Bruce Arians has been around the NFL for a long time. He first broke in way back in 1989 as running backs coach for the Kansas City Chiefs. His true calling though wouldn’t show up four another nine years. That was in 1998 when he became quarterbacks coach for the Indianapolis Colts. With his help a young Peyton Manning almost seemlessly went from college to the pros and reached his first two Pro Bowls. If anybody is qualified to discuss the Bears QB moves of this past offseason, it’s Arians.
The 64-year old has coached some of the best and brightest in the game. After leaving Indy the first time, he developed a young man named Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh. A few years and two Super Bowl rings later, he was heading back to Indianapolis. There he transformed #1 overall pick Andrew Luck into an instant star.
That run of success finally got Arians his dream job of head coaching his own team in the Arizona Cardinals. Under his direction, veteran Carson Palmer revived his career. At age 36 he made his third Pro Bowl in 2015. This nine years after making his second. It’s for reasons like this that Arians is putting out a book titled “The Quarterback Whisperer.”
Arians believes Bears QB moves of 2017 were the right ones
The veteran coach went on the “Mully & Hanley” show on 670 The Score to discuss the book and his own impressions of the Bears and their state. Arians is always known for being a straight shooter, so it was fascinating to hear his opinion. The conversation of course started with four years ago.
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Everyone remembers that Arians came incredibly close to replacing Lovie Smith as head coach of the Bears after he’d been fired in 2013. Apparently the interview went great and he had a good connection with Jay Cutler, whom he was impressed by. He’d expected to get the job, but former GM Phil Emery got cold feet for whatever reason.
His most interesting comment though came when he offered his thoughts on the Bears’ new additions Mike Glennon and Mitch Trubisky. He was thoughtful and more than a little complimentary of their decisions.
“You just coach them both and play the best one,” Arians said. “Coach them both and whichever one takes the lead, let them take the lead until the young one overtakes him — or if (Trubisky) overtakes (Glennon) overall.
“You got to do what’s best for your football team. I have high regards for Mike Glennon and Mitchell. I think they’re really good players. They can fix their room for sure.
“You got a guy who’s capable of leading teams, and (if) the other guy is the superstar you hope he is, it’ll take a little time because of the system change. And you got a chance to win.”
Hearing a man who knows quarterbacks and has the hardware to prove it has to give Bears fans a degree of excitement about the future. Many people still profess they can’t understand why the team added both Glennon and Trubisky. Arians saw the logic behind it right away. Proof if nothing else that Pace might be one or two steps ahead of some people in the media. Either way it’s a surefire sign they’ve got a chance to fix this problem that has bedeviled the franchise for decades.
