JP's Presser - Now that the dust has settled at Halas Hall...

Posted 4:39 PM January 27, 2015 by Jarrett Payton

After “Black Monday,” the Bears had a lot of questions to answer as they headed into the off-season. It was the end of the Trestman/Emery era that couldn’t come fast enough for Bears fans all over the world. Change has come and the Bears now move on with Ryan Pace as GM and John Fox as the new captain. At first I was skeptical about how Pace would go about the head coaching search. After locking down Fox, I have to give Pace some credit. Upon hearing the news of Fox getting the job I was elated. Fox is what I feel the Bears need to take things to the next level. I’m not sure why some Bears fans are mad about the hire. You get a head coach that has been to two Super Bowls and has a pretty good winning percentage. I understand that there were some coordinators with a good upside, but none with the resume of Fox. Adding Fox was too hard to pass up.

The Fox hiring was a surprising hire for the Bears. Now what would be the next magic trick to fix the defensive side? The Bears may have just found their magician in Vic Fangio. If the Bears wanted to get back to the hard-nosed defense, Fangio is the guy to restore that order for this ball club. Fangio has 28 years of NFL coaching experience, 15 as a coordinator. The Bears are getting someone that not only has confidence in himself, but also in his scheme. His mentality is to be very aggressive and bring everything but the kitchen sink to get the after the QB. Creating turnovers is one of his calling cards as a defensive coordinator. Old teammates of mine say that Fangio can be a quiet guy, but he is “all in” when it comes to football. The last four years as defensive coordinator of the 49ers, the club ranked in the top 10 in yards and points given up. Hire Fangio is an indication that the Bears could be making the transition to a 3-4 scheme down the line. Looking over the current roster, it’s interesting to see who would fit into Fangio’s scheme and who wouldn’t.

Anyone else find it strange that the Bears hired a guy that they were looking at as a head coach as a coordinator? Very uncommon, but I think Adam Gase could be the new and innovative mind the Bears needed to take this once high powered offense back to running on all cylinders. There are a few people out there that say Gase’s success came from having Peyton Manning as his QB. While part of that may be true, there is certainly no downside to working and learning from someone who is considered an extension of the coaching staff. But Gase was Peyton’s eyes and ears that helped bring clarity during games. I know the time Gase spent with Peyton has been beneficial for himself and other QB’s that he comes in contact with down the winding road being an NFL coach. The Broncos led the NFL in scoring offense, total offense and passing offense. Even with Manning not having big arm strength, the Broncos still had a bunch of plays over 20 yards. The Bears could use a guy like Gase to get this offense to its full potential.

I truly love the moves the Bears organization has made constructing this coaching staff. Moving forward I’m very curious to see how well Ryan Pace and John Fox work together. Next up is the draft and it will be very interesting to see what the draft philosophy will be. What will Pace and Fox do with that 1st round pick? What will be their draft strategy? How will the current roster effect their decisions? We are just going to have to wait and see. Whatever happens, my bags are already packed for Bourbonnais. Training camp can’t come soon enough! #BearDown