Thoughts?

Mac wants to know why Bears fans "can't let it go".

I can't let it go - and I won't. and I don't want to.

For some UNKNOWN reason this guy is the 'golden boy'.'

I give McCaskey credit for 'stepping up' and getting Wanny - as he was the 'hot prospect' back then.

But after he got fired, he blamed scouting and management in Chicago and took VERY LITTLE if any culpability himself.

...and everybody in Miami said 'now that he's got Wayne Huizenga's deep pockets' he'll succeed.

Yet he never took Miami any further in the playoffs than Jimmy Johnson did. ...and I don't recall any great draft picks he made either. Sound familiar?

He preached how he was going to improve 'team speed' when he arrived in Chicago and then got Joe Cain and Vinson Smith at LB. LOL... I've pinched corn and nut encrusted turds quicker than their football speed.

He had a revolving door at Plan B free agent RBs and few if any panned out.

Mac, that's why there's vanilla and that's why there's chocolate.

The chocolate is the stuff running down Wanny's leg after going for it last night.

Lighten up Francis - and don't be so defensive for Wanny. He's a big boy - he can handle the heat.

I thought this was pretty good from my favorite sports blog (everydayshouldbesaturday.com):

http://www.everydayshouldbesaturday.com/?p=3973

Wannstached! Running back LeSean McCoy ran mad furlongs against Navy all night, but when the time came to daringly end the game before a third overtime, the Wannstache reverted to true form by passing with his freshman qb not once, but twice on both third and fourth down to botch away the Navy game. Quoth Wannstedt:

"If I had the same situation, I would do it again.”

This may bring back nasty flashbacks for Bears fans. Quoth Wannstedt after going for two points and failing at the end of a 1997 game against the Miami Dolphins:

“Would I do it again?,” Wannstedt said. “Definitely. It looked like the ball was just overthrown a little bit.”

"If it weren't for those 4 or 5 long touchdown passes and runs, we would have won this game." That's why I can't let it go. He thought the fans were stupid, he thought the players were stupid, he lied to the players, he thought the Dallas system (speed over size-remember 180 lb linebackers?) would work without Dallas players, the list goes on and on.

He has wrecked every team he has been with in a head coaching capacity. Why give him a pass at all?

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You cannot make me care about the WNBA.

his dolphin teams won 10 games every year he was there. not shabby.

But weren't those with Jimmy's guys?

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The Dolphin? I believe the Beloved beat the Dolphin in '97.

This quote came after a 1 point loss to the Green Bay Packer in '97. They ran a trips formation at the top of the screen and the pass fell incomplete.

D. McNeil, I love you more than anybody on this board but weren't you just bashing R. Grossman for not being in the huddle at the end of the game on Sunday? He is not the Bear starting quarterback anymore. D. Wannstedt is not the head coach anymore.

Why is this any different?

johnson worked his ass off in dallas. he spent his dolphins days coaching from his boat on key biscayne. check casher.

it is different because grossbomb remains on the team, even though he is unwilling to offer a thought to griesman on sundays.

the only time wannie made the playoffs with the bears was with a depleted ditka team. he was a terrible coach here and a medicore at best coach in miami

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I'd prefer Rex keep his thoughts to himself.

Nicely done Spaulding.

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“Mmmm. Move over, eggs. Bacon just got a new best friend - fudge.”

It wasn't really a joke.

Maybe he just doesn't have any.

As I stated, Dave Wannstedt never took that Dolphins team any further than Jimmy Johnson did. Ten wins? Keep 'em...

Jason Taylor? Zach Thomas? Sam Madison? Patrick Surtain? All brought in by Jimmy Johnson.

DE Trace Armstrong? Sure he led the league in sacks one year - ironically Wanny traded him to Miami to make room for 'his guy' John Thierry. He then let punter Chris Gardocki walk and used the 2nd rounder he acquired for Armstrong and Todd Sauerbrun.

Nice.

No Pro Bowlers drafted by the Bears during Wanny's run as Bears Head Coach. Hell, I don't even know if they had any during his tenure.

Dave Wannstedt's last draft class before Mark Hatley was brought in:

1st rounder traded for Rick Mirer
2nd round trade up for John Allred
3rd rounder Bob the Beast Sapp - who got cut during training camp
4th rounder Marcus Robinson - never played a game while Wanny was here

Hell, I'm getting nauseated typing this. Here's the guys drafted while Wanny was in control of the football decisions at Halas Hall:

1997
1 2 8 38 John Allred TE USC
2 3 9 69 Bob Sapp G Washington
3 4 9 105 Darnell Autry RB Northwestern
4 4 12 108 Marcus Robinson WR South Carolina
5 5 11 141 Van Hiles DB Kentucky
6 6 33 196 Shawn Swayda DT Arizona State
7 6 37 200 Richard Hogans LB Memphis
8 6 38 201 Ricky Parker DB San Diego State
9 7 9 210 Mike Miano DT SW Missouri State
10 7 32 233 Marvin Thomas DE Memphis
1996
1 1 13 13 Walt Harris DB Mississippi State
2 2 22 52 Bobby Engram WR Penn State
3 4 21 116 Paul Grasmanis DT Notre Dame
4 5 20 152 Chris Villarrial G Indiana (PA)
5 6 20 187 Jon Clark T Temple
6 7 24 233 Marcus Keyes DT North Alabama
7 7 44 253 Michael Hicks RB South Carolina State
1995
1 1 21 21 Rashaan Salaam RB Colorado
2 2 20 52 Patrick Riley DT Miami (FL)
3 2 24 56 Todd Sauerbrun P West Virginia
4 3 19 83 Sean Harris LB Arizona
5 3 23 87 Evan Pilgrim G Brigham Young
6 4 18 116 Jack Jackson WR Florida
7 6 22 193 Kenny Gales DB Wisconsin
8 6 27 198 Carl Reeves DE North Carolina State
9 7 21 229 Jamal Cox LB Georgia Tech
1994
1 1 11 11 John Thierry DE Alcorn State
2 2 10 39 Marcus Spears T Northwest Louisiana
3 3 9 74 Jim Flanigan DT Notre Dame
4 4 11 114 Raymont Harris RB Ohio State
5 6 9 170 Lloyd Hill WR Texas Tech
6 7 11 205 Dennis Collier DB Colorado
1993
1 1 7 7 Curtis Conway WR USC
2 2 6 35 Carl Simpson DT Florida State
3 3 5 61 Chris Gedney TE Syracuse
4 4 13 97 Todd Perry G Kentucky
5 4 16 100 Myron Baker LB Louisiana Tech
6 4 28 112 Albert Fontenot DE Baylor
7 6 6 146 Dave Hoffmann LB Washington
8 7 5 173 Keshon Johnson DB Arizona


Dave Wannstedt set the Bears back a decade - I'll never forgive him or Michael McCaskey for that.

Mark Hatley took over in Wanny's last year and while here (although he whiffed on some 1st rounders), he drafted the likes of Mike Brown, Olin Kreutz, Tony Parrish, rookie of the year Brian Urlacher, rookie of the year Anthony Thomas, Rosey Colvin and Marty Booker in his first few years.

These facts cannot be denied.

I did like Wanny speaking of Chris Get Knee after the draft though.

I guess all those defensive studs drafted while Jimmy was there was actually thanks to the hard work of his personal cabana boy / butt buddy Dave Wannstedt Mac.

Wannie was great for set your franchise back five years.

Grid, That list will give me nightmares. Those were some bad years.

Is Wanne to Mac as Traschel is to Harry?

Mac said they shared agents.

This is what Wanny left in the cupboard for Mark Hatley (and then Angelo) to try to salvage:

TE Tremayne Allen
TE John Allred
RB Darnell Autry
WR Fabien Bownes
G Todd Burger
CB James Burton
LB Joe Cain
LB Daryl Carter
S Marty Carter
CB Tom Carter
FB Tony Carter
T Jon Clark
WR Curtis Conway
CB Terry Cousin < An NFL survivor - still in the league
LB Bryan Cox
LB Ron Cox
C/DT Rob Davis
CB Corey Dowden
FB Mike Dulaney
WR Bobby Engram < An NFL survivor - still in the league
DT Jim Flanigan
CB Marlon Forbes
DT Paul Grasmanis
G Chris Gray < Starting in the league
RB Ronnie Harmon <<<< I must have missed this - as I never remember him on the Bears
RB Raymont 'Ultra-back' Harris
LB Sean Harris
CB Walt Harris < Not worth the 'trade up' and couldn't cover 70% of the Earth like water - as he advertised - still in the league
T Andy Heck
T Jimmy Herndon
RB Michael Hicks
S Van Hiles
CB Tyrone Hughes
G Greg Huntington
K Jeff Jaeger
TE Keith Jennings
QB Erik Kramer
TE Harper Le Bel
LB Michael Lowery
S John Mangum
S Anthony Marshall
LB Barry Minter
QB Rick Mirer
WR Chris Penn
G Todd Perry
LB Tony Peterson
G Evan Pilgrim
WR Ricky Proehl <<<< Wanny deactivated Proehl a couple of games after he put up 160 yards in Motown
DE Carl Reeves
RB Rashaan Salaam
P Todd Sauerbrun < D-Bag - but still playing
G/T Bill Schultz
DT/DE Carl Simpson
WR Eric Smith
DE Alonzo Spellman
CB Tony Stargell
QB Steve Stenstrom
DE John Thierry
DE Mark Thomas
C/G Chris Villarrial
TE Ryan Wetnight
C Casey Wiegmann < starting for the Chiefs
T James O. Williams < One of a few players who lasted awhile after Wanny left - then again, he was here when Ditka was here - now works with Woodridge Ryan
DT Tyrone Williams
DT Chris Zorich < Should have moved him to middle linebacker

This was the roster of 1997 - a decade ago. Man alive how this roster was reshaped with some REAL football people in charge. Pro Bowlers galore after Wanny was shown the door.



Dave Wannstedt did coach in the NFL for several years, so he's not a TOTAL failure.

Here's some history: Dave Wannstedt's NFL Resume

Not to pile on, but here are a couple of other Dave Wannstedt rejects:

WR Keenan McCardell, Chicago Bears Practice Squad 1993
P Mitch Berger, Chicago Bears Practice Squad 1995

I'm schizo on Angelo. The defense & special teams are excellent. That offense is piss poor and he is partially to blame.

All the pieces are in place.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

is that the most Carter's on one team at one time?

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The bottom line is Dave Wannstedt is going to be fired from his third head coaching job where he had a few minor highlights and nothing else. He is a good football mind, but a bad head coach.

He is Norv Turner.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Well, that's two more parts of the team that Angelo is more competent of evaluating and drafting than Wanny.

Best comparison of two head coaches I've ever heard.

I do believe Grid has won this debate in a more one sided fashion then the 85 Super Bowl. Only a California jury wouldnt be able to reach the right verdict with that body of evidence.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

But Sal Palantonio would say the winning argument was overrated.

My goodness, I have blocked most of those names out of my mind. What utter mediocrity (at best) was passed through this town as NFL talent. Grid listed the draft picks, what about his free agent pickups? I remember one of his first signings was the undersized third down back from the Giants (can't remember his name) who was supposed to be the starter. Surprise! He couldn't get the job done and had minimal impact for the Bears.

Personnel aside, Wanny was a horrid game day coach. He more or less perfected the "what the hell is happening? I'm a winner, things are supposed to go my way" look on the sidelines.

The highlight of his regime for any of his head coaching gigs is the day he leaves.

_________________
You cannot make me care about the WNBA.

Ask and ye shall receive:

RBs: Tim Worley, Lewis Tillman, Merrill Hoge and Ironhead Heyward

TE: Marv Cook

WR: Michael Timpson and Jeff Graham (Graham was pretty solid)

QB: Erik Kramer (who played well for a few years) - but it was Steve Walsh who won Wanny's only playoff game with the Bears.

LB: Joe Cain, Bryan Cox and Vinson Smith (the other LBs loathed Cox btw)

DB: Tom Carter (bust) and Marty Carter - who was a helluva hitter - when he hit his target

And let's not forget CB Anthony Blaylock who had COSMETIC surgery that ended his career.

Blaylock, a former Chicago Bears cornerback, who was awarded $3.85 million in a lawsuit against a doctor who he claimed performed an operation that put an end to his career in the NFL. Blaylock, who played for the Bears in 1993, sued Chicago orthopedic surgeon Dr. Daniel J. Nagle, who removed an unsightly scar from Blaylock's knee during the following offseason. Subsequently, the 34-year-old Blaylock developed bursitis in the knee, which required him to undergo another operation. Additionally, the cast he wore caused him to develop tendinitis.

I caught Sal's schtick the other day. What an ass. The Bears are the most overrated Super Bowl team of all time?

He also gets some facts wrong - as they were NOT the 'number one rated Super Bowl team' on America's Game - I thought the Dolphins unbeaten team was.

I think the Bears Super Bowl team is rated properly and that Raiders team he spoke so glowingly about is definitely UNDERRATED.

I loved football back in the late 70s through the mid 80s. Then the Bears ripped my heart out of my chest with all those one and outs in the playoffs. And that NFC Championship Game they lost to SF in 'Bear weather'. UGH!

Mac wins. Just like the drunk loudmouth at the end of the bar at the neighborhood tavern, he would yell louder. You would give up just to hear him STFU.

Mac,
I don’t know how the pair of 4-12 seasons doesn’t prevent you from speaking this man’s name, let alone direct any praise towards him. Those were his “pieces” he was working with. Don’t let the 11 wins seasons in Miami fool you (JJ’s pieces), both teams got blown out in the playoffs. The Dolphins didn’t make the playoffs after that. He’s probably a good, if not very good, position coach/coordinator but his track record as a head coach is appreciated only if you wager against him.