AZ54

Riddle me this: If this is such a great hire as DC why is everyone so quiet about it? On the Bears website they have lots of video showing Martz talking about being the new OC, Smith on Martz, JA on Martz. yet there's just one article going over the Marinelli promotion and that article has just a single quote (it's not even an interview) from Marinelli: http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=6534 “I’m very excited,” Marinelli said. “The defensive staff has all worked together, so it’s just a chance to keep going and build on the subtleties of our system. We’ve all been in it together and I think the familiarity will help.” Why isn't there more info on this promotion? I know Marinelli not the type to seek publicity but you'd think the Bears would be doing more to hype this change. So far we have very little outside of Lovie saying this is the guy he wanted as DC in the first place. I haven't even heard of player coming forward saying they were glad to see Rod get promoted. I know it's the offseason and yada yada but don't you think some reporters ran into our players down at the Superbowl last week? This wasn't what I was looking for as our new DC but it would be nice to see something positive about this somewhere.

I watched Dmitri Nance all season long and I saw nothing to make me feel we need him. He has no burst or quickness to speak of and won't be very effective in the NFL. For his size he doesn't run with a lot of power but is capable of moving defenders backwards at times. In his defense ASU had zero passing game so he faced a lot of defenders on every running play but even when he had some space to run he can't get past a defender. We have Bell on the roster and I see no need to waste even a late round pick on Nance, perhaps as UDFA just to see what he's got.

You may be the only NIU football player with fans in Arizona. Best of luck but I have a feeling with your work ethic you won't need luck. Keep us updated.

If he replaces Rahied Davis on the bench I'd take him. If he's coming in to take reps away from the young guys who actually know how to play WR (i.e. not Davis) then I don't want him.

I was hoping to get a new perspective leading our D. I'm on board with Martz simply because I think he was the best available and didn't want a rookie OC learning on the job. With Martz it's boom or bust. With Marinelli, I have no clue what to expect. What bothers me most is that last year he stated clearly this was job he didn't want. Now this year he gets the job but without really being considered in the mix. It's one thing if he changed his mind and clearly wanted to take on this challenge but if he's just doing this because nobody else wants to that's not a good feeling for fans or the players. As always I'll wish for the best and criticize the rest.

WR or not I don't think Hester is the same return guy he was his first two years. For whatever reason he is just not as quick and explosive as he was and he also runs scared too often. Was the loss of quickness the result of him bulking up to handle WR duties, perhaps? So if we reduce his role at WR and he changes his workouts I'll assume he gets that back. What about running scared? If he continues to "play it safe" on returns and not hit the hole like he used to you won't see those big breakaways. I feel he's better served being our slot WR and handling more return duties but I don't expect we'll see the same Hester returning kicks we saw in his first year.

Adapt and conquer. Some people do it others fall into the trash bin of history. Lovie's been falling for 3 years can he reverse course?

I welcome differing opinions but I'm curious how you came to hear the "consensus" was a lack of talent since I don't recall that being reported. Of course the facts work in your favor since we kept the Oline coach and added new pieces in Pace, Omiyale, Shaffer. However, I'll also use that fact to further prove my point that Harry couldn't coach up anyone on that line because no matter who we put in things didn't get better. I use the Cardinals as my point of reference since they've made it to the Superbowl and again to the playoffs with Bears castoff Mike Gandy as their LT, and really don't have anyone on their Oline who stands out. Some will point out Levi Brown but he's not very good in pass protection yet they still made it work. The Cards also had Kurt "statue" Warner behind center versus our mobile QB. I'm not looking to get into Cards offense vs. Bears offense debate I'm just pointing out that other teams Oline can play well enough even when they have average talent.

That's what I'm hoping to see too because for run blocking I think it will benefit guys like Shaffer, Omiyale, and Kreutz. I wish it were all Tice's decision because his past shows he knows how to coach successful Oline players but the reason I asked is because Martz is running the show. Is what he wants going to mesh with what Tice wants to do?

Turner essentially had free reign over the offense so while he didn't have authority to fire/hire I'm pretty sure he could have gone to Lovie and said I need better help coaching the Oline and a change would have been made. IMO if Turner asked for that it would have fit in with all the changes after the bad 2008 season and the poor Oline play and I can't imagine Lovie refusing the request. If he did we should have fired Lovie back then. We're going to get a chance to see if it's talent or coaching/system when we see what Tice does with these guys because I can't see any significant changes coming to the Oline via FA or draft. I don't consider a 3rd Rd OG a significant talent although that's likely the best pick we can make.

Anyone know what kind of run blocking scheme we'll be using with Martz system?

I can see the logic but Harry had to go and I think those two were tied at the hip. I felt Lovie should have been gone but he's not so he gets the chance to get it right one last time. If Lovie felt Turner was his best chance to succeed he should have kept him. Otherwise this puts Lovie squarely on the hot seat and that's where he belongs. However, you are correct in that we've framed a very bad situation with a HC on the hot seat in search of new coordinators.

I agree Olsen's blocking leaves a lot to be desired but I still think Martz will line him up like this from time to time. How often he'll be called to block from this role, I hope it's less than what Turner tried to do. Despite thinking this is what we'll see I still prefer to get a real FB who can block, catch, and run. I know it doesn't fit into what Martz does but it's something I think we need in the redzone and short yardage situations if nothing else.

Yesterday I was telling my son (said Martz won't run enough) about how the 49ers used to pass as often as Martz does with his offense. Walsh used to hear about it but then they started scoring and nobody could stop them and suddenly everyone converted to saying the 49ers replace the run with their short swing routes to the RBs. All you have to do is be successful and the naysayers go away. Even though I wanted him as our OC I'm not saying Martz will be successful, much less wildly successful just that I'll grade him on his results when the games begin. After all what was the point of Turner running Garrett Wolfe up the middle against the Vikings? Offense's goal is to score points. Defense's goal is to stop the opponent from scoring.

I can't imagine missing Rashied Davis when he's no longer a Bear. Too many up and coming players at WR to keep him around.

If we could somehow get Peppers to play hard on the plays Harris takes off and then vice versa then maybe this will work out but somehow I think we'd mostly see $30 million taking plays off routinely.

Greg Olsen = H-back.

Didn't we beat the Vikings at the end of the season in a hugely important game for them, likely one that kept them from the Superbowl? I realize everyone can say well there wasn't pressure to win but I like to see a guy who competes down to the wire even when the game means nothing and the other team has everything to play for. The offense got a big lead and then watched the defense lose it yet Cutler kept on plugging. When I think of whiners they don't show up in games like this because it's just not worth it. I didn't see that from Cutler on the field.

I agree that playoff teams don't get blown out like we did consistently. I said after the Bengals game we'd either go downhill fast or we'd regroup and become a playoff contender. We went downhill and I certainly didn't need to see a blowout loss in Rd 1 of the playoffs.

I think our best receiving threat is Aromashodu, hard as that might be to accept. Clark, while capable of catching and providing some YAC, is not a true threat to a defense. I think Olsen is more of a threat than Clark but the lack of a true outside threat last year enabled teams to focus on taking him out of the game plan. I read the Wikipedia page on Air Coryell and it was insightful. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coryell_Offense It's interesting to see how other coaches adapted the scheme to fit their personnel or their preferences. Will Martz move his offense a bit toward what Gibbs or Saundes ran?

Don't understand this at all. Davis sucked even under Singletary until he had his little benching incident. Even then he struggled getting back onto the field but Singletary's message sank in and he has developed into a Pro Bowl TE like everyone expected him to be. If it was just Martz hamstringing Davis' potential why did Singletary have to bench him to get his attention? I understand TEs are not utilized, or haven't been utilized in Martz's offenses over the years and that argument holds more water IMO. I still think Olsen has a place in his scheme because of his versatility and I used to feel the same for Vernon Davis. Desmond Clark is another story. I am very curious to see if Martz tries to adapt the players to his scheme or adapts his scheme to his players. IMO he had the players to make the scheme work in StL but in Detroit he tried to make them fit his scheme and it didn't work. I know we'll still be a pass first team. I think we all know Martz had quite a bit of arrogance in how he went about his work after StL the question is has he learned from that experience in ways that will help him in Chicago? I don't know but I'd rather see him trying to mesh everything together than some QB coach who has never done it.

No way I'm giving up picks for a coach.

I'll take Martz over these QB coaches we're checking out, or over any of these college OCs we're supposed to be considering. He's pass first but I'll live with it for next year. I figure it's a total boom or bust and quite honestly that's the way I prefer it for next year. What's the point of bringing in someone, who might be good but will need some time to develop as a play caller (i.e. a year or so) thus we end up again a middle of the road offense. If Martz busts, or we're just average again, as most predict then he takes Lovie out of town with him and that doesn't bother me at all. OTOH if Martz and Cutler strike gold then we win big time and that won't bother me one bit.

I don't want to get too caught up in this hearsay, at least not until more facts are known but in general the Bears have been fair with salaries lately. What I wouldn't be surprised with is that Chud wanted 3yr contract or 3yr of money on a 2yr deal. Chud is not an experienced OC so nobody knows what he was demanding either. Regardless I think Lovie's situation is the biggest issue we have getting someone in here.

I understand your questions on Plank's experience but I don't understand why you feel we shouldn't even interview the guy. Even if he's not your leading candidate going in I think a willingness to look at someone different is a good thing for Lovie to do. Maybe he doesn't hire the guy but sometimes you get that different perspective in interviews and it opens your eyes to see things a bit differently among your candidates. Sometimes you end up hiring that long shot (at least it's happened to me).