At this point everybody is assuming John Fox is gone by January 2nd next year when the CHicago Bears 2018 off-season will begin. There are plenty of reasons to think so. Fox currently holds the worst winning percentage in franchise history. Some of his personnel decisions over the past month have called into question his grasp of reality. Worst of all his players continue to play without discipline or identity.
At the same time, the situation remains unchanged. Fox is still employed. GM Ryan Pace has not appeared to pronounce there’s any problem whatsoever with the head coach. Thus all people can rely on are rumors and common sense. Problem is common sense doesn’t always apply to this organization.
So it’s time to ask perhaps the most dreadful question of all. What if Fox finds a way to convince Pace and George McCaskey to stay?
John Fox only hope is to sell a solution to the Mitch Trubisky problem
Weird as it sounds, the big thing that is crushing Fox’s hope to survive isn’t the losing. Of course that’s a big part of it but the bigger issue is the lack of quality progress seen with rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky. Some of this isn’t Fox’s fault, namely the trash situation at wide receiver. At the same time the play calling and preparation on offense has been dreadful for almost the entire stretch since the rookie stepped in.
Subscribe to the BFR podcast and ride shotgun with Dave and Ficky as they break down Bears football like nobody else.
Trubisky is barely completing 54% of his passes and has thrown for over 200 yards in just one game this season. Part of the problem is a lack of creativity by Dowell Loggains to get him some easy completions. So what if Fox sold it that he could find an upgrade at offensive coordinator. Somebody with far more credibility.
Here’s just one example.
What if John Fox asked to sit down with Ryan Pace and George McCaskey and said, "I know you're ready to move on. But I'm willing to hand the offense over to Norv Turner in 2018"?
— DaBearsBlog (@dabearsblog) December 7, 2017
Turner recently stepped away as offensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings due to philosophical differences with head coach Mike Zimmer. Over a career spanning 26 years as an offensive coordinator and head coach, Turner has produced a top 10 offense eight times and a top 10 passing offense 11 times. Some quarterbacks he’s had a hand in developing?
- Troy Aikman
- Trent Green
- Drew Brees
- Philip Rivers
- Teddy Bridgewater
Imagine being McCaskey and hearing a proposal like that. Even with the losing it would be hard not to feel at least a little bit intrigued by the idea. It wouldn’t have to be just Turner either. Mike McCoy, another reputable offensive mind and former Fox disciple also recently became available. This is definitely ammunition Fox could use in one last roll of the dice to rescue his job.
So in case you members of the #FireFox movement weren’t afraid before, there’s that to think about too.
