Bears Blitz

Published by Alexander Crowe on January 29, 2013
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears

After Bob Babich left the Chicago Bears to become the defensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, the newest search for a coach in Chicago shifted focus to the linebacker position.

On Tuesday, new head coach Marc Trestman found his man.

Tim Tibesar, who spent last season in the NCAA as the defensive coordinator of the Purdue Boilermakers. So what’s the connection here?

Well, Tibesar spent some time coaching at North Dakota, a place where he assembled one of the best defenses in all of Division II NCAA Football. After making a splash in Division II, Kansas State hired Tibesar as their linebackers coach.

After one season, Tibesar was promoted to the defensive coordinator position for the Wildcats. After two more seasons with Kansas State running the defense, he crossed north of the border into Canada.

In Canada, Tibesar was brought onto the coaching staff for the Montreal Alouettes as the linebackers coach. The head coach that brought him in was none other than Marc Trestman, who soon was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2011.

So just what does this hiring mean for the Chicago Bears? Well for one thing, it means that Trestman is continuing to put his guys in place that he has trust in, guys that had success while they were working together in the CFL.

Tibesar‘s record isn’t chalked full of places he’s been, but he has been around long enough to know what it takes to get the most out of his players. Also, the fact that he has coached in three different leagues before coming to the NFL speaks volume to what he has done elsewhere, and the readiness that he has to get to work with Trestman and the rest of the staff in Chicago.

While some Bears fans wanted to see Babich, who had been with the Bears since 2004, stay in Chicago, the replacement they got for him should do pretty well in Chicago too. It’s all just a matter of whether or not his experience elsewhere has prepared him enough for the speed and quickness of the NFL.

Tibesar was handed a great linebacking core, but has no idea whether or not his eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Brian Urlacher will even be with the team next season. Urlacher had a down season last year after getting multiple surgeries on his knee and his job security with the Bears is currently up in the air.

Tibesar needs to know who he will be working with this upcoming season and, after finding a coach for the position, the Bears can shift their focus now to Urlacher and other players who aren’t exactly sure where they’ll be playing next season.

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