Buddy System: Bears Hire Bates as Cutler’s QB Coach
The Bears have hired a quarterbacks coach, reuniting quarterback Jay Cutler with his former positional coach in Denver, Jeremy Bates. No official word on whether he will get the full reigns as “passing game coordinator” as the original job posting on Craigslist had described.
Cutler flourished under Bates in Denver, racking up over 9000 yards passing with 54 TD’s and 37 interceptions between ’06 – ’08 over 37 starts, capped off by a Pro Bowl nod in ’08. Cutler is excited to work with his old buddy:
"“I’m very excited to be working with Jeremy Bates again,” Cutler told ChicagoBears.com Tuesday. “We got the right guy for the job.”“He was very vital in my growth and my experience as a quarterback there,” Cutler said. “The last couple years he had full control of my development and our plays coming in.“He’s a grinder. He’s a guy that’s going to work extremely hard to find weaknesses in defenses and he’s going to be able to present it to us in a way that we understand and will be able to make plays where we can take advantage of those weaknesses.”"
Head coach Lovie Smith is excited to work with Bates, who he considered the “landslide winner” in the pool of exactly 2 guys who interviewed for the position. Greg Olson, the other choice, opted to take a better contract with more security from the Jacksonville Jaguars.
"“Even though we had only brought in one guy (former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Greg Olson), I had been talking to a lot of guys. But in the end, it was Jeremy by a landslide.”"
That’s so Lovie. I’ve missed him these last few weeks.
Before Mike Martz accepted the position, Bates was under consideration for the then-vacant offensive coordinator post back in ’10 but opted to go with buddy Pete Carroll to run the Seahawks’ offense. Bates and Carroll worked together at USC, where Bates was OC. He has been out of football the last year, getting the boot from Seattle after just 1 season.
Here’s a closing shot from Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio:
"The 35-year-old is now back, and he’ll be responsible for the passing game while first-time offensive coordinator Mike Tice handles the running game. It’s unknown who’ll be responsible for booking the bye week booze cruise."
Can’t wait for Cutler’s first great passing game of 2012, when the “Master Bates” jokes can start flying. Yes, I’m that childish. In the meantime,