Emma: Build The Bears Your Own Way, John Fox
By Chris Emma-
LAKE FOREST, Ill. (CBS) -- Seemingly everything new Bears coach John Fox had said during his introductory press confere at Halas Hall on Monday was coming out Lombardi Trophy gold.
Fox was charismatic, engaging and spoke of conviction. This is the guy to turn around Chicago's proud football franchise.
"I can't make any promises other than I'm going to give it everything I've got," Fox said. "That trophy out there looks a little lonely."
OK, great. What kind of quarterback does Fox want?
"One that wins," Fox replied.
Sounds good, too. How would Fox handle a locker room of egos — let's say, for a hypothetical, one with a loudmouth receiver, players who checked out on their previous coach and many more problems?
"I'm not afraid or intimidated to tell people the truth," Fox later said.
This is everything former Bears coach Marc Trestman wasn't, and it's just what Chicago needs. There was time for a few more questions, and Fox had already made a solid, straightforward impression. Everything was going great. He was bold and confident. How could he not be? He's a proven winner.
Then, for some odd reason, came a question on Brian Urlacher. Fox plans to speak with the former Bears linebacker, who has frequently voiced bitterness toward the franchise.
Fox doubled down on confusion by saying he also intends to talk with Da Coach, Mike Ditka.
"I'd be crazy not to," Fox said.
Wait, what?
This is the same Ditka who defends the racist "Redskins" name, called Adrian Peterson's child abuse "discipline" and never seems to be short on stupid takes. Beyond that, his rambling disguised as football analysis leaves viewers drooling. "Who ya crappin', Iron Mike?"
Ditka hasn't coached in Chicago in more than two decades. A few of the Bears' current players weren't even born when he was forced out of his head coaching position. Most would have no memory of him coaching the Bears.
The best advice Ditka could offer for the Bears is what he's said before: "Those who live in the past are cowards and losers."
Forget the irony that Ditka is selling cars, wine, condos and images of his own likeness based on a Super Bowl title 29 years in the past. There's some useful truth to his babbling.
The Bears' history in the modern era of football is largely bad. Coach Fox, that Super Bowl trophy you saw in Halas Hall is very lonely. Chicago isn't Titletown by any means.
In fact, the Bears organization is historic because it's old, not because it's steeped in a winning tradition. If Fox is looking for that, he can drive four hours due north to Green Bay. But that's why general manager Ryan Pace hired him as coach.
It's Fox's task to build the Bears a winner, a football team in which the city can take pride. One of the reasons he's such a great fit for Chicago is because he's not a system guy, a coach who must rely on schemes. He can adapt to personnel and get results.
Need more evidence? In 2011, Denver won a playoff game with Tim Tebow performing something that wasn't football as quarterback. Fox made it work, somehow.
Chicago has a football man in Fox who's proved in several stops that he can find a way to win. He's one of six coaches who's taken two different teams to the Super Bowl, and his goal is to become the first to do it with three teams.
Early indications suggest Fox is going to bring the Bears a reliable rushing attack on offense — something lacking in Trestman's two lost seasons — and a physical, violent defense led by newly hired defensive coordinator Vic Fangio.
Whatever Fox wants to do to rebuild the Bears, he has the right to do. His track record suggests his versatility will mold a winner.
However, Fox doesn't need to go the way of Chicago's past. If anything, he should forget it all together. Don't talk to Urlacher or Ditka for advice on leading the Bears. Coach, do it your own way — it works. There's sound advice that Ditka surely wouldn't bring.
"It's looking forward," he later said.
Ah, much better.
Without a doubt, Fox left a good impression. Now he must move the Bears past a recent history of disappointment.
Follow Chris on Twitter @CEmma670.