Just think, Pace had to litterally scrape the bottom of the barrell just to get some FA just to come this team six years ago.
I'll also point out how many people were angry at some of the FAs that Pace brought in prior to last year. Some years there aren't a lot of options and the few better options end up going to teams with proven records. This was always going to take some time. Glad the ownership stuck with Pace and his plans.
I've been saying this for some time now. Pace had to field 53, but could not attract quality due to coaching and guys like Mike Glennon being on the roster.
Players don't want to play where they could have poor numbers, like Greg Olsen showed us.
To me Mark T wasn't top 3. Thankfully I didn't see any games before Ditka as Abe sounds terrible. Dick J is mediocre but he was here when we drafted Urlacher. I had some really dark thoughts about Fox. He was absolutely unbearable. Coaching not to lose, kicking fg that do nothing but add window dressing, trying to get Glennon back off the bench (why? So the Hobbit can call a pa roll out for Mike?)
In the 1960's and '70's (the "Dark Years" here) the Bears had some of the best individual talent in the history of the franchise. Yet we were a butt ugly team of losers. For those who did not watch the games back then, I can tell you that Bears fans did not go to games to watch them win. You KNEW they would lose. You just went to watch some decent individual play by Gale Sayers, or Butkus, or any of the other amazingly talented players we had.
But the team itself sucked.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Having high draft picks and great players doesn't necessarily mean anything if the roster talent doesn't fit together within a great team-scheme. Under Pace and Nagy (and this present scouting department) we have a roster that is thoughtfully crafted so that the player-talent meshes as closely as possible with the schemes Nagy wants run here. It's like that old saying, "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" type of thing. Bill Belichick is the master of crafting teams like this.
But it doesn't end there.
You have to have rock solid team-wide coaching to make it all happen - the entire coaching staff from the HC and coordinators on down. I have watched the Bears for over 55 years now, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a more complete team of complimenting talent (players and coaches) than what I see now (at this point) under Pace and this coaching staff. Not the most talent, but the most complete team - roster and coaching staff.
This is why I don't have a fit when Pace lets a guy like Howard go. The team is more than 1 fan-favorite RB here. I just want to see a great team rather than a few players that make the fans happy (like those butt-ugly Bears teams of the late 1960's and 1970's). Hell, even Detroit has had some crazy good players over the years, but the team itself sucked.
Dooley, Gibron, Pardee & Armstrong was a horrific time to watch the Bears (1968-1981). You wanted to rip your own eyes out watching those teams play. Yes, worse than Trestman and Fox teams.
In the 1960's and '70's (the "Dark Years" here) the Bears had some of the best individual talent in the history of the franchise. Yet we were a butt ugly team of losers. For those who did not watch the games back then, I can tell you that Bears fans did not go to games to watch them win. You KNEW they would lose. You just went to watch some decent individual play by Gale Sayers, or Butkus, or any of the other amazingly talented players we had.
But the team itself sucked.
There is a lesson to be learned here. Having high draft picks and great players doesn't necessarily mean anything if the roster talent doesn't fit together within a great team-scheme. Under Pace and Nagy (and this present scouting department) we have a roster that is thoughtfully crafted so that the player-talent meshes as closely as possible with the schemes Nagy wants run here. It's like that old saying, "The whole is greater than the sum of the parts" type of thing. Bill Belichick is the master of crafting teams like this.
But it doesn't end there.
You have to have rock solid team-wide coaching to make it all happen - the entire coaching staff from the HC and coordinators on down. I have watched the Bears for over 55 years now, and I can honestly say that I have never seen a more complete team of complimenting talent (players and coaches) than what I see now (at this point) under Pace and this coaching staff. Not the most talent, but the most complete team - roster and coaching staff.
This is why I don't have a fit when Pace lets a guy like Howard go. The team is more than 1 fan-favorite RB here. I just want to see a great team rather than a few players that make the fans happy (like those butt-ugly Bears teams of the late 1960's and 1970's). Hell, even Detroit has had some crazy good players over the years, but the team itself sucked.
Dooley, Gibron, Pardee & Armstrong was a horrific time to watch the Bears (1968-1981). You wanted to rip your own eyes out watching those teams play. Yes, worse than Trestman and Fox teams.
my grandfather was at the game where sayers scored 6tds, when he talked about bears football he seemed to have blanked those years out.
When was the last time we were able to say we had riches at WR?! Think about that!! Amazing
Well the last time we said it was when we had Alshon, Jeffery, and Bennet at TE along w/Forte; before that Mushin and Berrian and Bradley along w/Clark. Good Lord, this is a case study in not knowing what you don't know
Truth be told the WR and TE the Bears have now give a damn. Unlike those players.
Also, frick Tresticles. My hatred of that pathetic excuse for a coach is in-diminished by time. I wish upon him rush hour engine failures, tick bites, and fungal infections in sensitive places.
Okay, how can Fox be one of the top five? I could see if he walked into a good team, and then imploded it.
But he walked into a dumpster fire caused by Trestman having lost control of his team caused by Emery signing headcases like Ratliff and Marshall.
Nagy would not have managed to succeed last season if it was not for Pace tearing down the team and getting Fox to fix the locker room into something other than the angry mob it was. Hell, Nagy would have gone somewhere else.
The Bears signed the best coach they could at the time who would take the job. It's like when the best players that would come to the Bears were guys like Marcus Wheaton and Antrelle Rolle.
The team was broken, and Fox helped fix the defense and locker room. Yes, he sucked at designing and evaluating offense. But being a placekeeper coach is better than a team destroyer coach like Trestman or Wannstedt.