Its probably bad taste to post your own blog entry but in an effort to jumpstart a little conversation, I'll throw this up. Feel free to rip it up and spit on it.
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http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/20 ... oints.html
July 08, 2006
Turning Points
by Tom Shannon
To praise Bears offensive coordinator (OC) Ron Turner at this point in his career may come as a surprise to some considering the performance of the Bears’ offense last year (29th in total offense, 31st in passing). But I think a convincing case can be made that Turner is, in fact, easily the best OC the Bears have had since… well, Ron Turner.
Evaluation of Turner’s short tenure with the team (the second time around) actually starts with the story of the two previous coordinators, John Shoop and Terry Shea. It’s an old complaint for fans of nearly every team about their coordinators but in these two cases, it’s particularly true. Both Shoop and Shea failed to make adjustments to the constantly changing situations in which a coach may find himself in the NFL.
In fact, in Shea’s case, I believe this was deliberate. Having come from Kansas City where the wide open offense he brought was a considerable success, Shea believed in aggressiveness at all costs, especially in the passing game. When multiple injuries hampered the offense’s ability to function in this way, he continued to attack with no strategic changes, in particular with no tendency to rely more on the running game. This was against head coach (HC) Lovie Smith’s expressed desire and, frankly, against all common sense. In the end, it got the offense ranked last in the league and, not surprisingly, got him fired.
But besides this, both Shoop and Shea shared one common fault. They were both excitable men who, in my opinion, very simply lost their heads on the sideline. In Shea’s case this was particularly evident early on. In one instance, former Bear quarterback (QB) Jonathan Quinn told a postgame story where Shea had been so excited, and what he was screaming through the speaker in Quinn’s helmet was so nonsensical, that he had to call the play himself. It was a preseason game.
But the argument could be made that this fault was particularly damaging in Shoop’s case. Shots of him on the sideline showed him with his eyes bulging (more than usual) and tension running through his whole body. Shoop said he liked to call plays from the sideline because he “wanted to look the players in the eye.” The likely truth is that Shoop liked to be in the middle of things and one could hardly blame him. But he failed to recognize the damage it was doing. Shoop, by all accounts a reasonably intelligent if inexperienced young man, actually did try to make adjustments week to week. He certainly talked a good game and, if anything, had a tendency to out think himself. (e.g. “Running is our offensive strength and their defensive weakness. But that means they’ll expect us to run. So we’ll pass.”) But despite his forethought the minute you put Shoop on the sideline it was as if he’d forgotten everything. In the excitement of the moment, time after time he turned to old, predictable plays which were, as a result, exactly what the defense was expecting. This also caused him to fail to make other types of obvious in game adjustments. The Bears would lose their left tackle to injury and Shoop would immediately call a pass with no tightend help, putting the backup lineman one-on-one with an experienced, warmed up starting right defensive end. The result of these kinds of calls was always a disaster and Shoop was frequently roundly and justly criticized. I might add that the last two games of his tenure when former HC Dick Jauron finally forced Shoop into the booth during the game, Shoop did a noticeably better job calling plays. Too little, too late.
In the important time after Shea’s departure, the Bears turned to Turner, who had actually had a stint with the Bears as OC previously. I will admit up front that I wasn’t enthused by this move. Turner, while he was moderately successful in his previous stint, didn’t impress me. His time as HC at Illinois, where his players frequently didn’t look prepared, didn’t help his case. In fact, the hire of Turner was something of a surprise to me and as one friend
http://nflfans.com/bearstalk/forum.php?az=show_mesg&forum=100&thread_id=78410&mesg_id=78432&page= recently pointed out to me, Bear fans may have the McCaskey family to thank for the fact that he was even considered. Few other people in a position to make decisions at a high level in the organization had direct experience with Turner. Certainly general manager Jerry Angelo and Smith didn’t.
In retrospect, I should have been more positive. Turner is not only obviously intelligent, he’s much more quiet and introspective than either of his predecessors. This immediately showed up on the field . When asked at the last Bears Fan Convention about calling plays from the booth, Turner said he never even considered staying on the field. He told the audience that the booth is quieter, more organized and allows for better concentration. It provides the needed insulation from the excitement on the sideline which allows him to make needed rational decisions, he said.
In many ways, Turner’s adjustments last year were unusual because, unlike those of Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera, his are changes were of subtraction, not addition. Turner did try a few new things to, for example, get running back Thomas Jones more chances to create in space. And the offense did generally run in a smoother, more coordinated manner than is the past as well. Certainly the timing was better. Nevertheless Turner’s intelligence last year showed up more in what he didn’t do than in what he did.
For example after the devastating injury to QB Rex Grossman last year, back up Kyle Orton was thrown in to the brink. Orton was brought along slowly and his effective playbook was kept relatively small. Turner was careful not to ask Orton to do too much. The Bears adjusted to rely much more on the running game than they might have otherwise as well. But most tellingly, when Orton showed an inability to throw the deep routes toward or along the sideline accurately and with touch, Turner adjusted by not calling these plays, something his predecessors would have been unlikely to do. When the offensive line showed an inability to organize their blocking on screen plays, Turner didn’t push them. Although Bear fans often noted its absence, Turner knew that continually running screens under such circumstances was useless and he all but stopped trying to use the play.
All of these things show that the decision to hire Turner at a critical juncture in Smith’s time as HC was the right one. The offense had been and was dismal. In a similar situation, Jauron had repeatedly chosen to stick with Shoop and it ultimately got him fired. Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it and Smith did not disappoint. An immediate change was obviously needed and not only did he fire Shea, he went in search of a coordinator who would not have the same deficiencies. Turner fit the bill perfectly. Despite the offense’s generally poor performance last year, given the above points we can reasonably conclude that the deficiencies were more likely due to injuries and/or inadequate personnel than to problems with the coordinator.
Having said that, Turner and, by implication, Smith find themselves at another crucial point in the team’s development. Though Turner showed his ability in adjusting to the situation last year by not trying to do too much, the offense must improve its ability to pass the ball. An offseason of work should allow the offensive line to better coordinate and Bear fans will be closely watching its ability to finally run an effective screen pass this year. If Orton finds himself on the field – and history indicates that even as the third QB, he very well might – he must be able to throw the deep sideline pass. This is the major weak point in the cover two defense, a scheme which every team in the NFC North will be running this year. Without the ability to attack this area, the offense will be severely hampered.
Unlike last year, Turner will be judged as a coordinator by what the unit does, not by what he does not ask it to do. But if the temperament and intelligence he showed last year are any indication, they are in good hands and the future of the Bears offense may finally be bright.
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