John DeFilippo Explained His Interesting Plan To Rescue Mitch Trubisky

Jun 17, 2020

It was clear Matt Nagy wanted somebody with a bit more credibility running his quarterback room this year. That is why the Chicago Bears head coach “promoted” Dave Ragone to passing game coordinator and made John DeFilippo the new quarterbacks coach. While the man has an uneven reputation as an offensive coordinator, nobody can dispute his excellent work with QBs. He turned Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate in 2017, then turned Nick Foles into a Super Bowl MVP.

Kirk Cousins has the most passing touchdowns and highest completion percentage of his career under him in 2018. Then Gardner Minshew, a 6th round pick, finished with a 91.2 passer rating in 12 starts as a rookie last year for Jacksonville. So it’s little wonder the Bears targeted him. Perhaps he might have the magic touch that can finally get Mitch Trubisky pointed in the right direction.

DeFilippo has already had a chance to talk with his new quarterback.

He’s also evaluated the tape from 2019. It didn’t take long for him to reach some notable conclusions. He emphasized two key areas. One is that Trubisky has to embrace the “quarterback lifestyle.” That means living, breathing, eating, and sleeping football. On top of that, DeFilippo noted that he’ll have to stay on the QB about his footwork. This was a big problem that haunted him a lot last season, leading to way too many missed throws.

Flip talks often about the need/desire for his QBs to have "juice." What he means: "Passion, energy and swagger baby. That's how we're defined in our room"
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) June 17, 2020

In defining command for his QBs, DeFilippo stressed "having command of yourself with the quarterback lifestyle. … Living, breathing, eating, sleeping football."

Also stressed having command of scheme and having command of the team in some natural fashion.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) June 17, 2020

DeFilippo believes/agrees Mitch Trubisky's footwork is in need of significant refinement. Said Trubisky was good in that department early in games in 2019 but then noticed it often got sloppier as games wore on.
— Dan Wiederer (@danwiederer) June 17, 2020

https://twitter.com/ChiSportUpdates/status/1273279091056226310

Trubisky seems to have embraced the John DeFilippo challenge

Anybody who has kept tabs on Trubisky knows the quarterback isn’t using the offseason for fun. Any videos that have surfaced of him tend to be the same. Working out with various teammates doing their own practice drills. Something that is necessary since coaches are forbidden from having contact with players yet. So already the guy is embracing the ceaseless hard work and active leadership necessary to improve.

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The interesting part is what will happen when he and DeFilippo finally get together. Nick Foles has already worked with the quarterbacks coach multiple times. He knows what to expect. Trubisky does not. DeFilippo has a reputation for being demanding and detail-oriented. He coaches hard. Mostly because he knows it’s necessary. How the 25-year old absorbs and applies that coaching will prove crucial to his NFL future.