Sorting out Chicago Bears Replacements for Jerry Angelo and Mike Martz
Published by Timothy Hockemeyer on January 3, 2012
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
The Bears made a lot of fans happy today. Ding-dong, the witch is dead, and such.
But let’s step back a moment and take a look at the specifics of what is going on here.
Sure, two of the most controversial figures in Chicago are exiting: Jerry Angelo via pink slip and Mike Martz on his own terms. Martz will take failed quarterbacks coach Shane Day with him out the door.
Sounds great, right? And Lovie Smith escaped the headman’s ax. This provides a little continuity for a team that chairman George McCaskey and president Ted Phillips felt lacked more in talent than in coaching skill.
Forget that the Bears actually have a lot of talent on the team. The argument can be made that the talent balance is seriously lopsided to one phase of the team.
And forget that Martz would probably not have been asked back, meaning that coaching was, in fact, part of the problem.
And pay no attention to that man behind the curtain.
The Bears instead created a situation that puts any incoming GM at a disadvantage. It’s the same disadvantage that the Bears put Jerry Angelo in when they hired him 11 years ago.
The incoming general manager will have no say in who his head coach is. In a backwards move, the Bears will determine their general manager based on how well he “understand’s Lovie’s philosophy.”
Really? So the man in the GM position is not only coming into a team that won’t allow him to choose his own coach, but is being brought on based on his ability to serve that coach’s philosophy?
Do the Bears understand that this ties the next GM even more closely to Smith than the last? And do they understand that they could then be looking for another GM next year?
Think about that. If Smith is fired after 2012, what good is a GM who was hired based on an adherence and understanding of a single coach’s philosophy after that coach is gone?
And what kind of opportunity does that actually create for an incoming offensive coordinator?
The Bears will have to answer these questions with hires one way or the other.
So who could the Bears be looking at to replace the outgoing Angelo and Martz? Ahead, we’ll look at a list of possible candidates to fill the Bears vacant general manager and offensive coordinator positions.
Warning: The names presented here are some of the most likely candidates, not necessarily the best candidates. Reading this list could result in deflation of any hope the firing of Angelo and the resignation of Martz may have induced. Possible side effects include watering of the eyes, headaches, nausea, vomiting, confusion and rage. You have been warned.
