Bears suffer another blow in search for OC
Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/25/2010 @ 11:08 am)
According to the Chicago Tribune, Chargers’ assistant head coach Rob Chudzinski has dropped out of the running for the Bears’ offensive coordinator job.
As the article notes, Chud’s contract is expiring and word has it that San Diego wants to retain him. There’s a possibility that other teams may be pursuing him as well, so maybe he wants to keep his options open.
Whatever the situation is, this isn’t good news for the Bears. Jeremy Bates was GM Jerry Angelo’s first choice to replace Ron Turner as the offensive coordinator, but Bates is heading to Seattle to run the Seahawks’ offense under Pete Carroll. Angelo also missed out on Charlie Weis, who signed with the Chiefs, and Chudzinski becomes the latest assistant to steer clear of the “Windy City.”
The one logical candidate remaining is Mike Martz, who was linked to the Bears’ OC job a couple weeks ago. With Angelo running out of options, the mad scientist might be his last opportunity to hire a coordinator with experience. And with Chicago getting away from the running game now that Jay Cutler is under center, Martz might not be a bad fit.
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Bears to hire Mike Martz as coordinator?
Posted by Anthony Stalter (01/15/2010 @ 7:15 pm)
ESPN.com speculates that Mike Martz may have emerged as the favorite to become the Bears’ next offensive coordinator.
As NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported on Thursday, Perry Fewell is planning to accept an offer to become the next defensive coordinator for the Giants. That’s a big loss — from a public relations standpoint — for the Bears, and Lovie Smith particularly, under whom Fewell worked in the past. In order to save some face, the Bears might pull the trigger on Martz in order to “try to add some credibility to their offseason,” according to a tweet from Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
NFC North blogger Kevin Seifert discussed why the Bears haven’t yet hired Martz, and why they should:
“This is far from an ideal scenario. But there’s little doubt Martz has a long history of implementing dynamic passing games. The Bears have devoted too many assets to Cutler to ignore that. Martz’s history, and his experience in quickly installing a scheme, might give the Bears their best chance at a quick fix.”
Martz generally favors quarterbacks that he can mold into his own, which doesn’t describe Cutler. I agree with Seifert in that this would be a quick fix scenario at best, and a move that appeases some Bear fans more than it solves the team’s offensive woes. That’s not to say that Martz won’t do a good job, but is he the right fit? That’s debatable.
Martz a candidate to become Bears’ next O-coordinator
Posted by Anthony Stalter (11/25/2009 @ 1:15 pm)
According to a report by the Chicago Sun Times, Mike Martz is a candidate to become the Bears’ next offensive coordinator.
”Martz would love to work with Jay Cutler,” said the source, who cited the close relationship between Smith and Martz in sharing the information.
Smith is expected to stay with the Bears in 2010 because of more than $10 million in walking-away money.
But offensive coordinator Ron Turner and at least part of his staff could be another story. The Bears (4-6) purged their defensive staff last offseason, and it might be the offense’s turn in January as Smith makes a final effort to turn around a franchise headed toward its third straight season of missing the playoffs. Since Turner was hired in 2005 after the firing of
Terry Shea, the offensive staff has been untouched. In that same span, Smith has changed seven defensive position coaches and moved the title of defensive coordinator from Ron Rivera to Bob Babich to himself.
This makes sense considering that the Bears have no interest in running the ball. Martz has always been able to get the most out of his quarterbacks (Kurt Warner, Marc Bulger, Jon Kitna, etc.) and could work well with Cutler. Of course, that could be a recipe for disaster given Martz and Cutler’s egos.
Still, Martz pass-happy system would be a great fit for Cutler’s big arm. But even if the Bears do land Martz, they still need to figure out a way to rebuild the offensive line or else Cutler will continue to struggle no matter what system he’s in.
This is an intriguing rumor.
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