The Chicago Bears are just days away from moving on from John Fox. It is unclear who they have in mind to replace him, but they will explore their options. Over the coming weeks, we will look into candidates being tossed around for coaching jobs and make the case for, and against their chances of being the Chicago Bears new head coach. This edition will be Jim Bob Cooter
For:
The case for Jim Bob Cooter is simple. Matthew Stafford spent six years being a mediocre quarterback. Matthew Stafford spent three years with Jim Bob Cooter and is now regarded league-wide as a top ten quarterback. The past three years features the best completion percentages, interception rate, adjusted yards and yards per attempt of his career. This is a team that lost Calvin Johnson and found a way for their quarterback to complete passes at a higher rate. That has to be commended. That has to be someone who would do well with Mitchell Trubisky. It doesn’t hurt that you are taking away the fix to a division rival either.
Against:
Jim Bob Cooter is just 33 years old. I know, I know, Sean McVay. The thing about finding the next McVay is that not everybody is Sean McVay. There is a reason there is only one Tom Brady, sixth round quarterback turned best of All Time. That does not mean you take a quarterback in the sixth round every year. Just because Sean McVay had success at a young age does not mean that every young coach behind him will. He would have to have a strong plan of coaches to put in place, like Wade Phillips and John Fassel in Los Angeles. His plan of how much control and who he was in charge of the defense is the most crucial.
I don't see the Bears hiring Cooter. He has very little NFL experience prior to the Lions gig - he was a grad assistant for 1 year at University of Tennessee, an assistant for 2 years for the Colts, a "quality control" guy for the Chiefs for 1 year, and 1 year with the Broncos as an offensive assistant. He also has had 2 arrests... one for felony aggravated burglary in 2009. He had a DUI in 2006 too. His claim to fame is that as OC for the Detroit Lions he has the #13 ranked offense right now (LINK). We can do better than this guy.