A familiar face will be with the Bears when training camp opens Friday; Richard Dent, the franchise leader in quarterback sacks, takes over as assistant defensive line coach
Q. One of your first projects will be improving the technique of first-round draft pick Michael Haynes of Penn State. How did he look at defensive end during the non-contact mini-camp in June?
A. When there is no threat of a collision, you don’t know what you really have. But I like what I see, how he uses his hands and how aggressive he is. The kid learns pretty fast. It looks like we’re probably going to have a pretty good player, but the jury is still out.
Q. Are you confident that the young Bears defensive players will respond to your teaching?
A. I’ve kicked every can that every player will be kicking. Now we can get down to the nitty-gritty of it.
Q. What was your reaction to being one of the nominees for the Pro Football Hall of Fame last winter, but not yet being selected?
A. I did my work and it’s in the [books]. When this league looks back, it always looks back at some of the greater teams. I don’t recall missing too many games. And no matter who we played, I think a priority was controlling me or Walter Payton. I was disappointed, but I think maybe at some point I will get there.
Q. Since your playing days ended, you have been involved with the Richard Dent Foundation and other charitable endeavors. What’s occupying your time at the moment?
A. My foundation is always trying to help out in the area of education. We brought in $50,000 a few months ago with our first fundraiser. We want to try to get somewhere in the neighborhood of six to eight kids in school at Columbia College next fall. To get [Columbia] to match my money is an awesome thing.
Q. It has been nearly 18 years since the Bears won the Super Bowl. Does it amaze you that the ’85 team is still revered in Chicago?
A. You don’t get a chance to say hello to everybody, to run across everyone to shake their hand. It’s always a pleasure to meet and greet. That just says what Chicago is all about. They really appreciate what we did and we appreciated entertaining them.
Got a question or an idea for Fred Mitchell?
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E-mail: AskFred@tribune.com
