Simple math dictates that Bears head coach John Fox and his staff should consider themselves *on the hot seat* heading into one of the biggest weeks of change on the NFL calendar.
"Yeah, (I expect offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains to be back)," Fox said, via ESPN.com. "I think as I mentioned before, when you guys were asking me about reports and whatnot, a lot of things change. Players will change, coaches change. It's not like I'm going to make changes. It's just the nature of the beast. I don't know if there will be a long line at 3-12 right now for coaching opportunities, but stranger things have happened."
He added: "I look at it, like I mentioned before, we've made considerable improvement in many areas offensively," Fox said. "One of the frustrating things is that we've been with four quarterbacks. I go all the way back to Connor Shaw, because he was in the mix as late as the third preseason game. Three different quarterbacks starting, I think each of them won a game -- as you look back, that's probably the ultimate team game. You got 11 guys out there at once. The continuity and consistency helps when there is continuity and consistency. And that's not been the case."
Fox makes a good point. There was really no way this team was making a playoff push this year given the landscape and a circus at quarterback that Fox had nothing to do with, but they did finish the season highlighting some fantastic building blocks for the future. Running back Jordan Howard is a force and first-round pick Leonard Floyd was on a lot of defensive rookie of the year watch lists before a string of injuries hurt his play.
With renewed interest in coaches like Bucs defensive coordinator Mike Smith and free agent Tom Coughlin, it's easy to see the league trending back toward experience over the cyclical hiring of the next big-name coordinator. I would put Fox, who has reached two Super Bowls in his career, in that category. And maybe the Bears will too.
