The next Chicago Bears head coach has to be a home run. Ryan Pace, presuming he’s kept aboard as expected, has to know this will be his last chance. The roster is young and ascending. Mitch Trubisky is in place. The building blocks are there. All they need is the right coach to bring it all together. Clearly this is a job John Fox has not been up to.
Yes he’s overseen a reparation of the locker room culture. He rebuilt the defense into a respectable unit and the running game into a prominent threat again. However, his failures on offense and the continued inability to win enough games have made it almost impossible to justify keeping him for a fourth season.
Thus with five games left to go the search has already begun for his replacement. Several names inhabit the list from Josh McDaniels to Jim Harbaugh. Thus far no singular candidate has emerged as a true “slam dunk” type. Then again few of the best head coaches were considered such when they got their jobs.
Who do the Bears target? At least one prominent expert already has the man they need in mind.
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John DeFilippo is the unheralded name that must be next Bears head coach
Brian Baldinger has been around the game for a long time. He was an offensive lineman for Dallas, Indianapolis and Philadelphia from 1982 to 1993. During that time he came up close with some of the best head coaches in NFL history including Tom Landry, Bill Parcells and Joe Gibbs. Later when he got into broadcasting this afforded him the opportunity to go around the league to meet others over the past 20 years.
This guy has seen some of the best rise to prominence. So it’s safe to say he might have a handle on what to look for. That’s why it was fascinating when he gave his personal recommendation to Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune.
“NFL Network analyst Brian Baldinger suggested Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, 39, is a rising star. The Eagles blocked the Jets from hiring him as their offensive coordinator in January. Is he ready for the next step, which is more like a leap?
“That’s the guy,” Baldinger said last week before calling the Bears-Eagles game. “Sharp, sharp, really sharp. Like he’s the smartest guy in the room. He would be unbelievable with a young quarterback. Everywhere he’s been Flip has been good. High energy, nonstop. If you’re looking, he’s head coach material. He’s like McVay.”
DeFilippo didn’t really start to see his stock as a coach soar until this year. Thanks to his efforts, along with Frank Reich and Doug Pederson the Philadelphia Eagles have built a monster in quarterback Carson Wentz. The second-year QB has 28 touchdowns to just five interceptions. The MVP award looks to be in his sights.
DeFilippo has quiet but effective history developing QBs
His expertise didn’t start with Wentz though. DeFilippo has actually found success dating back years at the quarterback position. In 2008 he had got 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions out of JaMarcus Russell in Oakland. A year later after he left? Russell threw just three touchdowns to 11 interceptions. That same year DeFilippo landed in New York with the Jets. Rookie Mark Sanchez struggled at times but excelled in the playoffs, getting all the way to the AFC championship.
He returned to Oakland in 2012. He got 4,000 yards from Carson Palmer that first year but was saddled with Terrelle Pryor the next. His final season in 2014 he got reasonable production from rookie Derek Carr. Perhaps his most unheralded job was as offensive coordinator for Cleveland in 2015. Despite the ongoing Johnny Manziel carnival and laundry list of problems between the coaching staff and front office, he somehow got 4,000 passing yards out of his offense.
If DeFilippo could get positive play out of monumental busts like Russell and Manziel, just imagine what he might be able to do with Trubisky. The best part is he’s reportedly a free agent in 2018. This means he won’t have any contractual ties to the Eagles. Not that they’d be able to block him from taking a head job anyway.
In truth he looks like an exciting candidate on paper. He’s a QB expert who is only 39-years old. He’s gotten quality experience from several teams under coaches like Tom Coughlin and now Pederson. Is he ready for the shot? That’s difficult to say at this point given his limited time as an offensive coordinator. Then again that never stopped Andy Reid.
