Dressed casually in a dark sweater and slacks, Russ Grimm felt as comfortable as he looked Monday gripping the podium at Halas Hall. Grimm was talking football, just as he did all day during his interview for Bears head coach with general manager Jerry Angelo, team President Ted Phillips and Chairman Michael McCaskey.
“I want to coach football,” Grimm said. “I know what it takes to put a winning football team on the football field. … I know what beating Green Bay means to this franchise.”
Grimm, an All-Pro offensive lineman for the Washington Redskins of the 1980s, is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ line coach. In a 20-minute news conference intended to measure candidates’ savvy with the Chicago media, it was hard to tell if his last name was Grimm or Grabowski.
Grimm promised nothing but an honest day’s work and reduced the complexities of the NFL to blocking and tackling.
Rams defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, the other known finalist, will get his chance at the microphone Tuesday during his second interview. Bears defensive coordinator Greg Blache will talk to Angelo about the job before heading to Pittsburgh Wednesday to interview for defensive coordinator there. Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan withdrew Sunday after Angelo postponed two interviews.
Another unknown candidate from the college ranks still remains a possibility.
Grimm said no offer had been made to him on Monday.
With slicked-back hair and a thick mustache, Grimm, 44, could have passed for a Mike Ditka impersonator had he been smoking a cigar. “I’m a blue-collar guy, I’m meat and potatoes,” Grimm said. “I don’t have an agent, I don’t send fliers around the league saying I want to be a head coach. … If you’re good enough at something, then people are going to find you.”
The Bears found Grimm with the help of their director of pro personnel, Bobby DePaul, who coached on the same Redskins staff with Grimm for two seasons in the early 1990s.
Grimm said his offensive philosophy has passing-game roots in the Don Coryell-Joe Gibbs system, blended with a running game in the smash-mouth, Pittsburgh Steelers mold. A league source said Grimm already has mentioned Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, a star Notre Dame quarterback in the 1970s, as a possible offensive coordinator.
“It’ll be a style of offense that I’m familiar with, hopefully be somebody I have worked with or somebody who has run that style or system,” Grimm said.
Interviewed Monday
Russ Grimm
Age: 44 (May 2, 1959).
Birthplace: Scottdale, Pa.
College: Pittsburgh.
Years in NFL: 23 (12 as coach).
Years with Steelers: 4.
Current position: Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach.
The lowdown: Considered one of the NFL’s best line coaches. Although he has not held a coordinator’s position, his coaching mentors include Joe Gibbs and Bill Cowher.
Interviewing today
Lovie Smith
Age: 45 (May 8, 1958).
Birthplace: Big Sandy, Texas.
College: Tulsa.
Years in NFL: 8. Years with Rams: 3.
Current position: St. Louis Rams assistant head coach-defensive coordinator.
The lowdown: Smith is considered one of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL. He came to the Rams after helping develop the swarming, hard-hitting defense of Tampa Bay.
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Edited by Phillip Thompson (plthompson@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
