Come to Think of It: Who Will Replace Ron Turner as OC for the Bears?
Published by Bob Warja on December 24, 2009
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Chicago Bears
I don’t expect the Bears to fire Lovie Smith after this season. That would be great, but I do not feel it is likely to happen.
What I do expect to happen is that Ron Turner will be fired as offensive coordinator, and rightfully so. But the question is, who will replace him?
Knowing that whoever the Bears bring in to be head coach once Smith does eventually go will probably get to hire his own staff, and that includes offensive coordinators, it is hard to imagine that anyone would want the gig.
Likewise, do the Bears pony up for a multi-year contract knowing that he may only serve one year, leaving the Bears to pay even more money following the inevitable?
Well, first of all, let’s end this talk about Turner being some sort of scapegoat for Lovie’s failures. The Bears coordinator has demonstrated enough questionable play calling to be considered on the firing line independent of the bad things that Lovie has done.
So when he leaves, let’s not feel sorry for the guy or shed any tears. We need not only a creative offensive mind, but a mentor to Jay Cutler. After going through this nightmare of a season, to salvage Cutler will take a lot of work.
Pep Hamilton? Um, no.
Now, we all know that former Irish coach Charlie Weis has expressed interest in the job. Remember, he did receive a lot of credit for running the offense in New England before heading to Notre Dame.
But critics have since questioned his impact there, and there are plenty who believe that Weis may not be the mastermind he was previously given credit as.
Mike Martz is out there, and Lovie has worked with him before. But at least publicly, he doesn’t appear to be interested.
“There isn’t a better man that I know than Lovie Smith. Ron Turner shouldn’t be in trouble either. If there is a problem there, it’s personnel and not with Lovie or Ron. He’s the same offensive coordinator that took him to the (Super Bowl).”
“If” there is a problem? Hello, how about a totally inept offense, Mike? That do anything for you? Cutler is a train wreck, the running game is basically nonexistent, and the play calling is suspect.
As ESPN.com’s Jeff Dickerson recently wrote, “Why don’t the Bears ever call a bootleg for Cutler so he can roll out of the pocket? The only time Cutler moves outside the tackle box is on a busted play.”
Even Devin Hester, who can hardly put a lucid sentence together, knows that Turner is gone.
“It’s tough, you know, watching other teams, other offenses,” Hester said. “They find ways for other guys to get their hands on the ball better.
Cutler said he would tell management how he felt about Turner if asked.
“But by no means am I going to march up there and tell them what should happen or what’s going to happen,” Cutler said. “That’s up to them. They’re going to do the best thing they can for the team, and I’m going to try to do my job.”
Oh, but if Cutler has any say in this, perhaps he might want Jeremy Bates. He’s the current USC offensive coordinator who knows Cutler from his days working for Mike Shanahan in Denver.
USC would likely allow Bates to go if he wanted to come to Chicago.
But you have to wonder how many of these names are legitimate and how many are simply being floated out there for leverage in other jobs.
Still, it would be quite an upset for Turner to come back next season. So I ask you, the Bears fans, who do you want to see, come to think of it?
Read more Chicago Bears news on BleacherReport.com
