Palladino: 'Giant' Memories Make John Fox A No-Brainer For Bears
By Ernie Palladino
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First things first: John Fox is not coming back to the Meadowlands as Tom Coughlin's defensive coordinator.
The Giants know better than to ask a 13-year head coaching veteran drawing interest from at least a couple of teams to fall back as a defensive coordinator.
Yet, as the dust settles from Monday's surprise parting with the Broncos, memories of his five years as Jim Fassel's defensive boss (1997-2001) will probably help land him in his next job.
That could well be Chicago, if only because Ernie Accorsi is now consulting on the Bears' coaching search.
Accorsi became Fox's biggest rooter when he was running the Giants' front office back then. Had the Giants fallen short of a Super Bowl berth in January 2001, he might in fact have recommended Fox as Jim Fassel's successor. As it happened, the Giants did advance to Super Bowl XXXV, where a sudden case of color-blindness caused Kerry Collins to throw four interceptions in a 34-7 Baltimore rout. Fassel stayed three more seasons, just long enough to watch Fox start his head-coaching career with the Panthers in 2002. The day he left for Carolina was the day Fox became "the one that got away," a sentiment evidenced by Wellington Mara's farewell letter to him that likened his defensive coordinator's departure to those of two other Giants assistants decades earlier -- Vince Lombardi and Tom Landry.
Accorsi felt much the same as the late owner. He always loved Fox's intensity and work ethic. But never was he so impressed with his next-door office neighbor as in the week's run-up to the 2000 season's championship game against Daunte Culpepper's point-scoring machine from Minnesota.
As recounted in "If These Walls Could Talk -- New York Giants," Accorsi battled some very dark thoughts that week.
"I'm thinking we're going to have to score 40 points to have a chance," Accorsi recalled. "All week long in my dreams, the Vikings scored 8,000 points. All I dreamt of was Randy Moss, Cris Carter, and Robert Smith running up and down the field."
Accorsi couldn't even look Fox in the eye.
Fox noticed. Toward the end of the week, he asked the general manager about his aloofness.
"I don't even want to think about our defense," Accorsi told him.
"We'll be fine," Fox said. "We might even shut them out."
Final score: 41-0.
Add that Bears new GM Ryan Pace comes out of New Orleans and has strong ties to Fox' friend Sean Payton. That makes Fox landing in Chicago a no-brainer.
As Accorsi well knows, as does anyone who ever covered him, Fox is a charismatic fellow. He brings excitement and enthusiasm to a unit. Michael Strahan, Jessie Armstead, Keith Hamilton and Jason Sehorn all loved playing for him. Remember, too, that he got the Broncos to the playoffs behind Tebow the first year of his 46-18 run in Denver. Yep, the same 27-year-old Tebow who, at an age where many pro quarterbacks have begun to mold their greatness, provided analysis on the NCAA championship game Monday night.
He'll be good for the Bears.
Accorsi knew Fox would have been good for the Giants 15 years ago.
There's nothing in the last 13 years that should make the Bears' consultant think any different now.
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