John DeFilippo has had a lot of success coaching quarterbacks in his career. It led to a Super Bowl title in 2017 and he got the most out of both Kirk Cousins and Gardner Minshew in brief stops with the Vikings and Jaguars. That is a big reason why the Chicago Bears hired him this past offseason. It was hoped he could help sort out their looming QB battle between Mitch Trubisky and Nick Foles.
Sadly it just hasn’t worked out. Both men have taken turns struggling on the field, playing their parts in the second-worst offense in the NFL. A humiliation both for them and head coach Matt Nagy. DeFilippo for his part doesn’t seem overly shocked by it. Sure he’s disappointed by the struggles but the man didn’t mince words when asked what he and the coaching staff were up against this year.
COVID-19 was genuinely a game-changer.
Adam Jahns of The Athletic spoke to him about the stark realities of how the virus impacted both their personal and professional lives. While adapting is just part of the job, DeFilippo did admit that this year was particularly tough on the quarterbacks.
“Because during the offseason … your new quarterbacks can get to know the system, No. 1.; get to know the players, No. 2; get to know the coaches, No. 3,” quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo said. “All those things that have been well-documented and well-talked about. The things you don’t get to cover — ‘Let’s try, maybe, a quick five-step drop on this concept instead of a three. Let’s try it out and see. Let’s throw the post throw when it’s quarters coverage and maybe it’s a little bit tight. What can we get away with?’ Know what I’m saying? How far can we push that threshold before we know we have to check the ball back down to No. 2? Those are the things you miss.”
Over the course of the summer, COVID forced the NFL to cancel minicamps, OTAs, and finally the preseason. That left just training camp for the Bears to run a quarterback competition while also trying to absorb an almost entirely new offensive coaching staff. Then you throw an injury and illness-riddled offensive line on top of it?
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It’s no wonder this is a disaster.
John DeFilippo pretty much knows what he is talking about
For further evidence, all people have to do is look across the league. Of the teams that rank in the bottom 10 in the NFL in total offense? Six of them either changed offensive coordinators or entire coaching staffs. That probably isn’t a coincidence. By contrast, most of the teams in the top 10 are those who had system stability coming into this year. They didn’t need to do heavy scheme adjusting or break in new quarterbacks.
This year was always going to favor the teams that had stability DeFilippo won’t make excuses. That’s the nature of the business. You play the hand you’re dealt as best you can. Still, he can’t lie that it has been a struggle. People see it play out every week on the field. The team looks so disjointed, lacking any sort of identity or flow.
Maybe because they didn’t have enough time to find one.
That is the long and short of it. Would things have been different if it had been a normal offseason? Maybe Trubisky or Foles would’ve looked far better if they’d been able to prepare like normal rather than under an incredibly crunched schedule. John DeFilippo seems to think it might’ve made a difference. Just another case of bad luck playing into this nightmare just as much as talent and coaching.
Six games remain in the season. That is how long the team has to save both the season and probably their jobs.