John Fox has a job for the 2018 NFL season, but it’s not as a coach.
John Fox lost his job as the head coach of the Chicago Bears at the end of the season. After amassing the second worst winning percentage as a head coach in the history of the franchise, the decision was an obvious one.
When you are getting up there in years (Fox is 63) and you are coming off an atrocious stretch as a head coach, there isn’t going to be one NFL team that’s going to look at you to lead their team. Teams would absolutely consider Fox as a defensive coordinator, but after being a head coach for nearly two decades, it’s hard to think Fox would be ready to just jump back in to the assistant coach ranks.
As Fox weighed his options, a report surfaced a few weeks ago that he was meeting with Fox Sports for a potential TV job. Now, a report has surfaced that John Fox has been hired by ESPN as their newest NFL analyst.
Sources tell The Athletic that former @ChicagoBears coach John Fox is joining ESPN as an NFL studio analyst: https://t.co/HUlEZmdf1o
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) March 20, 2018
Foxy has a new gig, at least for 2018. Honestly, it’s the perfect job for him. He can keep his toe in the NFL waters as he decides if he wants to get back into coaching as a coordinator or a consultant or keep a less stressful job in television. Those are really the only two choices. At Fox’s age, he’s almost certainly seen his last head coaching opportunity after the Bears’ debacle.
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Bears fans may be surprised to see Fox diving into a TV gig. The John Fox that met the media with the Chicago Bears was surly and frequently short with his answers. He was rarely forthcoming and overall appeared to be rather agitated with the media.
However, that may have been more as a result of the team and the situation. Fox in his previous stops in Carolina and Denver was always pretty media-friendly, he was easygoing and rarely had this agitated attitude that he constantly displayed in Chicago.
This is actually a good hire by ESPN. Bears fans may not believe it, but Fox will bring his experience as a coach and the personality that’s was never on display in Chicago and be a rather charming and informative addition.
Fox officially has a new job, and that’s good, certainly no fan wanted him to keep the job he previously had in Chicago.