Sometimes NFL protocol isn’t the right thing to do. One that is typical in the league that is a perfect example? The idea head coaches deserve three years to build their team into a success properly. Who made that rule? It doesn’t really make a lot of sense. Especially if the team actually gets worse under a coach from Year 1 to Year 2. A perfect example is John Fox.
The Chicago Bears brought him in to clean up the locker room fractures and hopefully work some of his old magic at turning teams around. After a 6-10 campaign in 2015, there was a little bit of hope. The team was competitive in a lot of games despite the record. Then in 2016, it all fell apart as the Bears finished 3-13. Their worst record since 1969. The team looked sloppy and unprepared at times. Fox had a somewhat contentious relationship with the media. Optimism wasn’t exactly there that it would be much different in 2017.
This is why it made little sense Ryan Pace chose to keep him for a third season. Especially since the GM planned to draft his quarterback of the future. A quarterback Fox didn’t even want as it turns out. Mitch Trubisky had to start his career in one offense before shifting to a totally different one. One that many fear he’s not a good fit for under Matt Nagy.
What stings the most is if the Bears had pulled the trigger on dumping Fox sooner, they probably could’ve landed a coach who was a far better fit.
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John Fox courtesy ended up costing the Bears with Trubisky
Think about the 2017 class of head coaches who were hired. Specifically the ones with deep offensive backgrounds: Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, and Anthony Lynn. The first two have already led their respective teams to Super Bowl appearances. The other to two winning seasons and a playoff victory in 2018. More than Nagy can say at this point.
Yet it’s their offensive philosophies that stand out the most. All three men have one thing in common. They prefer to build their systems around consistent running games. Shanahan’s offense has finished in the top 11 in rushing attempts twice. So did McVay. Lynn is a running backs coach by background so he’s always interested in running the football. All three have had success doing it too. This has allowed them to utilize play action and bootlegs heavily, two of the things Trubisky excels at.
Nagy, while not necessarily a bad offensive mind, runs more of a West Coast-style system. This is predicated on being a pass-first style. Using the pass to set up the run. It works great when one has a quarterback that understands rhythm and timing.
Sadly Trubisky has yet to prove he’s that kind of quarterback.
People talk about the Bears failing to draft Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson. That is fair. Both would be far better fits in Nagy’s system today than Trubisky. What’s hard to stomach though is Trubisky could still be a success today if they’d ended the John Fox experiment when they should’ve in 2017. Trubisky with Shanahan or McVay? It’s hard to imagine him not loving their offensive approaches far more as they would’ve taken lots of pressure off him.