Chicago Bears should consider hiring a college head coach

After finally pulling the plug on the dismal John Fox coaching experiment, the Chicago Bears organization should consider looking inside the college ranks to find their next head coach.

The Chicago Bears organization finally came to their senses this week when they decided to fire John Fox following another disappointing season. The Bears, under Fox’s watch, never even came close to competing for a division title, let alone a wildcard spot.

Now, the organization is faced with the daunting task of finding a new head coach who can help Mitch Trubisky develop into a successful franchise quarterback while leading the Bears back into the playoffs.

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If Ryan Pace really wants both scenarios to take place, he must at least look inside the college ranks for his next head coaching hire. Here’s why.

Moving away from old-school philosophy

The Chicago Bears, under Fox, were running an “old-school” type offense in 2017: run the ball on both first and second down with Jordan Howard and Tarik Cohen, then look to convert another third and long with Trubisky’s arm. It’s as predictable for opposing defenses as it sounds.

Fox and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains had little faith in Trubisky’s ability to will the Bears to victory with his arm. At least not until the Bears trailed a team by multiple scores heading into the fourth quarter, due to running the ball eight times out of 10 in the first three quarters.

Hopefully by now, after watching three seasons of this style of play fail to work consistently, Ryan Pace hires a “new-school” coach. And there are plenty available in the college ranks who know how to maximize an offense rather than stall it out for much of the game.

Now more than ever, college coaches are running offenses out of the shotgun formation as opposed to under center. Doing this gives a young quarterback more time to throw the ball while allowing him to go through his progressions. Trubisky’s success at North Carolina was a by-product of playing in a spread offense tailored towards his strengths.

Hiring a college coach who emphasizes this “new-school” approach will help Trubisky become more comfortable in the pros. After all, the Houston Texans tailored their offense around their rookie quarterback, Deshaun Watson, to the one he ran at Clemson. The result: The Texans averaged over 30 points per game on offense for the first seven weeks prior to Watson going down with a season-ending injury.

Stanford’s David Shaw could be on the Chicago Bears’ radar as a college coaching candidate. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Naysayers who feel that hiring a college coach to replace John Fox is a mistake will simply look back on the “Chip Kelly Era” in Philadelphia. After a blistering first season coaching the Eagles in 2013, one which saw the Eagles rank fourth in points per game, the team fell apart on offense the following two seasons.

Kelly didn’t struggle because of his spread-offense philosophy, the same one he ran successfully at Oregon, became outdated. Rather, his struggles stemmed from getting rid of key offensive players during the ’14-’15 offseasons. As a result, the team could not compensate for the dramatic drop-off in lost talent.

Plenty of NFL Offenses are now mimicking college offenses

The majority of NFL teams, aside from the Bears, now run their offense primarily through the shotgun formation. The New England Patriots, most notably, thrive offensively letting Tom Brady operate far less from under center. The Pittsburgh Steelers, Kansas City Chiefs, and the Dallas Cowboys have also experienced success running college-style spread offenses as well.

While running play-action passes for Trubisky takes advantage of his ability to throw on the run, at this point in his early career, he’s more comfortable seeing the field from the shotgun position. At times for the Bears, Trubisky botched snaps handed to him from under center, resulting in self-inflicted turnovers.

Hiring a college coach can lead to more successful drafts

Why else would Ryan Pace look to hire a college coach? Because of the familiarity one has in playing against other collegiate teams with NFL Prospects.

This exposure can greatly help a franchise in their scouting department. Hiring a prominent coach from the college ranks might give the Bears an immediate advantage over other teams in gaining valuable intel about future prospects on the Bears’ upcoming draft board.

A college coach has likely recruited many of the players that are applying in the upcoming 2018 NFL Draft years ago when they were coming out of high school.

For instance, look at Pete Carroll, the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. He left USC to become the head coach of the Seahawks in 2010. His familiarity with having coached and played against college players over the years allowed the Seahawks to find hidden gems in later rounds of drafts. Think Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman, and Kam Chancellor: all later-round picks in various drafts that turned into stars at their positions.

Remaining open-minded in coaching search

Whoever becomes the Chicago Bears’ next head coach will be under immense pressure to steer the franchise in the right direction. It’s all about winning games consistently with Trubisky playing like a franchise quarterback for years to come.

Next: Breaking down Chicago Bears coaching candidates (Pt. 1)

The Bears, over the upcoming weeks, will be interviewing prominent coordinators and quarterback coaches from various NFL teams. There are obviously some good NFL coaching candidates out there, such as Patriots’ offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels.

But if those options fall out of fruition, the Chicago Bears should have their eyes set on looking at college coaches who may become available to hire. There are plenty of them out there looking to make the jump to the next level in the NFL.

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