Pixote

I have had limited time to visit & post, I slip in and out to read as much as I can. I appreciate being able to come to my "Bears Home" and catch up on the news. I do need to ask a question, as I missed some postings, obviously, and do not have time to search for the answer. It seems to be that someone must have posted something indicating K Shanny would be Fox's choice of OC Why is this a foregone conclusion? Does Fox have major ties with him from the past? Just curious.

I hope there are better OC candidates than Kyle S that are on the new HC's shopping list I have to believe there are better options Not saying he would not be a good OC but would be a bit nervous if he was chosen for the position

I know Fox had health issues in Denver so I wonder if the reason for him leaving Denver is that he is retiring from coaching? I cannot believe they would let him go because of performance. Obviously P Manning had a lot to do with his success in Denver but he cannot be blamed for the poor finish Denver had to the season. That IMO was Manning showing his age. Might be time for him to think about retiring. I believe the season was about 6 games longer than what his body could absorb.

Kubiak certainly did not impress me in his first stint as HC with the Texans. That being said, many excellent HCs have struggled with their 1st opportunity, learned from their mistakes, and went on to excel. So I am a bit on the fence with this call.

Damn, Hub with a positive opinion on the Bears? Unheard of, LOL. Good read, thanks for the link.

I think of the HC prospects mentioned I am most interested in the DC from Seattle. Arizona bombed on D against Carolina in the playoffs, scares me a bit Austin, I guess because he is with Detroit, would be a distant 3rd. Maronne (sp) is completely off my Radar, do not like the reports I am hearing I like Shanny but fear a power struggle with the GM if he comes in and has any success so not a long term answer IMO

I think they will, and should IMO, go with Ballard. Maybe they want to interview a few before Ballard to better position themselves. So I agree with your assessment. I hope that is the case. From what I have read of Brian Gaine I am not overly impressed.

I agree, it is different. When everyone was certain Emery & Trestman would get the Axe I was not so sure. The Bears have had a tendency to ride a horse into the ground. Wanny, Juaron & Lovie had long tenures as HC. Angelo was also kept around way too long. So the fact that they made these changes this quick was surprising, and quite frankly, encouraging to me.

Kind of a double edged sword. I would love a HC with previous experience but, of course, that means he was fired somewhere else for what ever reason. Some retreads work out, some do not. On the other hand some inexperienced HCs have been hired and worked out great. (SF, Balt, Pit, etc...) Some were, as we have found out repeatedly, sucked. It goes back to what was written once before, the Bears have hired only 1 HC in the history of the franchise (other than Halas himself) that had previous experience as a HC, and that guy was 10 years removed from coaching the Chicago Cardinals!

My guess is a lot of "good candidates" wanted nothing to do with "Danny Boy" I was surprised Shanny trusted Snyder. Must have been a mighty big check he was offered (and guaranteed). Talk about a total douche bag, aka Snyder.

It doesn't matter, McGinness looked like an idiot in Arizona, so he did not need out help to establish the fact. It was however an embarrassment. On the positive side, Mikey was exposed as the idiot we all knew he was. Hopefully we will make the correct moves to bring back respect & success to this organization.

I have some concerns about Shanny but then again I thought the NYG were nuts to hire Coughlin when he flopped in his last HC position. I was obviously wrong about Coughlin so hopefully I am wrong about Shanny if he is hired. He obviously has the experience, and I am sure has a lot of good candidates that would come in as OC & DC as well as position coaches. As long as he is in the role of HC & NOT HC/GM I think he will be fine. Not sure if he would accept that role but if he is uncomfortable with it as far as I am concerned he can go elsewhere.

OUCH, good point, if Del Rio came in he would probably keep Tucker as DC, no way in Hell do I want that to happen.

I have not watched college football this year so I ask this being totally clueless in regards to this years prospects declaring for the draft. From what I read of his Bowl Performance I wonder what makes Hundley any different than dozens of QBs I have seen taken in past drafts who were described as having "raw skills as a QB" but had success at the college level do to his athleticism. I have seen too may of these types of QB prospects drafted who seem to always fail at QB, attempt to convert to RB, fail at RB, and then get cut and wind up out of the NFL before their first contract expires. It happens far too often, from big names like "Johnny Football" (I think he will be a total bust) to QBs not as highly regarded. I am only asking because, as I said, I have no knowledge of the prospects in this year's draft.

To me it seems like this list is getting way too long, what is wrong with a short list of 3 or 4 candidates you feel are the top choices and if you are not sure after interviews with them, bring in more to interview. There are so many names being mentioned it will take forever to complete all the process and they will wind up having to hire a HC before a GM and that would not be a good move IMO.

I am just guessing, but here goes: From the past it seems most teams do initial interviews and then schedule the 2nd round of interviews for those they feel are the finalists. It is also known that many of the top candidates will be in high demand by other teams and if we do not act fast, even with a simple initial interview, we will lose out on the opportunity to get "that guy". So is it possible we are just sort of "breaking the ice" with top candidates they do not want to miss out on and then after we get a GM in place have the new GM bring in the ones we have interviewed that he feels are his "A List" to make the final decision? I am just throwing that out there. I would hope the new GM would get the opportunity to make the final say on the new HC. Angelo & Emery were both handcuffed to start off their tenure in Chicago, I do not want the same to happen to the next GM.

Odd, it is the first I have heard that Marshall has been a problem in the Bears locker room. The only thing I heard was when he "blew up" after a loss (which I have no problem with), but other than that one instance, not one word I have heard from a locker room which has had some "loose lips".

I have a hard time believing this report saying Marinelli interviewed HC candidates. A new GM delegates this responsibility to a DC? I just do not buy into this at all. Makes no sense what so ever. Emery may have asked Marinelli for his feedback / opinion on candidates that Emery interviewed. (I think Marinelli left simply because he was pissed that his good friend, Lovie, was fired.) I cannot believe Emery turned over the interview process to Marinelli. Remember how it was reported that Emery held in depth interviews with all candidates for the HC position asking them for a detailed plan as to what they would do to improve the team if hired? When they held the presser announcing the hiring of the new HC Emery gushed over how well prepared Tressman was when HE interviewed him.

I wish Ernie Acorsi would be interested in taking over as head of football operations for the team. Then he could take care of that end of the business, selecting a GM himself, and let sweaty Teddy take care of the accounting.

If we cannot trust them to select a GM from the list of possible candidates provided by Accorsi why would they be any more qualified to select a head of football operations to replace Phillips to oversee the selection of the GM from a list provided? Either way, they will need to make a final decision, be it about a "czar" to oversee operations to select a GM or to select a GM themselves. Just being a devil's advocate, no offense meant. Bottom line, they both know they do not know enough to make the decision on their own, most of team ownerships do not have the knowledge to do so, so a "football guy" is consulted for advice.

I saw on the Bears Website that: "Chicago Bears Chairman George McCaskey, President and CEO Ted Phillips will address the media from Halas Hall beginning at 4pm CT today" That to me does not sound like a change at the top. I could be wrong. I would love to see a big name like Polian take charge and Phillips moved to the financial side. Just saying the way the press conference was announced it seems status quo.

Many have said Phillips needs to go, he is not a "Football" guy, just an accountant that is out of his "element" So it is ironic to me that a 4 year old article from such a source as Forbes Magazine is used to justify the point he needs to be replaced.

If the negative reviews I read above are true, I would give no mare than a conditional 7th rounder, take it or leave it, offer. He sounds like a total bust. They probably would not accept the offer and if they didn't I would not lose any sleep over it.

Seattle is obviously a good team however, from what I say last night, the Packers did not impress me at all and I am not sure how much of it was the play of Seattle or the Packers just having a bad day. Probably a bit of both.

So after all of the preseason practices, mini-camps, training camps, etc... Briggs asks to miss a 1 hour briefing on Monday for personal reasons before the detailed practices start up on Tuesday where the actual defense for this weeks game begins to be installed, and he is a "tool", piss poor leader, etc... ??? I am at a loss where missing, according to what I have read, a routine 1 hr practice, is a big deal.