Is your source the same as NSJ's?
"Something major is going to happen but I can't tell you what exactly or who told me!"

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emissions test...

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This is my signature...

I would not have a problem with this.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Maybe we can get a 2 for 1 deal and he can coach both the Bears and Bulls.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I have it from what has proven to be a very reliable source that I'm going on a date with Milla Jovovich.

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@audioidkid

I'd like a head coach in control of and responsible for the offense. Because of where you've invested your future—Jay Cutler—developing the offense needs to be the top priority in free agency, along with maximizing current assets like Chris Williams, Johnny Knox, etc. This might run counter to what I believe is the better draft strategy, which is taking the best player available regardless of position rather than drafting to fill holes.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

No NO NOOOOO!!!!

I like Frazier but they need an offensive head guy with a good trustable DC that can run that show.

Another defensive coordinator? Why? And what makes us think this one will stop being a coordinator and start thinking like a head coach? What makes us think this guy will bring a decent OC/coaches?

LOL, why not just bring Chico in?

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Middle Aged Crazy, like Uncle Terry

You realize that this goes against your love for Cowher, who is a Def guy.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I think Cowher knows his limits and trusts his guys. That is part of what I think makes him a good coach and his teams competitive. Some of the Steeler offenses weren't good but I never thought of them as completely awful or embarassing like the bears have.

It's part of why I flipped a little on Shanahan. I don't think he can get the d in shape and ignored it in Denver.

Let's look at this a different way.

Many people assume that Cutler is not the problem this year. Let's say that is true. Jay Cutler is not the problem. Everything else is.

Do we necessarily want a coach who will be able to fix Jay Cutler? Going by the logic above, don't we want a coach who can fix the defense and running game?

Shouldn't good defense + good running game + Jay Cutler = great team? On the other hand, it's been shown that Jay Cutler + below average running game + below average defense = bad team.

With the Broncos last year, we saw that the formula of Jay Cutler + bad defense didn't work.

Now, let's say that Cutler is one of the problems this year. Jay Cutler is a problem but other problems exist too.

We hire a coach who tries to "fix" Cutler but isn't as strong on defense and may not fix the running game quite as well. Isn't this a less likely source of improving the overall team? Even "pro bowl QB" Jay Cutler from last year ended up playing on a team that missed the playoffs and got the coach fired.

Here is basically what I am saying. If Jay Cutler is as good as many believe, then he should work himself out. He should be the least of our worries. A better team will fix him. It's as simple as that. Should Cutler really be the concern here? Shouldn't the concern be to improve the defense and running game? Jay Cutler should be good enough to play well simply because of that. If he isn't, then the Bears are screwed anyways.

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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!

I understand. I want Cowher, as I think he brings the most to the table and will put real good people around him and not think he has to try and micromanage every detail.

I still do not like Shanny, but if the reports are true that he does not need to have full control in order to come, I might be a little better with it.

More than anything I want a guy who has been a head coach somewhere else and had success. No more first time coaches. I like Ron Rivera and Leslie Frazier, but let them cut their teeth somewhere else.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

No he needs the guidance and has things to learn. You could argue that maybe in his 4th year he should be further along than he is but he needs work. He has the talent though.

Think of it like a house. Cutler is like a bedroom that needs a light fixture change and a coat of paint and there are nice hardwood floors under the old carpet. The offensive line is like the kitchen that is 40 years old, the defensive line is like the turquoise or harvest gold bathroom and the secondary is the leaky roof and old furnace.

Brian Billick would be a good choice, possibly, but maybe I am overestimating how important it is to have a head coach with an offensive pedigree. Talent is much more important. Billick's success as an OC came in Minnesota when they had what seemed to be a budding superstar in Daunte Culpepper, a young and unstoppable Randy Moss, and Cris Carter. In Baltimore, they won with defense, and having Trent Dilfer, Chris Redman and Kyle Boller running his offenses made him seem a lot less than a mastermind.

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I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires. -Susan B. Anthony

I'm not impressed with Billick as a coach or commentator. I don't think he is as smart as the others that are out there.

So you believe that much of the bad play by Cutler is on him and not on others?
So, wouldn't the team be much better if they fixed everything else? In your analogy, the light fixture and a coat of paint are fairly superficial.

My basic point is that the defense of Cutler all year has been just how bad everything is around him. Now, all of a sudden, we need a coach who can fix him. It seems to be a contradiction. Our goal should be to fix our biggest problem(s). Does Cutler make that list?

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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!

All this debating of Cowher, Shannahan, Gruden, etc. I hope you all realize, and sad and as stupid as it is, we're gonna get a big steaming pile of Lovie next year.



I get your point Rick, but you can put a whole mess of QB names up there instead of Cutler and still get a bad team.

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I didn't mean it as a shot on Cutler. If anything, I'm arguing that "fixing" Cutler really shouldn't be a priority. Fix everything else and then we see what happens with Cutler. It's why you get a "franchise QB". You get him so you don't have to worry about him. We'll win more games if we get a better defense and running game. If Cutler continues to be a problem then this trade screwed the Bears over pretty much no matter what.

It would do no good to "fix" Cutler while the defense and running game struggle. We have to hope that this year was an anomaly and that he's as good of a QB as he was last year and he eventually gets better and starts to crack the top 5 NFL QB's. Add in a decent running game and a good defense and you've got a Super Bowl caliber team every year. Simply "fixing" Cutler with an offensive coach who isn't a great defensive mind may increase the passing stats but I'm not convinced we'd be anything more than average.

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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!

I want a coach who can coach a team, not the offense or the defense in particular. I think Les Frazier has that kind of big picture ability.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

That was my thought too. I originally was thinking an experienced guy too. I understand there are plenty of first-time coaches who have success but why do the Bears ALWAYS have to go that route?

I know. I know. It's money.

But, the more I consider it. This feels like a complete rebuilding project now. They are way more than a guy or two away. It may be best to start over with a new guy, preferably with some fire and passion, maybe some orange face, to build this thing back up again.

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You know me like that.

John Shoop is not as big of a boob at North Carolina. He still has bulging eyes.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

If you fix Chris Williams, you fix a lot of what is ailing this offense.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Williams has been better since moving to LT.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Ken Whisenhunt & Mike Tomlin disagree with this:

Dr. Kenneth Noisewater wrote:

RFDC wrote:

More than anything I want a guy who has been a head coach somewhere else and had success. No more first time coaches.

That was my thought too. I originally was thinking an experienced guy too. I understand there are plenty of first-time coaches who have success but why do the Bears ALWAYS have to go that route?
...It may be best to start over with a new guy, preferably with some fire and passion, maybe some orange face, to build this thing back up again.

Of the 2008 coaching changes, all four of them went to first-time head coaches. So that’s almost half the league changing the guard over two years, and 13 of those 15 jobs going to younger guys who had never served in that role before.
Of the 32 coaches in the NFL, 25 are on their first head-coaching assignment.

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@audioidkid

What has that system accomplished since Elway retired?

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

That was the point of the qualifier that a first time guy can have success. But, a quick look back at the last 10 Super Bowl Champions shows 7 of 10 winners were coaches in at least their 2nd head coaching stint.

The only exceptions were Billick, Cowher, and Tomlin.

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You know me like that.

I have an exclusive. The Bears will have a coach next year.

They're going to hire Bob Brenly and tell us it's Bill Cowher.

In a move to placate Tallest Midget, they will hire Eliot Spitzer and have an all Cowher look alike staff.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

What? You put any offense with a good defense and you can have success. The facts are that the "great" Bronco system was only really great when it has 3 HOFers leading it.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

And the zone blocking scheme isn't even his scheme. You can hire Alex Gibbs to run your offense for a fraction of the money. Shanahan isn't a "zone blocking" guy per se. Besides, lots of teams run zone blocking schemes now, and as it expands it's proven not nearly as successful since everyone sees it.

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Fire Phil Emery