In today’s Chicago Tribune there is an info graphic implying that Ron was a “sacrificial lamb” for the Bears failings and that he fell on the sword and went out with class. I also saw that Ron “did the best he could with what he had” in another quote.
People are starting to get this perception because the Bears didn’t do the housecleaning that lots of Bears fans want to see happen, which would include Angelo, Lovie, and many others. We know that Lovie and Angelo knew SOMETHING had to give after 3 crappy years in a row of non-playoff football (in 2008, when they could have made it, they laid flat in the crucial end-of-season games, and in 2009 when we just were crushed and only started playing decently after mathematically eliminated) so the minimum was to get rid of Ron.
But let’s get back to the FACTS:
1) Ron Turner, by the statistics, is a TERRIBLE offensive coordinator. He has many seasons under his belt and he CONSISTENTLY lives at about the 20% mark against his peers. This is not about 2009… this is a “career of failure” as we note as an official category for posts about Ron
2) Not only do the statistics prove that he is terrible, YOUR OWN EYES know that he is terrible. Dan and many others say that they can predict the plays based on formations, and they don’t show any innovation
3) When we picked up Cutler, a dynamic, mobile QB with a great arm, a Pro-Bowl QB, WE DID NOT CHANGE THE OFFENSE. Why wouldn’t we do something to leverage his talents? Any decent offensive coordinator would. BUT NOT RON
4) Offensive talents that DIE in Chicago THRIVE elsewhere. Do we really need to go through all of them? While our ground game is absolutely PATHETIC Benson and Jones are THRIVING in the DAMN POST SEASON today
5) One comment Turner made I agree with – “he did the best that he could”. He probably did. HE JUST ISN’T GOOD, which he has proven through a “career of failure”. We need the BEST offensive coordinator for the GREAT Chicago Bears, not someone who has proven to be inept no matter what tools that he has at his disposal
This isn’t about Ron the person. This is about someone whose lack of capabilities crippled football in the state of Illinois, whether it is the Fighting Illini or the Chicago Bears.
WE DEMAND A GREAT OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR AND THAT IS WHY WE WANTED TO SEE RON FIRED!
So don’t rewrite history. Ron’s history is plain for all to see in the statistics. Bye bye.
I was going to write something to this effect but you beat me to it. Boy that guy gets the kid gloves from the sportswriters.
I will say this – he knows how to play the game. For the most part he is towing the company line, shutting the fuck up, collecting his buyout and moving on. He hasn’t done anything to piss anyone off in the NFL or collej, so he will probably get a job somewhere in due time. Teams seem to do little research when they hire guys (Oh, you took a team to the Super Bowl?) so I am sure he will be the OC for a mid major or major in collej either this year or next.
As I have said many times, I so wish I could see the faces of those fans when they find this place with the mountains of evidence that show that he is one of the worst OC’s in all the land.
We won’t be getting a good offensive coordinator. Why do you ask? Here’s a DIRECT QUOTE from that genius Lovie Smith…
“Believe me, people will want to come here. Coaches don’t deal in long-term commitments and things like that. It’s about getting the job done right away. There will be a lot of candidates that will come and want to be a part of what we’re going to do next year. We have a good nucleus of players here that they all see.”
OK, let’s start dissecting how pathetically stupid this actually is…
“Coaches don’t deal in long-term commitments” — In part, he’s correct. Bad coaches don’t deal in those kinds of things. The good coaches, the Halases, the Holmgrens, the Lombardis, the Cowhers, those guys stick around for decades upon decades, build their teams the right way, and demand nothing short of excellence from them. In essense, I’m saying that Lovie Smith is not a good coach.
“We have a good nucleus of players here that they all see.” — Who knows what kind of nucleus this team has in terms of players. This team’s been pathetic ever since they got crushed in the SB. Nobody on the defense outside of Peanut and Briggs are performing up to par. Nobody on offense is performing anywhere CLOSE to reasonable. The Special Teams have been on a down slope for the last couple of years. This is a team that needs to rebuild, and simply can’t because of bad contracts, bad trades, and a significant lack of draft picks.
Firing Ron Turner is a solid first step. But it needs to be taken further. Every single decision maker with this organization, from Ted Phillips on down, needs to be seriously evaluated, if not fired outright. If Lovie Smith speaks for the entire organization (and I seriously hope that he DOESN’T), this team will be stuck in football limbo for the rest of its existence.
Carl and Dan,
You guys both made great points. The one thing that really pissed me off is that he said on the radio earlier this week that “He did the best he could with what he had.” That is not true at all. I don’t have exact samples but I am sure that coordinators have done better jobs with less talent. Even when Orton was the quarterback, Ron wouldn’t let him do more.
Any wide receiver can be good if put in a position to succeed. Obviously, you need someone who is talented at both the QB and WR spots. The fact is though that the Bears had talent at both spots and he didn’t excel. That’s his fault.
Well, here’s LovieFail #19082: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-chiefs-weis&prov=ap&type=lgns
For all those hoping to nab Charlie Weis, he just took over the job of the guy I want the most (Chan Gailey, KC).
Dan it’s like those guys who ended up with Shoop and were like WTF!??!!??!!
Nothing says fail better than when I tell someone that their team just “Shooped” it. North Carolina is living the dream now, a place far, far away from Chicago and Illinois.