Mike Ditka was a coach who had quite the reputation during his heyday. One of the more notable aspects was the relationship he had with his quarterbacks. He and Jim McMahon got into heated arguments all the time. He almost killed Jim Harbaugh at one point during a game in Minnesota. At one point he got so fed up with the position he put Walter Payton in to play it at the end of a game.
It’s not like he couldn’t identify what the good ones look like. Ditka played and coached Roger Staubach in Dallas for almost a decade. He’s seen greatness up close, so it’s not like he can’t tell the difference. People gave him a ton of heat for scooping up Doug Flutie in 1986. While it didn’t work out, Flutie became a Hall of Famer in the CFL and went to a Pro Bowl in Buffalo. So clearly he saw something.
That’s why it was interesting to hear his thoughts on Mitch Trubisky when he sat down to talk with Mike Krzyzewski on his SiriusXM radio program “Basketball and Beyond.” Da Coach didn’t mince words about what he thinks of the Bears’ young quarterback.
“They’re probably going to win that division,” Ditka said. “Unless they get some real key injuries. The linebacker they got, (Khalil) Mack, got hurt. They didn’t even miss him. You watch them play the last couple weeks, this is a really good football team. Really well coached. And the quarterback is just maturing into one of the best quarterbacks in football.”
Mike Ditka doesn’t seem to be buying the national Trubisky narrative
It’s funny. Ditka has become the latest former player to speak out in support of Trubisky over the past couple of weeks. Steve Young stated he would be fine with time. Former QB Dan Orlovsky has seen rapid progress from him as well. Meanwhile many in the national media like Bill Barnwell, Gregg Rosenthal, and now Michael Lombardi have slammed him for being a fraud.
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It’s rather funny considering none of those guys even played meaningful football in college, never mind the NFL. Lombardi was a former GM but he held that job for one year before getting fired. Would you favor the opinion of guys like that or those who played and coached in the league for decades, are in the Hall of Fame, and have Super Bowl rings?
Exactly. It’s been 20 games which included an offensive scheme switch. Let the process play out.
