winning two Grey Cups. It never felt like his return to the NFL was any sort of quest for redemption at being passed over years ago. He’d already done that up in Canada. Now there’s John Fox. He too had already gone through his proving phase. After being unceremoniously fired by Carolina, he went to Denver on a mission to show he hadn’t lost his edge.

To a degree he succeeded. He got Tim Tebow to the playoffs his first year and was in the Super Bowl again by his third. Yet after Denver canned him as well, it was no longer about having something to prove. It was about taking any job that would keep him a head coach in the NFL. The Bears were desperate for somebody with a proven reputation, and he was the best available.

It didn’t work.

Now here they are again, trying to figure out this head coach problem. There are of course many variables that go into making a successful one, but often the ones who have something to prove do best. So are there any names out there who fit the bill?

Darrell Bevell (OC, Seattle Seahawks)

What more must a man do to get an opportunity? Darrell Bevell  has been an offensive coordinator since 2006. In that time he’s produced a top 10 scoring offense six times. He got the most efficient season of Brett Favre’s career in 2009 and has developed Russell Wilson into a superstar with the Seahawks. He’s also coached in the playoffs six of the last eight seasons and won a Super Bowl. Yet he continues to wait, in all likelihood because of one mistake. That being his call to throw at the goal line in the Super Bowl against New England, leading to the iconic Malcolm Butler interception.

Dennis Allen (DC, New Orleans Saints)

Another man who has struggled to overcome a stigma. Allen was a rising star in Denver after helping them make the playoffs in 2011. That year he took their defense from 32nd to 20th. So the Oakland Raiders decided to make him their next head coach. Unfortunately he inherited a poorly managed roster that was further hampered by bad drafting over the next two seasons. He won just eight games and was fired four into his third season. Now he’s proving himself again. In 2016 he took the Saints defense from 31st to 27th. This year? They’re 13th. There is no doubt that he is itching for another chance to show what happened in Oakland wasn’t his doing.

Matt Patricia (DC, New England Patriots)

Run down the list. Bill Belichick disciples never have success as head coaches. The success of the Patriots defense has nothing to do with Patricia. It’s all Belichick. It goes on and on. Oh and the fact he’s a defensive coach certainly adds some spice to the sauce. Patricia has consistently been one of the most successful defensive coordinators for five years, won two Super Bowls and done it with what has frankly been Grade-C talent. Name one superstar he’s coached in that time for longer than one or two seasons? Exactly. This is a guy living in a shadow and desperate to see the light.

Next: Chicago Bears: Head Coach Search Dependent on 3 Keys

Dave Toub (STC, Kansas City Chiefs)

Then of course there’s the classic “special teams coach” label. Special teams has long been the black sheep of the NFL family. It’s often a vital component to success but nobody takes it as seriously because they don’t play as many snaps as offense or defense. So how is length of coaching time during a game determining coaching quality? The fact is Toub has consistently been the best special teams coach in the league for a long time. He’s made superstars and understands how to manage shifting depth charts. He has dominated at his job for over a decade. Why can’t it be him?