The hidden reasons for the Chicago Bears failures in 2023

The Chicago Bears should use a new method when finding a head coach

My choice of Byron Leftwich used the same essential qualification I have included in a number of candidates I have identified as the best candidates for a general manager, a head coach, or a baseball manager job. The profile I adopted was the same profile Andrew McKenna used when as the president of the Cubs he hired Dallas Green as the Cubs general manager.

In terms of football, the essence of this profile is to hire someone who has this qualification. They need to have been a part of a championship team either in the front office or as a head coach or a player or a coach. A side note here, I sent the Bears a letter telling them why they should hire Mike Ditka as their head coach even before they fired Neil Armstrong whom Ditka replaced. I was shocked and thrilled when the news broke that Mike Ditka was the new Bears head coach.

These are the reasons Ditka fits the McKenna profile. He was a member of the Bears 1963 Championship team and was also the special teams coach for the Cowboys 1977 team which won a Super Bowl. I also used this profile in 1989 to identify Phil Jackson as the best head coach to replace Doug Collins. Ironically, Andrew McKenna who created this championship profile for hiring sports executives was a part owner and a member of the Bears Board of Directors since the 1980's before passing away in 2023. He also played a role in the Bears' recent hiring of Kevin Warren as their president and CEO.

Here is another negative connected to head coaches who are tied to the Cover-2. Very often these head coaches like Matt Eberflus also, use a conservative version of the West Coast Offense along with their conservative defense. A prime example of this was Lovie Smith's offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

In the Super Bowl matchup between the Bears and Colts, I found it maddening how many safe short passes Turner called for Rex Grossman to throw. It all felt like quite a fruitless exercise. The Bears only scored 17 points in this Super Bowl. In this game, Rex Grossman was 20 for 28 passing the ball and averaged 5.89 yards per pass attempt. They only converted 3 out of 10, 3rd down. The Bears also lost the time of possession battle by a lot, 38 minutes to 22 minutes.

Circling around to the present, Matt Eberflus's offensive coordinator, Luke Getsy, also runs a West Coast Offense. As many know, this offense does not at all emphasize, Justin Fields' strengths. His strengths, obviously, include exceptional running ability.

The West Coast Offense is, typically, dominated by short passes. Fields passing strength is passes that travel ten yards or longer. He also is often at his best when he is moved out of the pocket which is not, typically, a big part of the West Coast Offense. Yes, Luke Getsy, eventually, in 2022 got around to adjusting his play calling to Fields's strengths. However, it would have been much better for Fields if his new offensive coordinator in 2022 was not going to run a West Coast Offense.

After the fiasco against the Packers, it was clear Justin Fields went into the game against the Bucs with his head as an absolute mess. He admitted as much in his press conference this week. It was also quite obvious from this press conference and watching the game that Justin Fields and the Bears coaches were on different pages.

What was puzzling about this is that as referred to earlier, it was revealed by Justin Fields before the first game of the season that Luke Getsy was asking his QB1 what kind of plays he prefers to use. Again this is a big reason why I believe Eberflus forced Getsy to go with tons of safe short passes which is not what Fields does best at all. It really looked like Matt Eberflus's extreme conservatism sabotaged the Bears offense and this included undermining the confidence of many of his starting players on offense. Not surprisingly, this has all led to two humiliating defeats.

Hopefully, Eberflus is willing to learn from his mistake in regards to forcing the Bears offense away from what Justin Fields does best. If he does not see the error in his ways, he very likely will not be the Bears head coach next season.