Fansided

Grading the NFL head coaching hires

By Bryce Olin

Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach John Fox on the sidelines against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 11, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach John Fox on the sidelines against the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Divisional playoff football game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports /
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Jan 19, 2015; Lake Forest, IL, USA; New Chicago Bears head coach John Fox speaks during a press conference at Mugs Halas Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 19, 2015; Lake Forest, IL, USA; New Chicago Bears head coach John Fox speaks during a press conference at Mugs Halas Auditorium. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Chicago Bears: John Fox

Grade: A

When the Bears fired Marc Trestman, I thought it would have been a great idea to bet on a younger coach like Adam Gase of the Denver Broncos to try to turn around the Bears.

Well, the Bears got Gase, and they hired the best head coaching candidate available, John Fox, fresh off four great seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Fox’s regular season theme song might as well be “All I Do Is Win” by D.J. Khaled.

In Fox’s four years with the Broncos, Fox led the Broncos to a 46-16 record, four straight playoffs, and one Super Bowl appearance.

Sure, he was gifted one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game, but he also won a playoff game with Tim Tebow as the starting quarterback, which is one of the most impressive feats of any coach in NFL history. He also led a Carolina Panthers team within three points of a Super Bowl win with Jake Delhomme as the quarterback.

Throughout his career, Fox has been a defensive-minded coach, but he’s always added better coaches around him to make the team better. He’s established balance on both sides of the ball that translate to winning football.

That’s one of the things that sets Fox apart from other coaches in the league.

In Denver, Fox had Mike McCoy and Dennis Allen as his offensive and defensive coordinators. When McCoy left to coach the Chargers and Allen left for the Raiders, Fox added Gase, a young but genius offensive mind, to run the offense with Peyton Manning and Jack Del Rio, the former coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, to run the defense.

In Chicago, Fox brought Gase with him from Denver to be the offensive coordinator and also added former San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio to be his defensive coordinator.

While the Bears have a huge issue at the quarterback position and a big decision to make regarding the future of Jay Cutler, the defense is the primary area of concern for the Bears. Last season, the Bears built a defense with talented players, but they failed to put it all together.

Last season, the Bears allowed the second-most points per game (27.6) in the NFL. With Fangio and Fox working together, the Bears are going to be so much better on defense next season. It might take a while before the Fox and Fangio figure out what they have, but it’s going to be good once it comes together.

Chicago plays in one of the toughest divisions in football, so the results probably won’t be immediate.

However, Bears fans should be excited about their future. They went out and got the best coach available and added two great coordinators along with him. If the Bears are not a playoff team within the next two seasons, I’ll be shocked.

That’s how highly I think of Fox as a head coach.

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