Just to keep things officially up to date, Pittsburgh University OC, Frank Cignetti Jr., turned down the Bears’ job before he was actually asked. Simply put, in less than 7 days we have seen two coaches, Jackson and Cignetti, who would prefer to work for Al Davis and Dave Wannstedt, respectively. How freaking lame is that? Working for one guy who is a few fries short of a Happy Meal or one who had to escape the NFL so that all his pieces could finally be in place are the preferred bosses for a professional coach?
I was speaking with a gentleman I know, who helps people enjoy the thrill of the occasional - strictly for entertainment purposes - sports wager. When I mentioned to him that I thought the Bears could end up being the only NFL team without coordinators, he refused to take the bet. He added that anyone who would want this job is like a politician. That is from the old Will Rogers’ saw which states that anyone who wants to be president is automatically the one person who shouldn’t.
I clarified that just in case you aren’t as up to date on your turn of the last century American humor as you might wish to be.
Nevertheless, neither of us could come up with a viable candidate for either coordinator position. And we did actually try. Over at the Tribune, DAVID HAUGH seems to be having similar thoughts.
See? I told you that the local papers were secretly taping my conversations. It’s not being paranoid when you’re right. Anyway, I’ll let David fill you in.
Mockery accomplishes as little as the Bears have in January. By now most of the jokes about their coaching searches are as dated as Jerry Angelo’s Rolodex anyway.
So mocking the Bears again would be like making fun of General Motors for manufacturing cars. Just accept that the Bears produce frustration as a matter of course.
More than anybody, they created the anxiety surrounding the futile, 24-days-and-counting process of finding new offensive and defensive coordinators.
If either Lovie Smith or Angelo simply had stated how determined he was to find capable replacements on the day the Bears announced big changes, then the rest of Chicago wouldn’t have started playing “Gotcha.’’ Instead, a roomful of reporters and a city full of knowledgeable fans rolled their eyes as Smith and Angelo made coaching on the Bears’ staff sound as enticing as being a limo driver in Vancouver.
The coach and the GM scoffed at the notion that coaches might worry about Smith’s status beyond 2010. Smith displayed the urgency of a window-shopper. Angelo used the word “bevy’’ to describe the number of coaches who would be interested. I looked up bevy. It’s not a synonym for zilch.
The result of their bluster made the tick of the search’s clock louder and put a disproportionate amount of attention on coaching vacancies that don’t matter to the offseason as much as roster holes. If you think the Bears have stumbled finding guys to call plays, wait until they start trying to find guys to make them.
Even the brightest of play-callers would struggle looking smart calling plays for an offensive line this iffy and play-making talent this ordinary.
That reality makes it easier to withhold judgment on how successful the Bears were in finding an offensive coordinator until they find one. Don’t confuse criticism of the process with criticism of the ultimate choice — those opinions might vary wildly if the Bears somehow wind up with the right guy.
Believe it or not, they still could.
As the Bears refocus in the fourth week of the search, the first thing they need to do is to send Jay Cutler on vacation. Involving Cutler in the interview process sounded like a good idea — especially when the first candidate contacted was Cutler’s buddy, Jeremy Bates. But the Bears’ asking questions about the relationship between Cutler and Bates may have contributed to Bates canceling his interview, according to people familiar with his motives.
Does Cutler’s opinion of Mike Martz, whatever it is, have anything to do with the Bears keeping the most proven candidate at bay? It’s a fair question that has come up around the league and probably would not have been asked if Cutler had been on a beach somewhere.
Cutler didn’t have anything to do with Rob Chudzinksi preferring the Chargers or Hue Jackson taking a job with the Raiders in his hometown. But the Bears aren’t doing Cutler’s reputation any favors when they include him on the welcoming committee, as the Tribune’s reporting at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., indicated.
The longer Cutler vets offensive coordinator candidates, the deeper the league-wide perception becomes that the tail wags the Bear in Chicago.
I am sure that there is more wrong with the Bears’ search than just Cutler hanging around and handing out coffee. But, perception is everything in an image conscious league. I couldn’t believe he was involved in the first meeting and see no reason for him to be in any others. Think of it this way, you go to interview for an upper level management job and the janitor is there asking you for your take on tertiary marketing as it relates to the American socio-economic condition. Or, maybe more accurately, if you prefer Draino or carbonated baking soda when dealing with clogs. Either way, even if you are on food stamps, you would balk at working there.
The Bears have, thus far, managed to look like they are the stupid, being lead by the blind, through a field of razor blades. That is not the best way to find your destination.
It is also a lousy way to meet bears in the wild. Just trust me on this one.
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