Setting a New Pace

A new GM is in Chicago. Yesterday Ryan Pace was named the new general manager of the Bears. This was a surprising move to numerous Bears fans and analysts. Many people thought Chris Ballard from Kansas City would be the go ahead hire because of his extensive history with the Bears.

However, staying true to the recently announced intentions to do whatever it takes to turn the Bears into a championship caliber team, Chicago executives decided to move on from past trends and hired a man with no previous ties to the Bears. The reality of having a GM with no prior loyalties to the organizational structure of the Bears provides hope that the franchise will finally break free from the cycle of mediocrity that has been displayed for much of the past thirty years.

In my previous article I mentioned the need for the Bears to find a GM who comes from a successful organization. Thankfully, this is the case with the Ryan Pace hire as he spent his entire NFL career (2001-2014) with the New Orleans Saints, a team which has made five playoff appearances including one Super Bowl victory during his tenure.

Pace now has the huge responsibility of hiring the next head coach. With the recent hiring of Marc Trestman over Bruce Arians, the pain of looking at the former crosstown rival's success under Arians is intense. However, the Bears should pay close attention the Cardinals' rapid turnaround from being a 5-11 team to a playoff qualifier within two seasons. Arians has been a key contributor to Arizona'a transformation.

Transformation should be the motto for the Bears over the next two seasons. The Bears need to find a Bruce Arians equivalent to ensure their own transformation. Former Buffalo Bills head coach Doug Marrone is pretty close. Marrone spent the same amount of time at Buffalo as Bruce Arians has at Arizona. Although Marrone did not make the playoffs, he did lead the Bills to their first winning season since 2004. Marrone's Bills beat major contenders such as New England, Green Bay, and Detroit, and swept the NFC North.

I believe the reason Arians and Marrone were able to transform their teams so quickly is because they are both offensive coaches leading defensive teams. Think back to the quality of defensive play exhibited by both the Cardinals and the Bills this past season. Defense was strongest asset of both teams.

This is similar to the Lovie Smith-lead Bear teams, except Lovie could only coach defense. For much of his time with the Bears, the offense was horrendous. This was not the case with Marrone's Bills or Arians' Cardinals. Both coaches were able to rally strong enough play from their offenses to compliment the excellent defensive play and score points.

I was buying the idea of turning the Bears into an offensive team during the 2013 season until I saw what happened to the Broncos (the gold standard of offensive teams) in the Super Bowl. Now I am positive the best way to win in this league is to be a defensive team with an offensive head coach. The Bears can find that in Doug Marrone.


References:
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/nor/playoffs.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/MarrDo0.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/AriaBr0.htm
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/crd/
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/buf/2014.htm

Breaking Silence

After more than a year I am returning to Halas' Heroes, hopefully on a much more consistent basis. I considered writing during the season, however this mortifying 2014 season left me too embarrassed, angry and depressed to even attempt an in-season post.

Instead of revisiting the myriad of reasons for the 2014 debacle, I want to focus on the Bears moving forward. Bear fans have 3 significant things to look forward to this off-season: Hiring a new general manager, hiring a new head coach and having a top 10 draft pick. In this post I will focus on hiring a new GM.

To decide what the Bears need to look for in a new GM let's first reflect on the noteworthy achievements and failures of the past two general managers. I will use draft picks, notable free agent signings, significant roster moves and overall team production as a means of "grading" each GM.

88 Total Draft Picks: Jerry Angelo 

Bears' longtime standout CB Charles "Peanut" Tillman

Good- Alex Brown, Lance Briggs, Charles Tillman, Devin Hester, Tommie Harris, Mark Anderson (mid round draft pick who was very productive in his rookie season which directly contributed to the Bears Super Bowl appearance), Greg Olsen, Corey Graham (Pro Bowl special team player drafted in a late round),Matt Forte, Henry Melton (based on a Pro Bowl appearance and being a late-mid round pick).

 Bad- David Terrell, Marc Colombo, Tank Johnson (good play significantly overshadowed by off-field behavior), Cedric Benson, Mark Bradley, Chris Williams, Gabe Carimi.

Verdict is still out- Stephen Paea

10 Good Picks 7 Bad Picks 1 Undecided Pick 70 Irrelevant Picks  

20 Total Draft Picks: Phil Emery 
Good- Alshon Jeffery, Kyle Long.

 Bad- Shea McClellin

 Verdict is still out- Jonathan Bostic, Jordan Mills, Kyle Fuller, Ego Ferguson, Will Sutton, Brock Vereen

 2 Good Picks 1 Bad Pick 6 Undecided Picks 11 Irrelevant Picks

*For a player to earn a "Bad" rating they had to be drafted in either round 1 or 2 and have never performed at a level expected of a player with that draft status.

 Noteworthy Good Free Agent Signings/Roster Moves
 Jerry Angelo: Larry Whigham, Thomas Jones, Robbie Gould, Brendan Ayanbedejo, Adewale Ogunleye, Desmond Clark, John Tait, Ruben Brown, Roberto Garza, Jay Cutler, Julius Peppers, Tim Jennings

Phil Emery: Brandon Marshall, Martellus Bennett, Matt Slauson, Willie Young

 Noteworthy Bad Free Agent Signings/Roster Moves 
Jerry Angelo: Trading Thomas Jones, Signing Todd Collins as backup quarterback in 2010

Phil Emery: Jay Cutler contract extension

 Overall Success 
Jerry Angelo: 95-81 record, 1 Super Bowl Appearance, 4 Playoff Appearances, 4 Division Titles

Phil Emery: 23-25 record, 0 Playoff Appearances

This is a lot of data to decipher, and certainly data does not tell the whole story, but it does reveal some trends.

 First, both strategies have led to virtually a .500 record for both managers. Furthermore if I took the time to list the starting lineups in each of the Bears' playoff seasons, it would be apparent that Bear draft picks made up most of the lineups (with the offensive line being the exception).

 Another important statistic is the number of irrelevant draft picks there have been since 2001 (I do recognize that many irrelevant picks have played in starting roles in the past). This statistic is significant when looking at the roster of the NFC North rival Green Bay Packers who have qualified for the playoffs 11 times in the same time span as the tenures of Jerry Angelo and Phil Emery. This relates to the Packers' roster because they pride themselves on building the vast majority of their roster with the draft.

 The Seattle Seahawks have drafted many of their play makers as well. In just a few years Seattle built a Super Bowl Champion roster that will most likely be playing in the post season for many years to come. The same things can be said for Baltimore and Pittsburgh as well.

If the Bears are going to achieve this level of consistency they need to find a GM who is able to put together a strong roster primarily through the draft. Clearly this is much easier to say than do, but the Bears could simplify the process by looking to a team who consistently drafts well. So please Ted Phillips and Ernie Accorsi do not look to the Titans' or Chiefs' personnel staff to find the next GM. Instead look to a perennial contender to find the next general manager of the Chicago Bears.

 References: 
http://www.fftoday.com/nfl/drafttracker.php?o=by_team&TeamID=9019
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/chi/
http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nfl/chicago/bears.html
http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/gnb/playoffs.htm

Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace

The Bears are just 4 days away from kickoff and I would like to put my two cents in before it's too late. I hear a lot of conjecture about the new team, and overall it seems to be quite polarized. I personally think the Bears will have an improved season from last year. Offensively, the Bears will be much more diverse. Matt Forte will be used appropriately (finally), Brandon Marshall will dominate as well as create openings for Alshon Jeffrey and the Bennetts and the offensive line seems to be significantly better than last year's squad. One of the most frequent concerns I hear is the challenge for Jay Cutler to pick up a new offense. People who fear this must have short-term memory loss. Jay Cutler has learned a new offensive scheme almost every year he has been in Chicago. It's been a part of his job description. So I don't worry about Cutler picking up the new offense, I worry about him protecting the football. Jay Cutler and Brett Favre are very similar quarterbacks. Both have rocket arms and both are criticized for turnovers due to forcing throws into coverage. Many games have been jeopardized or lost because of this and last year's season was stopped short by a bad game at Minnesota and a costly pick in the second Green Bay game. With that being said, if Trestman and Kromer can get the ball protection issues worked out with Cutler I think the Bears offense has a lot of potential to be very dangerous. Moving on with a new coach was a good thing for the Bears, but I must admit I was concerned for the legendary reputation of Chicago Bears defense when Lovie was replaced by an offensive guru (Trestman) as Head Coach. However, the new Defensive Coordinator, Mel Tucker, made a great decision to tune the old defensive scheme instead of overhaul it completely. He seems to have added a few more blitzes and has made competition for starting positions (MLB and LDE) bring out the best in those competing for the positions. I look forward to this season with some great expectations and I see no reason why the Bears should not be listed as one of the top NFC contenders this season.

A Run-In with Danimal

A Run-In with Danimal
I was with my family on a cold Saturday afternoon in the winter of 2002. We were running a few errands before my brothers' basketball game they had later that day. My dad decided to make a stop at Lowe's, but I chose to wait in the car with my mom and one of my brothers while my dad and other brother went inside.

Not long after they went into the store, my mom's cell phone rang and my dad told my mom to have me to run inside the store right away. He said Dan Hampton was coming to do a free autograph signing (as part of his Hall Of Fame induction appearances) at this Lowe's in just a little while. Well I needed no further persuasion to get in the store as fast as I could.

When I got inside the store I saw this big long line of people waiting in front of an empty table. So I jumped in line with my mom while my brothers and my dad ran to another store to go buy some Bears hats for Danimal to sign for us.

We waited for about 45 minutes, and then in walked Dan Hampton. Instantly all of us fans who had faithfully been waiting for the Hall Of Fame inductee began to cheer and applaud.

Well my brothers and dad showed up with the Bears hats, and we waited for another half hour when I got my chance to meet the Bears great Defensive Lineman. It was a really cool feeling to get to talk to him. He signed my hat for me, talked to me for a little bit, shook my hand and took a picture with me. It was an incredible moment for a 13 year-old Bears fanatic to experience. My brothers and dad all received autographs as well, but me being the most avid Bears fan in the family, it was just that much more special to me.

My run-in with Danimal is a moment I will never forget.

Remember Ironhead?

Chances are if you're a long time Bears fan or just a long time football fan in general, you probably smiled when you saw the name 'Ironhead' in the title for this article.

I remember when I first found out who Ironhead was. I was an avid football card collector throughout much of my childhoood and through collecting football cards I came across a Craig Heyward, or as my dad quickly pointed out to me, 'Ironhead' card. While I read the bio on the back of the card I noticed that he was listed as a 290 pound running back. This instantly got my attention so I asked my dad who this guy was and that is when I found out who Ironhead was.

Well, years went by and the next news of Ironhead I heard was in 2006. Ironhead had passed away from a brain tumor he had been battling for some time. It was sad and shocking news hearing that the 39 year old grid iron legend had passed away, but once again Ironhead slipped out of mind for several more years until this January.

In January I was visiting my girlfriend's family and of course I ended up talking about football. My girlfriend's dad, Jim, and I get along really well. We both love football and have a lot of fun talking football. During one of our conversations Jim asked me if I had ever heard of Craig Heyward. Of course I said I had, and he then told me one of the coolest football stories I have ever heard.

Jim went to high school in New Jersey and played football for the Bergenfield High School Bears and Ironhead went to Passaic High School where he played for the Indians (also the high school of the great Jack Tatum). During Jim's senior year (Ironhead's freshman year) of high school he played Passaic in a preseason game. Jim was playing Defensive End, and of course Ironhead was playing running back.

Jim says he remembers Passaic having around 100 players on their team and all of them were chanting "Iron-head! Iron-head!" while Ironhead carried the ball. Then came what Jim calls his claim to fame.

As I mentioned earlier, Jim was playing Defensive End in this game. I myself played Defensive End for several years and know how frequently you come head to head with running backs. This is exactly what happened to Jim. Jim said he hit him straight in the thighs and the 260 pound Ironhead bulled right through but he didn't get too far because Jim was able to trip him up in the process and made the tackle!

I've tackled some stud running backs back in my playing days, but I never tackled anyone anywhere close to the caliber of Ironhead.

Ironhead went on to play 11 seasons in the NFL. During this span he played for the Saints, Bears, Falcons, Rams and Colts. Although Ironhead has passed away, his football talent has carried over to his son Cam Heyward, who played 4 years as a Defensive End for Ohio State. Cam is now hoping to be drafted in the 2011 NFL draft. If Ironhead was still alive he would be hoping so too.

So here's one more cheer for Ironhead. Iron-head! Iron-head!

Church VS. Football

I am an avid Chicago Bears fan, as is apparent by my blog, but more importantly I am a born again Christian. Having the Salvation Christ Jesus has given me through His death on the cross motivates me to dedicate myself to building a strong and active relationship with Him. Much of this relationship building comes from consistently attending church every Sunday. This is where conflict arises for many Christians who are NFL fans, because most games are played during church time.

I personally have to make this decision nearly every Sunday. I always choose church over football, but that is my conviction.

I interviewed my church's Youth Pastor, Pastor Jake Rosekopf, to see what his thoughts were on the issue. I hope you find the interview as helpful and interesting as I have.

Go Bears!

1. How long have you been a pastor?
Almost 5 years.

2. How long have you been a Bears fan?
Almost 5 years (When we moved here I really started liking them a lot).

3. Do you think it is ever okay to miss church to watch a Bears game?
No, unless they are in the Super Bowl, but then I would have the youth group over and give a devotional at halftime. (That's what we have done in the past).

4. What are your convictions on missing church to watch the Super Bowl?
Haha...oh....I should have read the next question before I wrote that for #3. Same answer. I wouldn't miss church to just watch the game. There would have to be a purpose. The purpose being for the teens to bring unsaved friends to hear the gospel and to develop better relationships among the other teens.

5. How do you feel about churches scheduling services, or canceling services so the church members can watch the Super Bowl?
I'm fifty fifty on this one. I can understand both sides of the argument, but I would lean towards NOT missing church, unless there is a spiritual emphasis involved.

6. Do you think it would be acceptable for a Christian to buy Bears season tickets knowing they will miss numerous Sunday services?
I wouldn't buy Bears tickets if I knew I would be missing church a lot. It's a matter of priority. What's more important to you? God deserves our best. He deserves our time and our worship and our praise. God has called us to assemble together as believers. That was His plan for us...that's why we are called "the church."

7. Do you think there is a large temptation for Christians to place a higher priority on football than they place on God, making it an idol?
There is a HUGE temptation to place football above God. We make plans around watching "the game." Even as we sit in church we are sometimes thinking about what time the game will be on. Football in and of itself isn't wrong, but when we place it above our relationship with Christ, or anything for that matter, then yes, it is wrong.

8. What is the most important part about being a Christian?
The most important part about being a Christian is glorifying God with our lives through our testimony, our witness, our speech, our actions, and our priorities.

9. What is your prediction for the 2011 Bears season?
I think they will do well. Jay Cutler should be fired up about what happened in their last game last season. I think he has something to prove. If everyone can stay healthy I think they might just make it back to the Super Bowl. Then we'll have to have a Super Bowl party! (with a spiritual emphasis of course).

What's New?

This week I decided to do a video post on some recent Bears news . I had previously promised to keep you, the viewer, up to date on the latest Bears news, and that is the purpose of this post.

This video covers the latest on Jay Cutler, an unusual feel-good story dealing with William Perry, and my take on the 2011 NFL draft.

I hope you enjoy the video.

Go Bears!