By the time Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme answers his last question at the Super Bowl, America probably will know his favorite reality TV show, his boyhood idol and how often he flosses.
Bears fans might have learned such trivia last spring if Dick Jauron’s staff had prevailed over general manager Jerry Angelo.
Former Bear coaches had Delhomme rated well ahead of Kordell Stewart among available free-agents, according to several former Bears assistant coaches who now work for other NFL teams. Bears coaches ranked Stewart the seventh-best.
The Bears said Angelo, who wanted experience, was unavailable Monday.
Though Delhomme sent signals of interest to the Bears, Angelo targeted Stewart after Jake Plummer made it clear he planned to sign with Denver. One source with knowledge of staff discussions described Jauron as being “totally [upset]” when he learned of Angelo’s intentions.
Offensive coordinator John Shoop approached Jauron after the Bears’ second loss, to Minnesota, after concluding that the team couldn’t win with Stewart, no matter how palpable the pressure from the front office to keep him in the lineup.
A picture of life as a Bears assistant coach under Angelo, who some viewed as a meddler, has begun to emerge.
On Angelo’s first day on the job, sources who were in the meeting room say, the GM stated in his opening remarks to the team that “I will fire Dick Jauron.” Coaches and players considered that inappropriate, and several later referred to the comments as the rallying cry for the Bears’ 13-3 season in 2001.
In retrospect, several assistants said they would have respected Angelo more had he fired Jauron after the 2001 season to hire coaches the GM was comfortable with.
One ex-assistant didn’t blame Angelo as much as team President Ted Phillips for the timing of the Angelo hiring. Angelo joined the Bears as general manager in June 2001, in essence making 2001 a lame-duck season until those 13 victories changed the context and complicated the future.
Jauron once confided that he considered Angelo “a frustrated coach.” At least one ex-Bears offensive lineman wondered aloud “why Jerry was around so much.” But the greatest divide always involved the evaluation of talent.
Besides the Delhomme/Stewart misread, a decision in August involving former Bears wide receiver Edell Shepherd also rankled the offensive staff. Coaches considered Shepherd the team’s second-best receiver behind Marty Booker. A source said coaches favored keeping Shepherd and cutting David Terrell, but management kept Terrell in hopes the
2001 first-round draft pick would pay off.
When Shepherd left camp, the offensive staff’s morale dipped, several sources said.
Jauron and his assistants also complained among themselves about players winding up on the injured list without their knowledge or being signed without their input. Once, Jauron found out about a free-agent signee just minutes before meeting reporters, but praised the player’s potential at the podium.
Loyalty was strong among the Bears’ coaches, many of whom felt banded together against Angelo. To wit: In his final meeting, Jauron told the staff that if Angelo had ordered him to fire any of his assistants in order to keep his job, he would have responded, “Then fire me.”
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“I will fire Dick Jauron.”
–Jerry Angelo
in his opening remarks to the team on his first day as Bears general manager
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Edited by Michael Kellams (mkellams@tribune.com) and Chris Courtney (cdcourtney@tribune.com)
