"In the NFL, you evolve or you die." Doug Buffone said that during one of his last shows of the season on 670 AM WSCR out of Chicago. The Bears did a whole lot of dying this season, and not a lot of evolving. I've heard that Lovie Smith is a Coach who is married to his system. I think Smith is a good coach, but I have a real problem with his "marriage." When things go wrong--and they will--coaches need to be able to play to their teams' strengths. It makes no sense to stick with a Cover 2 defensive system when you no longer have the players needed to run that defense.
Buffone was great on the air the last couple weeks of the season. Every night at 6:00 on my way home, he'd come on the radio and rant about the defense being passive and the linebackers waiting to get smashed in the mouth. (In case you don't know who Doug Buffone is, you can follow this and find out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doug_Buffone.) He kept going back to the first game against the Minnesota Vikings, but we saw it almost all season long.
In Lovie Smith's system, the defensive linemen are supposed to maintain their gaps and attack the defense. But with Dusty Dvoracek out and Tommie Harris playing on one good leg, the tackles just couldn't get that done. Buffone's problem was with the way Bob Babich and Lovie Smith then used the linebackers. He thinks the Bears should've used the much healthier linebacker corps to attack the offense. Buffone's contention is that defensive players need to attack the offense, not wait for the offense to attack them. I tend to agree. If you are playing defense passively, you're going to get beaten. That's why I don't like Prevent Defenses. [Insert "Prevent You From Winning" cliché here.]
Eventually Bears fans saw more blitzes from the defense, and then a couple unknown tackles off practice squads (and off the street) stepped up and helped quite a bit. But why didn't the Bears coaching staff make early changes to the defensive system to match the strength of their squad? The only answer I can think of coupled to another key problem with the Bears in 2007. Almost every position coach on the Bears was replaced after the Superbowl. My gut feeling is that Smith filled his staff with Cover Two guys (or "yes men") and that was a big mistake. What I liked about Ron Rivera is that he was a student of several systems. When one system failed, Rivera could install components of another system to "fix" problems on defense. Smith didn't let Rivera do that, because he was married to his system, Rivera got frustrated and the two parted ways.
That, IMHO, is what went wrong with the Bears defense. What? You're confused? You don't understand because I've been defending Babich all season? The problem isn't with Babich, it's with Smith. Smith picked his new defensive coordinator, and the position coaches. And I think he picked Cover Two guys across the board. "So?" You ask, "What's wrong with that?"
Ever hear of the Bay of Pigs? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_of_Pigs_Invasion.) Ooh. Now you're really confused. Just be patient, I'm about to tie this all together with a neat little bow.
In a recent Meyers-Briggs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meyers-Briggs.) training session I attended, the instructor used the Bay of Pigs to illustrate the need for a varied staff with different backgrounds and personality types. He said the Bay of Pigs was allowed to happen even though many were convinced it would fail because John F. Kennedy surrounded himself with like-minded advisors. They all thought exactly like he did. So, when he thought the invasion was a good idea, it only made sense that his advisors did also. What Kennedy lacked was a devil's advocate in his staff, or even an advisor with a different point of view. The Bay of Pigs Invasion was a dismal failure, and even worse, it solidified support of Fidel Castro in Cuba.
Now picture a defensive coaches meeting after week six of the season. All these guys know is Cover Two. Or they're too young. Or they're just new to their jobs. Babich knows which side his bread is buttered (his good buddy Smith promoted him to Defensive Coordinator). I think Smith surrounded himself with sycophantic invertebrates who might be good at coaching players, but can't (or aren't ready to) form independent thoughts about defensive strategy.
I don't think there was any dissention in the staff room, which may be what Smith thought he wanted, but dissention makes people think. Dissention brings to light different points of view and generates dynamic thinking and compromise. What the Bears defense needed was a little more compromise and change a lot earlier in the season. Their failure to form a new defensive strategy to fit the injuries their team suffered illustrates a lack of dynamic thinking on the part of the Bears coaching staff.
Perhaps I'm being too hard on Lovie Smith. Perhaps his coaching staff was simply too green to handle the rash of injuries the Bears suffered on defense this season. Perhaps it was nothing more than tragic timing that these injuries occurred the same season the Bears were breaking in all these new coaches. But I have a feeling that Smith used his success in 2006 to consolidate his power in 2007. If that's the case, Smith will continue to struggle as the Bears head coach until he is forced to hire a couple new coordinators and coaches, or fired. I for one will be very interested to see whether or not Smith and his staff have learned anything from the 2007 season. And I wonder if Smith is wise enough to "cheat" on his Cover Two System when necessity dictates...
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Might be the first time i have heard the bay of pigs side by side with nfl football, but it made sense. hahaha good blog pete,
Steveo16220 says:…
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Thanks, Steveo!
I'm working hard to become Fannation's King of Really Thin Analogies, but I'll have to dethrone Josh first!
;)
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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great blog Pete, I think nothing will change, Lovie will bring his same cronies back and there will be no ability for adjustment next year either. With his new contract Lovie negotiated for the power for him and only him to choose his staff, no questions asked. When first hired he wanted to bring Marenelli from Tampa but he didnt want to leave, so Lovie said then well just give it to Babbich. Angelo didnt like this and brought in Ron Rivera, (something Smith was against from the start), but now the first chance Lovie got to do something without any outside interference (Angelo) he gave Chico the boot and brought Babbich right in. I see nothing changing and now Lovie has all the power to bring his own people in and Angelo has to sit back and prolly watch Lovie lose both there jobs for them, (not that Angelo needed a great deal of help to pull that off!)
Great blog Pete
Z_Aug:Bow to your…
Somewhere, IL
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Thanks, Z. I love the new avatar, BTW! :)
Yeah, you could be right. But I'm holding out some kind of hope that Lovie is wise enough to learn from his mistakes. I think he's a good man and humble enough to realize he doesn't have all the answers. Or am I just being too naive?
Ah. It doesn't matter. That meddling Jerry Angelo will force a change if he doesn't like what he sees next season! ;)
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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Yeah I agree I just hope Lovie figures it out before its to late, because he IS a good coach hes just got **** around him
Z_Aug:Bow to your…
Somewhere, IL
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****
Z_Aug:Bow to your…
Somewhere, IL
Total Comments (166)
So what will the Bears be doing this weekend...
oh yeah, that's right
=)
PackBrew42 is…
Miller Brewery, WI
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Great tie-in Pete. I will add another thought or two or maybe three. I agree with you about Smith being, well stubborn. It does surprise me some because he worked under Dungy. While Dungy is a stickler for the system, he does let his position coaches and coordinators coach. I don't know why Smith fills the need to control everything.
Next oxygen deprived thought coming up
iB4e: Happy…
Austin, TX
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I think another problem with the Bears staff, and the problem with surrounding oneself with "yes men" is that they fall into the problem of 'Group Think'. This is where the group will agree with the leader regardless of whether it is the right decision. This happens when groups, or their leader, isolate themselves from outside input. The worst examples of group think are the space shuttle disasters.
To be continued
iB4e: Happy…
Austin, TX
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Prior to Challenger, the manufacturer of the o-rings tried to tell NASA that there was a possibilty of a catastrophic failure in cold weather. For those who remember, Cape Canaveral was caught in a cold spell that week. The managers at NASA dismissed the idea and would not allow the scientists to explore the possibility. Because the management team isolated the engineers and scientists, well the o-ring manufatcurer was assigned all blame. There was also evidence that the group think mentality doomed Columbia as well.
In case you are wondering, we had this case study in a management class I just completed.
iB4e: Happy…
Austin, TX
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Sorry to bogart your blog Pete. But sometimes when a great topic starts me thinking, well I tend to, well think.
Great job my friend.
iB4e: Happy…
Austin, TX
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Oh, I understand the Bay of Pigs analogy perfectly. (And I was only 3 when it happened. No memory of it, though.)
I don't even have to read Part 1 of this. Part 2 explained the Bears' season just as well.
See, I do read. You lost a season; we just lost a coach...on top of everything ELSE that's happened this season. Speaking of which, my blog tells of MY pick to succeed Gibbs. Input is appreciated.
DC Sports Nut: Nats,…
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Man...good blog...but I hate it when a real truth about my time is highlighted so clearly...and is then shown to be very true...crap.
My thoughts are this...hopefully, the main issue was the rash of injuries and the lack of experience on the staff. Hopefully, with a year under their belt, these guys will start to think outside of the box a little more...
Right now, I'm still married to Lovie...right or wrong I have faith he'll right the ship...but then again, I thought Rex was going to have a huge year. I tend to get blinded by my loyalty to a team...
Josh
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i: No problem, and thanks for reading! My lame analogy choices were the Bay of Pigs or the Challenger/Columbia disasters. All three are used in management classes as classic formulas for failure. I chose the Bay of Pigs because the "coach" in that case is one of the best known figures in American history.
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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DC: Thanks for reading, and I'll throw my two cents in for ya on your blog... :)
Josh: Loyalty is a tricky thing. That's why we have so many homers around here! Of course, I wouldn't call *you* a homer, so I think you're doing all right! ;)
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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Great blog as always..., I always end up rethinking my whole mindset about the Bears after reading..., nice job! I think the Bears will rebound next season..., they need to somehow avoid injuries to their key players, pick up a couple of FA's and hopefully, this team will be back to the NFC champion quality team that I loved watching last season!
Kev316
Peterborough, ON
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PackBrew: Who beat the Packers TWICE this year? :P
Kev: "I always end up rethinking my whole mindset about the Bears after reading." That's why I blog! Thanks for reading! I'm still preparing my "How to Fix the Bears" blog, so stay tuned... :)
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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Can't wait for it!
Kev316
Peterborough, ON
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I'm typing as fast as I can... :P
Sneaky Pete
Rochelle, IL
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Great blog Pete, and I'm already missing Doug and OB.
Everytime I think about this season, I can't help but revert to the Superbowl last year. That's when I realized that this team cannot adjust when faced with adversity. I had seen hints of it throughout the 06 season, but the truth hit hard after that game. Hopefully that can and will change. It kind of has to.
ThisBudz4Me
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