Fox and Trestman are like night and day
It is far too early to know with any certainty whether the 2015 Chicago Bears are any better than they were last year, but it is very clear that this group is much better coached and prepared on Sundays than they were in 2014.
Marc Trestman thought being a head coach in the NFL was worrying about what his players thought of each other and him, and tried to make everybody buddies by moving their lockers around to create new friendships.
He expected certain players to choose to lead.
John Fox is here to be the boss. His coaches are his managers and his players are employees.
Asked earlier this week how he’s gotten his young backup wide receivers and offensive linemen to play so well, Fox said as far as he’s concerned, it’s just their jobs.
“Well, I mean, we train all week. This game’s about doing what you’re trained to do. ... I think sometimes the mindset and the attitude that you have when you step in to a huddle in that situa- tion I think is critical, and I think they’ve done a good job with it and our staff ’s doing a great job of preparing guys even though they might be different guys each week, getting them ready so there’s a confidence level and you have to have that in those pressure-moments.”
While Trestman tried to create a mindset in his players that didn’t always come naturally to them, much of which had little to do with football, Fox’s message is just “do your job.”
I asked Fox howmuch of the Bears’ recent success is fromthe schemes his coaches – and particularly Vic Fangio – are coming up with and howmuch is a result of players winning individual matchups. He went right back to his mantra.
“All of the above. It’s a team game. ... Sometimes certain sides of the ball, certain position groups, certain players, get too much credit or blame depending on whether it’s going good or bad. This game is a team game. I think our guys understand that.”
When Kyle Long was asked to talk about how Hroniss Grasu, who is a close friend of Long’s, did in his first start vs. the Chiefs, Long made it clear it didn’t matter whether the game was his first or his 100th.
“As much as you like to say, ‘it’s Hroniss’ first start,’ I’m new at right tackle, Charles Leno is like 22 years old. You can look at any of those things, but at the end of the day we’re in the NFL and we have a job to do. ... Just like I’d expect you guys to do your job regardless of the situation. Same could be said for us.”
Ironically, it is Fox’s approach rather than Trestman’s that has created an “all-for-one-and-one-for-all” belief with this Bears team.
Tracy Porter wasn’t here with Trestman, but asked how the Bears pulled off their amazing comeback in Kansas City, Porter said, “We were playing together. We were rallying behind each other. We were rallying behind the offense, rallying behind the special teams. And when you have a team that plays together and wants to play for each other, that’s all you can ask for.”