Offensive Master Bates headed to Seattle
Sorry for the title of this post; I couldn’t help myself. I had a lot of “master Bates” and “stroke of genius” bits already percolating, but since USC offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates is heading to Seattle with Pete Carroll, I had to get at least one or two in. Didn’t want to get backed up, if you know what I mean.
This from Chicago Breaking Sports (via ESPN.com):
"A source said Bates was tempted to be reunited with Bears quarterback Jay Cutler but the long-term security with Carroll was a major factor in his decision to join the Seahawks rather than the Bears. Bates was Cutler’s offensive coordinator with the Broncos in 2008."
So begins the snowball effect of keeping Lovie’s puppet regime in place. What did I say before? That the best candidates would pass on this gig because they didn’t want to take a job under a lame duck coach. This from my FIRE LOVIE SMITH blog:
"If you keep Lovie as head coach, what kind of offensive coordinator can you bring in to a situation with a potential lame-duck coach? A vulture like Mike Martz looking for an angle to get his foot in the door to get a head coaching job? No thanks."
Was Bates the right choice for the Bears? Not sure. Would it have been nice to at least have him come through Halas Hall and chat about offensive philosophy and how he plans to get the most out of your most prized possession, Jay Cutler. Absolutely.
Now we won’t know because qualified guys will pass on the opportunity because they want a little job security. Can you blame them? It’s a tough job market out there, after all.