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I know it's been some time since I last posted, but I'm ready to go again. There's been quite a bit to blog on, which includes some of the other coaching changes since my last post on this matter back in January.
Offensive Line Coach
Out: Steve Marshall
In: Jim Michalczik
By now, you should already know my thoughts on Coach Marshall. In a nutshell, while I understood the hire, and could see some very marginal improvement in the offensive line this past season, it was fairly obvious to all in involved that there was something very wrong with our offensive line the past few seasons.
The parting of ways makes sense, and what makes even more sense is the hiring of former offensive line coach Jim Michalczik. In my mind, this is one of the biggest hires of the offseason for the Bears, and one that I'm downright ecstatic about.
Michalczik can coach the offensive line, plain and simple. While some have questioned his recruiting prowess in the past, the guy knows how to find the right players to fit his offensive line philosophy who he can develop accordingly. Michalczik is responsible for some of the best offensive play in the history of the Bears, which explains a lot of the offensive success Tedford and company had during the early part of Tedford's tenure.
Michalczik has been known to be an absolute stickler for technique, which is so critical at the collegiate level. This mindset is already one of the many improvements Coach M will bring over the previous Coach M.
I do have questions as to Coach Michalczik's long term future with the Bears, as he's publicly stated he's looking to pursue a head coaching position at some point or another. Let's just say we'll cross that bridge when we get there, as for now he's likely got his hands full with an offensive line that has been anywhere from mediocre to bad the past few seasons. Who else is looking forward to the day we can again characterize our offensive line as "dominant" again? Show of hands? Yeh, me too.
Offensive Coordinator
Out: Andy Ludwig
In: Jim Michalczik
One of the more interesting aspects of the Michalczik hire, is what Michalczik's new role will look like exactly, as he's been hired as both the offensive line coach and offensive coordinator for the Bears.
Before I proceed any further, I suppose I should comment about the Ludwig's "decision" to become to the offensive coordinator for the San Diego Aztecs. I'll admit that I was a bit surprised by the move, because I did feel like Tedford had found the coordinator with whom he most agreed with in terms of philosophy to really entrust playcalling duties with. They seemed to be on a similar (though not identical page) in terms of an offensive mindset. And though the offense has struggled the past few seasons, I thought you could chalk it up more to offensive line play, execution and injuries than placing the blame largely on playcalling.
So color me a bit surprised by the move. And I was even more curious with the decision to name Michalczik the offensive coordinator in addition to his role as the offensive line coach. While the details of Michalczik's duties as the offensive coordinator hasn't been made explicit, I can only surmise a few things.
One, Coach Michalczik wasn't going to come back as just the offensive line coach. My guess is that leveraging his move back to Cal involved the necessary title promotion as well as the salary boost.
Two, while Coach Michalczik is likely to be more involved in the gameplanning process and in the offense on a week to week basis, I'd be very surprised to see him in the booth calling plays. With Ludwig's departure, and the inability to find an offensive coordinator to stick around longer than a season or two, it's pretty clear by now that Tedford has made up his mind that he's going back to calling the plays himself. The Bears' offense was at its best when he was more involved in the QBs and offense, and I think Tedford's decided to go back to what it looked like back in 2007 when he was responsible for calling plays and Coach M took care of the other Offensive Coordinator responsibilities.
While Tedford admitted much of the chemistry issues were the result of him being too absorbed in the offensive coordinator duties and not focusing on the team as a whole, I think he's learned enough since then to know how to effectively balance the two. Let's be clear, there are plenty of examples of head coaches who can effectively coordinate either the offense or defense or call plays, as long as they're surrounded by coaches who are fully capable and he can trust. And with Michalczik, Gould, and Kiesau on his staff, I think he can sleep easy knowing that won't be an issue.
Quarterback Coach
Out: Andy Ludwig
In: Marcus Arroyo
This was another move that surprised me somewhat, because I don't know much about Arroyo, and because I had heard Tedford state that he wanted to be more hands-on with the quarterbacks this year.
However, I do think he hired Arroyo, precisely for that reason. I do believe Tedford will be more involved in coaching the quarterbacks alongside Arroyo, but needed someone to handle the wealth of other duties that come with being the quarterback coach.
It will be interesting to see what type of balance he strikes up with Arroyo, in terms of working with the quarterbacks while also not necessarily diminishing Arroyo's authority as QB coach.
In terms of what I know about Arroyo, it's not much. I know he's a young coach from San Jose State, where he excelled as both a starting QB and a coach. He even had a chance to coach former Cal QB and SJSU transfer Kyle Reed, before taking a job as an offensive coordinator and QB coach at Wyoming. Wyoming's on field results on offense were questionable, but then again, it was Wyoming, and he's not being hired to call plays, he's being hired to coach QBs. He seems like an energetic, go-get-'em kind of coach, as evidenced from the short clip below.
The jury's still out on this one, but I am optimistic about the idea of Tedford being more involved with the QBs.
Strength and Conditioning Coach
Out: John Krasinski
In: Mike Blasquez
The last time I wrote on this, I expressed my surprise by the decision to let Krasinski go because of the length of time with Tedford and the fact that he was well liked by players.
But by all reports of positive feedback I'm hearing about Blasquez (formerly overseeing just the Cal Men's basketball team and De la Salle's football team), this might be the best offseason move. Seriously. Players are all chiming in about the difference between Blasquez's approach and Coach K's, and the reports are of painful yet ecstatic support of Blasquez.
The team also reportedly "looks different" already, which is exciting news. This could mean great things for the Bears both short and long term.
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