Pixote

I was thinking the exact same thing when reading his Bio, Olsen would definitely benefit. More importantly, he was a very successful OC for an offense in PIT that has the same type of philosophy as the Bears and had to cope with similar climatic challenges. There may be others more qualified. However, I am at a loss to come up with a list so I was hoping some of you might know of possible candidates. I definitely think Mularkey would be an upgrade.

I am all for firing Turner (my guess is IF Lovie decided to do so it will me masked as Turner wanting to leave for (?????) reasons, fill in the excuse, but Lovie will try and allow Turner to "save face" and depart. HOWEVER, I do not want us to do so UNLESS they are able to get a highly qualified OC to replace him. DBDB brought this idea up before, Mike Mularkey, currently the TE coach for MIA, as a possible candidate for the job. I agree. Anyone else have an opinion of who you would like to see replace Turner if he left? Here is his bio from the MIA site: Mike Mularkey begins his second season as a member of the Dolphins coaching staff in 2007. He owns and impressive NFL résumé, and is one of several members of the offensive staff with experience as a coordinator or head coach in the NFL. Before joining the Dolphins in 2006, Mularkey had spent the previous two seasons (2004-05) as head coach with the Buffalo Bills. In Mularkey’s two years in Buffalo, the team posted a composite record of 14-18, including a 9-7 mark in his first season there as the Bills reeled off wins in nine of their final 12 games. Prior to taking over the helm with the Bills, Mularkey spent the previous eight seasons (1996-2003) on the staff of the Pittsburgh Steelers, including the final three as offensive coordinator. Under Mularkey’s guidance, Pittsburgh finished third and fifth, respectively, in the NFL in total offense in his first two years in the post, and led the league in rushing offense (173.4 ypg) in 2001. Also that year, quarterback Kordell Stewart threw for 3,109 yards and was selected to the AFC Pro Bowl squad. The Steelers went 13-3 in 2001, captured the AFC Central Division title and played in the AFC Championship game. In 2002, Mularkey oversaw the resurgence of quarterback Tommy Maddox, who, after having not played in the NFL from 1996-2000, completed 234 of 377 passes for 2,836 yards with 20 touchdowns and 16 interceptions and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year. Maddox’s 62.1 percent completion mark that year was a franchise single-season record at the time. Prior to being elevated to offensive coordinator, Mularkey spent his first five years in Pittsburgh as the team’s tight ends coach. During that time, he oversaw the development of Mark Bruener, who was regarded as one of the premier run-blocking tight ends over this stretch. In Mularkey’s five years as the Steelers’ tight ends coach, Jerome Bettis shattered the 1,000-yard rushing plateau each time and the Steelers as a team placed in the top ten in the NFL in rushing offense every year, including a No. 2 finish in 1996 and a No. 1 ranking in 1997. Mularkey got his start in the NFL coaching ranks as a quality control coach with Tampa Bay in 1994. He was promoted to tight ends coach with the Bucs the following year, and in his lone season in that post, tight end Jackie Harris caught a team-high 62 passes for 751 yards, one of only three tight ends in that teams’ history to top the club’s receiving chart. Mularkey was a ninth-round draft choice of the San Francisco 49ers in 1983. He was picked up off waivers by Minnesota in training camp that year and went on to play the next six seasons with the Vikings. He joined Pittsburgh as a Plan B free agent in 1989 and played three years with the Steelers. His career totals consist of 114 games played, during which time he tallied 102 receptions for 1,222 yards and nine touchdowns. He had his most productive season in 1990 when he caught 32 passes for 365 yards and three touchdowns. Following his playing career, he served as offensive line coach at Concordia College in 1993. A Florida native, Mularkey lettered three years at the University of Florida (1980-82). Prior to that, he attended Northeast High School in Ft. Lauderdale, where he played quarterback. He and his wife, Betsy, have two sons, Patrick and Shane.

Excellent post!! A team is build around the OL & DL. Our DL when healthy is outstanding! Our OL just outright sucks! Improve our OL and our entire offense (as well as defense) benefits.

I think the Bears cover the spread. If our D can play as good as it did last week it will be close although I hold little hope of us actually winning the game. Suppose to be quite windy tomorrow, possible snow tonight. Bears have been successful in getting a few picks from Favre. Crosby struggles in kicking in inclement weather. My guess would be a low scoring game, 14-9 GB

LMAO - Now that is some funny stuff!!

Thanks flea, and I do hope you and your family have a great holiday also!! What kind of weather is typical in your neck of the woods for this time of year? We have already had 13.5 inches of snow here with another storm coming in tonight. Man, winter has just officially started and I am ready for spring, LOL.

Harris looked good as a rookie but made a few mistakes in his 2nd year that, if my memory serves me correct, led many on Bearstalk to applaud his departure. Now we lament on how JA made a mistake. In our system would Harris have performed as well as he has in 2007? I think we all felt we were deep at the safety position. We did not want to let him go without compensation. We got a 5th round selection for him. Was it a mistake? Yes, possibly, but if we had the advantage of viewing the future before making moves it would sure make it a lot easier, LOL.

I agree. I have NEVER wanted the Bears to lose a single game for any reason. However, that being said it is obvious to all that have followed the Bears this year they need to fill some holes in the off season both on offense and defense. We have players who have seen little time on the field this year who might be able to fill some of those roles. By evaluating them in game time conditions we may find that one or two positions out of the many on our list to be addressed need not require a FA pickup or draft pick. How good is Beekman? Could Haas be used as a #3 WR? Olsen needs reps to help him develop. Move Tait to RT and see how he performs there (place whoever you have to at LT while we check out Tait on the right side). Get Bradley some more exposure and find out if he is worth keeping. If you havew a promising player on the practice squad, get him up here and give him some reps (we can always IR someone, LOL). Do whatever it takes to evaluate our ENTIRE TEAM before we go after FAs and ready for the draft.

Since I have no idea what you just said I will assume it was a pleasant exchange and wish you the same, LOL A Merry Christmas and have a great New Year to everyone in our Bears Forum Family!!

I think the officiating over the course of the first 14 games have evened themselves out. Refs blow it on occassion. It is tough for them to see everything. I think the Bears have been screwed by a few calls but have also been helped a few times when our opponent got screwed. To blame anyone other than the Bears players and coaching is an act of denial IMHO.

If we could get A Brooks "cheap" I would definately roll the dice on him, draft a promising QB on day 2, and resign Rex CHEAP.

Exactly, we have nothing to lose by giving him a shot, if he is as good as many of us think, he may be one of many missing pieces to solving our Os problems. I did say one of MANY pieces.

I would love to have C Taylor (or M Turner). Either would make me thrilled. Taylor is more proven but Turner has the "jets".

So your backed up to your 3 and you put Garrett in to run up the middle twice against one of the best set of DTs in the game? What a horse shit call!

I am not going to judge him on the basis of what she says without a lot more info. Sounds a bit fishy to me. I will give him the benefit of the doubt on something that quite honestly sounds like a personal matter that does not need to be aired in the public at this point. She is getting publicity to further her cause be making unsubstantiated statements.

I just pray he comes out of the game healthy. If this OL plays like it has recently, Orton may have to be carried off the field before the game is over.

I agree, he should start the last 3 games to give him a decent chance to either prove himself worthy of being a Bears QB or so bad he needs to be cut. One game in one of the most difficult stadiums to travel to is stupid. I hope Lovie did not actually say that!

Not too surprised, hopefully he will play in the season finale. Rusty will have time to work with him if they keep him around in the offseason (I hope) If nothing else he would give us good depth. If he returns to the "original deal" he was when drafted, could be a great addition.

Thanks for the lists..... Not a bad group, void of big time Pro Bowlers that would demand BIG $$$ but the lists has many players that could be an upgrade at a reasonable cost while we draft a player to groom.

Interesting. So if he is not an OC, instead a TE Coach, even if they do not make a HC change in MIA we could hire Mularcky as our OC because it would not be a lateral move but instead a promotion.

I am curious just what will be available in FA for OL. If we can get a veteran OL to upgrade it might be safer than drafting a player and breaking him in. I was so disappointed with M Columbo. He was actually, I believe, an excellent draft pick by Angelo but eventually we had to cut him because of his health problems. Now he is starting for Dallas. If you could draft a LOT you were certain had the skills to start and contribute in his first year, I would invest a 1st rounder in him, if not, wait until later for a project. FA will be the key to our needs on the OL come draft time.

If a player gets hurt in the early part of the season (like Dusty) he can at least fully rehab and be ready to roll by the start of mini camps. If we continue to play players like Harris, who is already injured, for the sake of a meaningless win (as far as playoff implications) and he further injures himself, then he may not even be ready by the start of next season. Yes, I want to see the Bears win every game possible this year (and every year) but I do not want to risk the health of ANY Bears player that would then result in that player not being fully recovered and ready for action in 2008.

I believe Mularcky is OC for the Dolphins and one would think that their HC is on thin ice. If he is ousted then Mularcky would be released.

I agree totally, we know what we have in Harris & Walker, we need to audition others to see what they can give us in the future so we can better determine what we need to do in FA and the draft. This not only goes for DT but other positions as well.

Shame we couldn't get Charlie Weis to come to us from ND. He had early success there but ND had one of their worse years in decades this year. I am sure he will return again to get the program back on top but one could only hope that the directors of ND would pull a quick trigger and he would want to come back to the NFL. Again, I know I am talking out of my ass, that the cances of Weis being our OC is about as good as Rex being inducted into the NFL HOF, but one can only dream.