Firings signal Bears moving forward with Cutler in mind

LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Immediately after the season ended, the Chicago Bears took out a full-page ad in both of the city's major newspapers apologizing to fans for a third consecutive non-playoff year.

On Tuesday, they should have issued another apology -- this one for deciding to stay the course following a 7-9 season despite trading for the franchise type of quarterback they had always lacked.

By season's end, Chicago's offense came together behind Jay Cutler. (US Presswire)

Certainly the organization dispatched most of its offensive coaches and head coach Lovie Smith relinquished his one-year title of acting defensive coordinator. In the end, however, no big or unexpected changes occurred among the three-man brain trust of Smith, Phillips and general manager Jerry Angelo operating the team for the McCaskey ownership family.

It was status quo regardless of Phillips' claim to the contrary.

Smith will no longer serve as defensive coordinator, and the team is looking outside the organization for someone to perform this function.

However, Smith doesn't want new ways of playing defense. He's looking for someone with the same belief in the team's outdated cover-2, a system popular in the early 2000s but one burned time and time again over the latter part of the decade.

"When you have a basic philosophy, you want someone with a similar philosophy," Smith said.

The obvious name is Perry Fewell, the former Bills interim head coach who just got fired. He served as Bears defensive backs coach one season before joining Buffalo as defensive coordinator in 2006.

The Bears just finished 27th in third-down defense (41.2 percent) and ahead of only the Giants at preventing touchdowns from inside the red zone. They brought in defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli to drastically improve their four-man pass rush so they could continue playing cover-2, and they got 1½ more sacks (24) than last year from their defensive line.

The defense hasn't been the same since current Chargers coordinator Ron Rivera got fired by Smith after Super Bowl XLI. Rivera enjoyed blitzing much like mentor Jim Johnson had in Philadelphia. Smith wanted to defend with cover-2. The Bears finished 28th, 21st and 17th since they were fifth and second under Rivera his final two years.

Yet they are sticking with their cover-2.

Smith called their recent defensive failures more a product of the talent.

"As far as the players, we are going to have to change," Smith said. "Nothing stays the same. A lot of times you hold on. You don't look the same way you did four years ago either.

"We all change. All right? That's just a part of life and you keep trying to get better. That's what we will try to do, whether it is a little bit with the scheme, with the players, we will do what we need to do to get back. There were times this past year even with some injuries and things like that where we were playing pretty good defense."

There were also times against Cincinnati, Arizona, Minnesota and Baltimore when the Bears defense looked disinterested and ill-prepared. How they plan to get the talent to change this is a mystery, because free agency could offer little without a collective bargaining agreement in place and the Bears have no first- or second-round draft picks.

With all these problems on defense, the real changes Tuesday came on the offensive side.

The decision to fire offensive coordinator Ron Turner, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, offensive line assistant Luke Butkus, tight ends coach Rob Boras, quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton and wide receivers assistant Charles London changed the faces running the offense, but it almost seemed to contradict what Smith, Angelo and Phillips called one of the team's biggest strengths at season's end: an offense that was coming on behind a group of learning, young receivers and quarterback Jay Cutler.

"We decided that in everybody's best interest, changing what we were doing would be in our best interest and would give us a chance to be a better offense -- not that we were a bad offense," Angelo said. "We have had good offensive play here, but our problem has been our quarterback position. It's been well documented.

"Obviously we need to make sure that what we saw at the end we're going to see in the beginning and throughout with Jay."

It's all about Cutler now, and finding someone who can work to his strengths, like getting out on the edge and throwing on the move. Packers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements would have such credentials, but the Bears haven't yet begun the process of replacing Turner.

"Now that we have openings, I am going to look at everyone," Smith said. "This is the perfect opportunity to look at the young minds, old minds out there, just guys with the different ways of doing things."

A different way of doing things would be refreshing, but Smith has already shown a tendency to stick with what he has done and knows. In that case, keep an eye on Mike Martz, his former boss with St. Louis.

At the back of Halas Hall auditorium Tuesday in an elevated box sat several members of the McCaskey family taking it all in, including Virginia, daughter of George Halas.

The future of her franchise was being announced, the future of one of the most NFL's most storied franchises. On Tuesday, it sounded like the same old story.