Adam Gase, not John Fox, should have been the Chicago Bears Head Coach

The Chicago Bears made a huge mistake this past off-season letting (former offensive coordinator) Adam Gase become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins.  They should have simply promoted Gase to head coach, while saying a friendly goodbye to current struggling head coach John Fox.

The 2016 season has not been very kind to second year Bears’ head coach John Fox.  His team has taken a major step backward from a season ago, while new head coach of the Miami Dolphins Adam Gase is beginning to thrive.  The records between the two teams says it all.  Currently, the Bears own a rather deflating 2-7 record, while the Miami Dolphins are 5-4, having won four straight.  While there are many factors behind the Bears’ dismal record, none might be more prevalent than their inconsistent offensive play behind John Fox’s leadership.

Currently, the Bears’ offensive production this season ranks second to last in the NFL, only behind the Cleveland Browns.  The team is averaging just 15.7 points-per-game, compared to averaging 20.9 point-per-game last season.  Sure, injuries to key players on offense this season have contributed to the drop-off in points scored, but the absence of offensive guru Adam Gase weighs even larger.  Gase inherited a Bears’ offense last season that had become dysfunctional thanks to being steered poorly under the guidance of former head coach Marc Trestman.  Pulling the strings on offense, Gase brought out the best in quarterback Jay Cutler, who enjoyed perhaps his best season in 2015.  Thanks to Gase’s discovered knack for being a quarterback-whisperer, he designed low risk, high reward plays for Cutler to run on offense.  The results clearly payed off, as Cutler’s turnovers were cut down significantly.  This gave the Bears more chances to score points, and while 20.9 per-game isn’t a ton, it’s certainly better than scoring 15.7.

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The creativity in designing successful low risk plays on offense for a 6-10 Bears team a season ago is what drove Gase to Miami to become their new head coach.  The Bears a season ago were no means a playoff team.  They just didn’t have enough talent to go around on both sides of the ball.  But the fact that Adam Gase improved Cutler’s play is what impressed so many teams.  He won over the Dolphins’ hearts because as inconsistent as Cutler has been for his career, he finally bought into an offensive system designed to limit erred throws.  Unlike last season under the guidance of Gase, this team without his presence can’t score points in the red-zone, even with a healthy Cutler.

Since, becoming the head coach of the Dolphins, Gase has brought a spark to the entire team.  After a rocky 1-4 start to the season, his team has now reeled off 4 straight wins.  The Dolphins, once seen as being dead in the water, are now riding high.  They are averaging 22.7 points-per-game under Gase, and that’s with an even shakier offensive line than the Bears’.

Perhaps even more impressive, is what Gase’s new team thinks of him.  According to Dolphins’ owner Stephen Ross, in a recent interview with the Miami Herald, he had this to say about Gase:

"“The organization is working well together now,” he said. “That’s the first time that’s happened. I’m saying the football side is working together. Everybody’s on the same page for the first time. Nobody is mad at anybody else and letting the entire world know about it through.”"

Sure, it helps any new head coach when their team wins four straight games.  But the fact that there seems to be great chemistry  going around among the players and coaching staff in Miami is telling.  The Bears organization for the past few seasons has struggled building up sustainable chemistry, and that all begins with the influence of the head coach.  Marc Trestman couldn’t control a locker room of players, and neither can John Fox.  Fox’s key task as head coach of the Bears is to make sure his team comes ready to play every Sunday.  Unfortunately, that is easier said than done, for Fox’s Bears this season have played with a lack of motivation and focus during winnable games against below .500 teams.  Just look at last week’s  36-10 blowout loss against the 4-5 Buccaneers.

Teams under John Fox have traditionally improved in their second year’s under John Fox.  The Panthers and Broncos improved dramatically during Fox’s second seasons, both making the playoffs.  The Bears on the other hand look to be getting only worse under Fox’s direction.

While it’s too early to tell how Adam Gase will fare as a head coach, at least his team is rallying behind him.  It could have been easy for the Dolphins to throw in the towel after their 1-4 start this season, but they had other plans.  The team as a whole have bought into Gase’s system, believing in his coaching ability.  Over the past 4 weeks, they have showed up physically and mentally prepared to play, and as a result: 4 straight victories.  The Bears, who like the Dolphins, were also 1-4 to begin the season.  Since then, 1-3 is the Bears’ record.  They are not playing inspiring football under John Fox, and have made too many excuses for their poor weekly performances.

The Bears clearly believed in the wrong head coach to guide their team to victory week-after-week.  The organization should have realized that Gase’s impact on the offensive side of the ball was too valuable to lose.  They should have simply let go of John Fox at the end of last season’s 6-10 finish.  In return, the Bears should have promoted Gase from offensive coordinator to head coach.  After all, the Buccaneers used that exact same method before the start of this season.  They fired former Bear head coach Lovie Smith, and in turn promoted their offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to head coach because the team felt his value on offense was too much to risk losing.

If only Ryan Pace and the Bears would have taken notice of what the Buccaneers did.  While no one can predict how Adam Gase would have fared this season as the Bears’ head coach, there is one thing to keep in mind.  As he has brought forth the best out of his rejuvenated Dolphins team, maybe, just maybe, he could have done the exact same thing with the Bears.  After all, he did bring forth the very best in Jay Cutler a season ago.  And that…as John Fox is still figuring out to this day, is a tricky thing to do.