Is Jeremy Bates the Right Choice as Bears Offensive Coordinator (Audio)?
I was listening to the Danny Mac Show on 670 The Score today and they had an interview with USC insider Petros Papadakis to talk about Jeremy Bates, who is considered the front-runner for the Bears offensive coordinator job.
Bates was the offensive play-caller (weird, I know, but it’s southern Cal) under Pete Carroll at USC last season and before that, he was the OC and QB coach in Denver under Mike Shanahan. See the connection to our golden boy?
When I first heard about him, I was all for the hire. A young, high energy guy who is buddy-buddy with Cutler? What could possibly go wrong?
After listening to this interview, I heard some things that raised a red flag or two. Have a listen and let’s discuss after the jump:
[podcast]http://fansidedblogs.net/podcasts/bears/bates.mp3[/podcast]
OK, now for my red flags:
Although he held the OC title in Denver, he was little more than a Shanahan yes man while with the Broncos.
- If we had an offensive-minded head coach, I’d say let’s give it a whirl with an inexperienced coordinator, but Lovie knows even less about offense than he does defense. Is it a good idea to bring in a relative newbie? More important, would Lovie risk his career on it?
He doesn’t deal with the media very well.
- We already have guys who don’t know how to deal with the media. Tuesday’s Presser was a perfect example.
USC had their worst offense in a decade with Bates as the play-caller, with their QB throwing tons of INT’s.
- I can kind of dismiss this one due to starting a true freshman at QB, but it still makes you wonder.
He runs bubble screens.
- ARGHHH!!! If I die tomorrow and go to hell, I’m afraid that I’ll get there via a bubble screen.
They never established an offensive identity when he was at USC.
- Sound familiar? Weren’t we crying all season about the Bears’ lost offensive identity?
Besides, do we really want to let Jay pick his own coach? Would it be better to have a more established guy that can mentor Jay and actual coach him up rather than a pal to put his arm around him after his 5th pick of the game? After a startlingly bad first season, should the Bears take a different approach with their franchise QB? You know what they say, “spare the rod, spoil the child.”
With all of that said, let’s keep some perspective. This is just one guy’s (Papadakis’) point of view on Bates. And he’s a bitter USC alum/insider sulking on the day when his Trojans have nothing to do with the National Championship game to be played later in the day. Is he blaming Bates for USC’s down season? Maybe it’s just sour grapes.
But Petros brings up some points that Lovie and Jerry should consider before they hand the keys to the franchise (and their jobs) over to a 33-year old “whiz kid.”