Mel Tucker - WTF head coach

[SlickWilly]

I'll reiterate, he had Pro Bowl and All Pro caliber players with the Bears and made them look like cunts. Trestman actually would've been fine if they weren't giving up like 40 points by halftime.

I hate Tucker and think he sucks balls too, but who exactly are you talking about here? Are you talking about well past their prime players who had been playing 10 years or more like Peppers, Briggs, Ratliff and Peanut? All of those guys in 13 and 14 were definitely NOT All Pro caliber players.

 

[TheMarshallPlan]

What exactly could Mel Tucker have said during the interview process that got him the job? I mean, didn't these people prepare for the interview by watching the Bears defense during his tenure there?

 

[mecha]

I hate Tucker and think he sucks balls too, but who exactly are you talking about here? Are you talking about well past their prime players who had been playing 10 years or more like Peppers, Briggs, Ratliff and Peanut? All of those guys in 13 and 14 were definitely NOT All Pro caliber players.

they go from #3 defense to everyone's old in one offseason? holy shit I was wrong all along.

 

[SlickWilly]

they go from #3 defense to everyone's old in one offseason? holy shit I was wrong all along.

So two 33 year olds and two 32 year olds are young to you in football years???? And you're right, all 4 of those players were playing just like they were in 2006 that year. They were also minus a HOF player at MLB from the year before.

 

[jive]

What's even worse though, is that Trestman plucked him off the Jaguars at the time who were ranked 30th in defense..smh

Not just that, he had a track record of failure in JAX. I think when we didn’t hire Arians, and lost Marinelli, there may not have been many coordinators that wanted to work with the Bears or Trestman.

 

[jive]

they go from #3 defense to everyone's old in one offseason? holy shit I was wrong all along.

A bunch of guys that made the Pro Bowl the season before, just all of a sudden couldn’t play the following year. Surely, it couldn’t be the coaches? But seriously, Tillman and Briggs were injured that year, but I don’t think I’d want to play hurt for Tucker either. Considering how the front office treated the leader on defense, Urlacher, I’d find it hard for the vets to be that motivated. That defense was the most unmotivated and unprepared unit I have ever witnessed in the Navy and Orange. The defense went from being a group of guys willing to run through a brick wall for Lovie, to a bunch of guys just showing up to collect a paycheck.

We went from #3 to #30 and #31 in defense under Tucker. Fangio brought us up to #20 In his first season with a fraction of the talent that Tucker had. I don’t know how anyone could think that anyone other than the coaching staff was to blame for that fiasco.

 

[gwharris2254]

I loved Mel. He singlehandedly had our team rebuild the D,
AFTER his dismissal

 

[mecha]

A bunch of guys that made the Pro Bowl the season before, just all of a sudden couldn’t play the following year. Surely, it couldn’t be the coaches? But seriously, Tillman and Briggs were injured that year, but I don’t think I’d want to play hurt for Tucker either. Considering how the front office treated the leader on defense, Urlacher, I’d find it hard for the vets to be that motivated. That defense was the most unmotivated and unprepared unit I have ever witnessed in the Navy and Orange. The defense went from being a group of guys willing to run through a brick wall for Lovie, to a bunch of guys just showing up to collect a paycheck.

We went from #3 to #30 and #31 in defense under Tucker. Fangio brought us up to #20 In his first season with a fraction of the talent that Tucker had. I don’t know how anyone could think that anyone other than the coaching staff was to blame for that fiasco.

I forgot about the Urlacher element. there was also a lot of speculation the players were just butthurt that Lovie Smith was fired. yeah, they went 10-6 in 2012... I went back and checked this, the only team with a winning record they beat was the Colts with Andrew Luck in his first regular season start. at Soldier Field. they may as well have finished with a 6-10 or 7-9 record. I rip on Mike Tice a lot but that offense actually had a bit of gusto due to getting real receivers in the mix. or just 1, I guess Cutler shattered Jeffery's other hand with his laser rocket arm.

taking into account the magnitude of kumbaya bullshit under Trestman though, I don't know, maybe the butthurt/protest theory holds some water.

 

[jive]

I forgot about the Urlacher element. there was also a lot of speculation the players were just butthurt that Lovie Smith was fired. yeah, they went 10-6 in 2012... I went back and checked this, the only team with a winning record they beat was the Colts with Andrew Luck in his first regular season start. at Soldier Field. they may as well have finished with a 6-10 or 7-9 record. I rip on Mike Tice a lot but that offense actually had a bit of gusto due to getting real receivers in the mix. or just 1, I guess Cutler shattered Jeffery's other hand with his laser rocket arm.

taking into account the magnitude of kumbaya bullshit under Trestman though, I don't know, maybe the butthurt/protest theory holds some water.

You can take that situation, and use it as a case study in a HR class as what not to do. If any organization did what the Bears did, you would expect a significant drop in performance. They fired their leader that everyone on the team loved and performed for. They dissed the face of the franchise, a person with a track record of performing at a high level and the ability to make those around him better. If you're gonna do that to Urlacher, why would anyone on the team think that they wouldn't get treated the same way. If you're gonna get treated the same way, why would you go above and beyond? Even some corporate HR person with no experience with football knows better than to do what Emery did. You can't replace well respected leaders with those with less talent and charisma and expect strong morale from those that work for them.

Lovie was not a perfect coach, but he was one hell of a motivator and disciplinarian that got production out of his defensive players, even those with marginal talent. The defense went from guys flying around and swarming to the ball, to a bunch of guys doing the bare minimum. The epitome of this was a game where I saw the other team fumble in the end zone, while defenders near by just stood around until the other team recovered it. I remember saying to myself, "This would have never happened under Lovie". Urlacher was certainly in decline, but it had been that way for a few seasons. Where he didn't decline was in his ability to fire up the D and make the calls at the LOS. I believe a big part of the reason why the defense declined so rapidly was because #54 wasn't there to make the reads and calls.

The Bears replaced Lovie and Urlacher with the TPS reports guy from office space and his bumbling lackey. Why would anyone expect performance to improve in that situation. Tucker should have been fired after the NE game where the defense couldn't do anything to stop the Pats, and definitely after the GB game where they hung over 50 on us after we had a bye week. There was not enough accountability under Trestman, and the players knew that. As in any situation, when there is no accountability, nobody gives a shit.

 

[run and shoot]

On the flip side, a while ago I looked at box scores from when Tucker was here. In more than 60% of the games, the "D" was holding their opponents to around less than 2Tds in the first half of those games (without much help from the "O".)

Did Tucker"D" start giving more points in 2nd half of games?....YES. Today our "D" can hold opposing teams points down for most of the game without help from the "O".

 

[mecha]

You can take that situation, and use it as a case study in a HR class as what not to do. If any organization did what the Bears did, you would expect a significant drop in performance. They fired their leader that everyone on the team loved and performed for. They dissed the face of the franchise, a person with a track record of performing at a high level and the ability to make those around him better. If you're gonna do that to Urlacher, why would anyone on the team think that they wouldn't get treated the same way. If you're gonna get treated the same way, why would you go above and beyond? Even some corporate HR person with no experience with football knows better than to do what Emery did. You can't replace well respected leaders with those with less talent and charisma and expect strong morale from those that work for them.

Lovie was not a perfect coach, but he was one hell of a motivator and disciplinarian that got production out of his defensive players, even those with marginal talent. The defense went from guys flying around and swarming to the ball, to a bunch of guys doing the bare minimum. The epitome of this was a game where I saw the other team fumble in the end zone, while defenders near by just stood around until the other team recovered it. I remember saying to myself, "This would have never happened under Lovie". Urlacher was certainly in decline, but it had been that way for a few seasons. Where he didn't decline was in his ability to fire up the D and make the calls at the LOS. I believe a big part of the reason why the defense declined so rapidly was because #54 wasn't there to make the reads and calls.

The Bears replaced Lovie and Urlacher with the TPS reports guy from office space and his bumbling lackey. Why would anyone expect performance to improve in that situation. Tucker should have been fired after the NE game where the defense couldn't do anything to stop the Pats, and definitely after the GB game where they hung over 50 on us after we had a bye week. There was not enough accountability under Trestman, and the players knew that. As in any situation, when there is no accountability, nobody gives a shit.

I don't remember what Urlacher was seeking, 1 or 2 years, Phil Emery was a clown though. he was able to get them a lot of offensive talent though I guess (and sign Cutler to that absurd deal after they narrowly couldn't put the Packers away at the end of 2013 season), and the offensive lines during Trestman were actually very good. he was basically the opposite of Pace though with the defense LOL. I want to say Briggs was intended to be the replacement leader and that just didn't work out. it certainly wouldn't have been Bostic at MLB.

there were several moments where I too thought "this wouldn't have happened under Lovie's D" during that time. I felt so much disgust in 2014 I could barely be happy for Forte setting that single season reception record.

I watched that 50 point Packer game at Old Chicago in Rockford with a lot of Packer fans in our midst and it probably disgusted me the most of all though. I guess having all that hope and optimism after the preseason game against the Chargers was asking too much... good riddance to such a horrible era. really puts into perspective how really not awful the Nagy regime is, but that's a whole other chicken or egg argument that nobody can seem to figure out.

 

[JesusHalasChrist]

Wow how did I miss this thread ?

Let me just say:

Harbaugh lost to Mel Tucker LOL

 

[Starion]

I read this as like his defense allowed only 30 points over the course of 10 games and was like damn solid job Ol Mel then I went to check their games from last year and the first one I saw said they allowed 31 points. I then knew what you meant. Shame on me.

Upon seeing "Mel Tucker" I immediately read this as "...allowed 30 points in (EACH OF) 10 games..." :grimmace: