Post by motm on Nov 19, 2016 16:24:01 GMT -6
There has been plenty of blame to spread around for why the Chicago Bears are terrible. Some of it gets directed at the players, some the coaching staff and the front office. However, more and more fans have begun to turn that anger at ownership. They understand history well. George Halas died in 1983. The McCaskey family took over and have since won a single Super Bowl in 32 years running the team.
That is not good. It doesn't live up to the standards of Chicago sport fans. They devote a lot of time, money and love to this team. To be rewarded with just 16 trips to the playoffs under their watch is almost criminal. Many have tried to find any and all reasons why the McCaskeys are so bad.
Most of the reasons center around the fact that they're cheap and aren't willing to pay anybody and that they don't really care about the team. They just view it as their money maker. That's not true. There have been too many indications proving they are willing to spend and that they embrace the Bears heritage to prove their devotion.
No, the real problem they've had is much more fundamental, but hugely important.
They don't know football and therefore don't know good football people. Most of the McCaskeys come from a financial or business-related background. Ed was a solider and then a salesman. Michael served in the Peace Corps and then taught at business schools. George was a lawyer. None of them played a meaningful down of football in their lives. So how can they be expected to know what good football people like?
Rick Morrisey of the Chicago Sun-Times summed it up perfectly in one line:
"The lesson is hiring the right people, and the Mccaskeys have failed miserably at this."
They are quite good at finding men who understand business, like Ted Phillips, but football isn't just a business. Its also a game. One that takes great coaching to play. Thus far none of the coaches hired in the McCaskey era can be called "great". In fact just one of them qualifies as good. Why is that? Well there is a common theme and its stems from their own preferences.
The reality is they don't like personality. A better way to put is they don't know how to handle men of great charisma. Men who aren't afraid to be outspoken in the media, and as a byproduct to their bosses. One might say inheriting Mike Ditka was the worst thing that could've happen to them. He was so far on the outer edge of the spectrum that most would call him bombastic. That made him both popular and disliked in the media. Popular because he was a great quote at times and disliked because he could be moody and confrontational.
Imagine being new, inexperienced owners and having to deal with those headaches every week. One might say Dikta set the precedence for what followed. The ownership was so tired of his antics that they began seeking out head coaches who were almost the complete opposite. Coaches with low-key personalities. They weren't receptive at all to the media and were known for being energetic but also laid back.
Look at the list since the McCaskey family took over. All the names have something in Common.
Head Coaches
Dave Wannstedt ( 1993-1998 )
Dick Jauron ( 1999-2003 )
Lovie Smith ( 2004-2012 )
Marc Trestman ( 2013-2014 )
John Fox ( 2015-present )
Aside from being coaches who were known for hands-off styles, they also were coaches who had little to no championship success. Of those five names listed, only one has a Super Bowl ring. Wannstedt got it with Dallas in 1992 as a defensive coordinator. Lovie, Trestman and Fox have lost a combined five Super Bowls. Jauron never got to one his entire career. Where's the winning pedigree?
People wonder why New England has had so much success. Their owner Robert Kraft made Bill Parcells his first hire. a two-time Super BOwl winner. Also a man with personality. A man who forces everybody to listen to him. Then they turned to Bill Belichick, a Parcells disciple, who won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator in New York.
Its not a coincidence that Chicago won a championship with Ditka. He was not only a larger than life personality, he also knew a thing or two about winning. Not only did he win two championships as a tight end, he won another as an assistant coach in Dallas prior to joining the Bears . Seriously, maybe it's logical to think coaches who saw success as assistants or players might know what it takes to have it as head coaches.
Gar Kubiak ( 2015 ): won three Super Bowls as QB coach and offens coordinator
Bill Belichick ( 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014 ): won two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator
Pete Carroll ( 2013 ): won two NCAA national championships
Tom Coughlin ( 2007, 2011 ): won a Super Bowl as an assistant
Mike Tomlin ( 2008 ): won a Super Bowl as an assistant
Not every head coaching hire has to have won a Super Bowl to deserve consideration. The point is most of the names on that list have something else in common. They're leaders. They understand motivation but they also understand discipline. If players don't perform under them, they're eitehr benched or cut. Its that simple.
The McCaskey family hasn't had the wherewithal, or one might even say the guts to hire men like that. They want somebody who is easy to control. Somebody who will do what is asked of them rather than what is best for the team, even if that might involve a few things ownership doesn't like. The McCaskeys want a robot to win them championships.
It just doesn't work that way. Not in the NFL.
Link: sportsmockery.com/2016/11/mccaskey-family-has-a-fatal-flaw-that-explains-bears-failures/3/
That is not good. It doesn't live up to the standards of Chicago sport fans. They devote a lot of time, money and love to this team. To be rewarded with just 16 trips to the playoffs under their watch is almost criminal. Many have tried to find any and all reasons why the McCaskeys are so bad.
Most of the reasons center around the fact that they're cheap and aren't willing to pay anybody and that they don't really care about the team. They just view it as their money maker. That's not true. There have been too many indications proving they are willing to spend and that they embrace the Bears heritage to prove their devotion.
No, the real problem they've had is much more fundamental, but hugely important.
They don't know football and therefore don't know good football people. Most of the McCaskeys come from a financial or business-related background. Ed was a solider and then a salesman. Michael served in the Peace Corps and then taught at business schools. George was a lawyer. None of them played a meaningful down of football in their lives. So how can they be expected to know what good football people like?
Rick Morrisey of the Chicago Sun-Times summed it up perfectly in one line:
"The lesson is hiring the right people, and the Mccaskeys have failed miserably at this."
They are quite good at finding men who understand business, like Ted Phillips, but football isn't just a business. Its also a game. One that takes great coaching to play. Thus far none of the coaches hired in the McCaskey era can be called "great". In fact just one of them qualifies as good. Why is that? Well there is a common theme and its stems from their own preferences.
The reality is they don't like personality. A better way to put is they don't know how to handle men of great charisma. Men who aren't afraid to be outspoken in the media, and as a byproduct to their bosses. One might say inheriting Mike Ditka was the worst thing that could've happen to them. He was so far on the outer edge of the spectrum that most would call him bombastic. That made him both popular and disliked in the media. Popular because he was a great quote at times and disliked because he could be moody and confrontational.
Imagine being new, inexperienced owners and having to deal with those headaches every week. One might say Dikta set the precedence for what followed. The ownership was so tired of his antics that they began seeking out head coaches who were almost the complete opposite. Coaches with low-key personalities. They weren't receptive at all to the media and were known for being energetic but also laid back.
Look at the list since the McCaskey family took over. All the names have something in Common.
Head Coaches
Dave Wannstedt ( 1993-1998 )
Dick Jauron ( 1999-2003 )
Lovie Smith ( 2004-2012 )
Marc Trestman ( 2013-2014 )
John Fox ( 2015-present )
Aside from being coaches who were known for hands-off styles, they also were coaches who had little to no championship success. Of those five names listed, only one has a Super Bowl ring. Wannstedt got it with Dallas in 1992 as a defensive coordinator. Lovie, Trestman and Fox have lost a combined five Super Bowls. Jauron never got to one his entire career. Where's the winning pedigree?
People wonder why New England has had so much success. Their owner Robert Kraft made Bill Parcells his first hire. a two-time Super BOwl winner. Also a man with personality. A man who forces everybody to listen to him. Then they turned to Bill Belichick, a Parcells disciple, who won two Super Bowls as a defensive coordinator in New York.
Its not a coincidence that Chicago won a championship with Ditka. He was not only a larger than life personality, he also knew a thing or two about winning. Not only did he win two championships as a tight end, he won another as an assistant coach in Dallas prior to joining the Bears . Seriously, maybe it's logical to think coaches who saw success as assistants or players might know what it takes to have it as head coaches.
Gar Kubiak ( 2015 ): won three Super Bowls as QB coach and offens coordinator
Bill Belichick ( 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014 ): won two Super Bowls as defensive coordinator
Pete Carroll ( 2013 ): won two NCAA national championships
Tom Coughlin ( 2007, 2011 ): won a Super Bowl as an assistant
Mike Tomlin ( 2008 ): won a Super Bowl as an assistant
Not every head coaching hire has to have won a Super Bowl to deserve consideration. The point is most of the names on that list have something else in common. They're leaders. They understand motivation but they also understand discipline. If players don't perform under them, they're eitehr benched or cut. Its that simple.
The McCaskey family hasn't had the wherewithal, or one might even say the guts to hire men like that. They want somebody who is easy to control. Somebody who will do what is asked of them rather than what is best for the team, even if that might involve a few things ownership doesn't like. The McCaskeys want a robot to win them championships.
It just doesn't work that way. Not in the NFL.
Link: sportsmockery.com/2016/11/mccaskey-family-has-a-fatal-flaw-that-explains-bears-failures/3/
