To his credit, Matt Nagy admitted that he was a big part of why the Chicago Bears running game stunk in 2019. However, one of the other issues that he never addressed publicly was his lack of trust in the run scheme itself. That had been left in the hands of offensive line coach Harry Hiestand and offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich. The fact both men were fired was a clear indication that Nagy had no faith in it. So he retooled the coaching staff. Now the run game rests in the hands of new line coach Juan Castillo.
The Bears offense has traditionally been at its best when it runs the football. This goes back many decades. No team epitomizes smashmouth football like the Bears. That is why watching them in 2019 was so frustrating. They finished 27th in the league in rushing. Their worst finish since 2014. What only added to it was a general lack of commitment. Chicago ranked 30th in rushing attempts, signaling that head coach Nagy wasn’t even trying at times.
This despite a struggling quarterback.
Can Castillo succeed where his predecessors failed and get the head coach to buy in? Tight ends coach Clancy Barone thinks so.
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“I absolutely see the run game the same way through Juan’s eyes. Juan and I talk on a daily basis about certain scheme things, technique things and things of that nature. I think that’s going to help our guys, because I can speak the same language as Juan. And I know what he wants it to look like. I think that will help them out tremendously.”
Juan Castillo has a fairly simple solution to the problem
Is this confidence warranted? Yes, to an extent. If one looks back on Castillo’s history, he hasn’t produced a lot of top 10 running games. However, that isn’t entirely his fault. Most of the time he was with Andy Reid in Philadelphia who ran a pass-first type of offense. There is a way to judge success though. From the moment he became an offensive line coach in 1997, Castillo saw his offense finish in the top 10 in rushing yards per attempt 11 times. So while the teams may not have piled up a ton of yards, they got great bang for their buck.
How does Castillo plan to accomplish this in Chicago? Simple enough.
“We’re going to be physical. You find ways to be physical, whether you run it, whether you throw it. It doesn’t matter.”
It sounds a little too obvious but it’s still the truth. Running the football is less about scheme and more about the guys up front imposing their will on defenses. Being more physical and just getting after it. It was all too obvious the Bears could not do that last year. Something Castillo recognized right away and aims to correct.