Bears continue shaky offseason: Should have hired Singletary to lead D

For the third straight offseason the Chicago Bears are making a flurry of offseason moves. Unfortunately they seem to be making them in waves, with this one being another down year.

As Bears fans know, Chicago fired long-time head coach Lovie Smith after the team finished 10-6 and missed the playoffs for the second consecutive year. That in itself wasn’t a bad move as truth be told, from a bird’s eye view, it appeared that Smith had worn out his welcome in the Windy City. His message and demeanor actually became appalling; especially after losses.  To replace Lovie Smith the Bears hired Marc Trestman from the Canadian Football league. Sure, Trestman has the NFL pedigree as a coordinator on five different teams and is known for being a detailed oriented football coach, but whether he was the right choice for Chicago remains to seen.  And when considering the fact that San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Greg Roman is still available, it makes one wonder why Chicago jumped on Trestman who was receiving zero buzz from other teams.  The 49ers play tough, physical offensive and defensive football, and Roman may have been the perfect fit for the Bears.

Of course with the hiring of a new head coach, Bears’ defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli was given the option to stay but left out of loyalty to Smith. To replace Marinelli the Bears hired former Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker. Tucker was named interim head coach of the Jaguars in 2011 after the team fired Jack Del Rio. Tucker remained on the Jaguars staff returning to his defensive coordinator position in 2012.

Let’s pause for a minute and think about this.

You’re the Chicago freakin’ Bears and you essentially just fired two defensive gurus in hopes of building a championship team. So why do you hire someone from the staff of the Jacksonville Jaguars? Isn’t that franchise the furthest team from being championship quality in the NFL? The move doesn’t make sense. Especially knowing the Jaguars ranked 22nd against the pass and 30th against the run in 2013. Sure, part of the reason for their defensive shortcomings was a depleted roster and the offenses inability to sustain drives, but why take the chance if you’re the Bears? It’s like turning the keys of a Bentley over to a thief. You know what you had and that it will soon be gone. It’s pretty obvious what’s going happen.

If anything, go pluck Mike Singletary off the defensive coaching staff of the Minnesota Vikings. If anyone knows what it takes to be a championship defense in Chicago, it’s that guy.

Looking at the coaching changes for the Bears this offseason reminds me a lot of the moves the team made back in 2011. Back then the Bears had holes to fill and did so with dead weight. They needed a receiver, so the Bears brought in Roy Williams and Sam Hurd. They needed a backup running back so the Bears brought in Marion Barber. Come on. If you’re serious about winning you don’t dig for talent on teams who don’t win. The same can be said about hiring coaches and for that reason, 2013 could be a long season for the Chicago Bears.

Let’s hope I’m wrong.

Follow Aaron on Twitter @Da_Bear_Truth.