Windy City Gridiron
It seems like the Chicago Bears won another offseason!
Yay!
That and .99 cents will get you an Arizona Iced Tea.
However, the difference this time is the Bears are truly doing things differently.
A year ago, they tried to half-ass things by keeping the head coach but admitting that the offensive staff was a problem. I reckon, in hindsight, that was the franchise dipping their toes into doing a massive change. We’ve seen some coaching staff changes in the past, but that was a huge one.
It didn't work out, as Shane Waldron brought his own set of issues with him, but the Bears firing him mid-season let everyone know the team was open to change.
Matt Eberflus being let go on Black Friday was another indication that the Bears were ready to act like an NFL franchise.
It’s not just fans who are lauding the changes; there’s positive buzz coming from a national point of view. The events of the last few months have been unprecedented in the franchise's history.
This time, the sweeping changes resulted in the Bears hiring the top head coach candidate on the market and handing him the biggest coaching contract in the franchise’s history.
It may not work out, but for the first time in a long time, the franchise is nearly aligned in vision from the front office to the coaching staff to the players on the field.
Head coach Ben Johnson quickly moved to hire his defensive coordinator — a match that had been in the works for months — and Dennis Allen brought in a wealth of knowledge and previous head coaching experience.
Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle is the youngest coordinator in the NFL, but he has also seen firsthand how an O.C. supports a play-calling head coach from his time on Sean Payton’s staff.
Special teams coordinator Richard Hightower is one of the lone holdovers from the previous regime, but his units’ production warranted it.
You guys voted on the coordinators earlier this week in our Reacts poll, and you went with an A by a landslide. I would love to know who voted D so I can hear the reasoning behind that.
SB Nation Reacts is a survey of fans across the NFL, and throughout the year, they’ll ask questions of the most plugged-in Chicago Bears fans and fans across the country. Sign up here so you can participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
