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