By the time Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme answers the last question at Super Bowl media day Tuesday in Houston, America probably will know his favorite reality TV show, his boyhood idol and how often he flosses.
Bears fans might have been introduced to such trivia last spring, as well as to Delhomme, if the previous coaching regime had prevailed over general manager Jerry Angelo.
Coach Dick Jauron and his staff had Delhomme rated well ahead of Kordell Stewart among available free-agent quarterbacks, according to several former Bears assistant coaches who now work for other NFL teams. Bears coaches ranked Stewart the seventh-best quarterback on that list and discouraged Angelo from pursuing the former Steeler because of concerns over his suitability for the offense.
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.
Eventually Jauron acquiesced and vowed publicly and privately to make the best of the situation. He liked Stewart, whose affability helped matters, but feared the quarterback’s history of indecision and inaccuracy would hurt an offense predicated on precision. And it did.
Offensive coordinator John Shoop approached Jauron after the Bears’ second loss of the season, to Minnesota, and concluded that the team couldn’t win with Stewart as the quarterback, no matter how palpable the pressure from the front office to keep him in the lineup.
Shoop and Stewart coexisted without confrontation, but Stewart considered Shoop too rigid for not allowing receivers to make the type of sight adjustments new offensive coordinator Terry Shea will encourage. Shoop deemed Stewart too undisciplined to effectively grasp the complexities of the offense.
But Angelo and his staff never paid much attention to Shoop’s evaluation of Stewart or any other quarterback. One former Bears assistant cited specific examples of Shoop and Angelo clashing on their opinions of Shane Matthews, Jim Miller, Henry Burris and Stewart, one example of how some members of the former staff viewed Angelo as a meddler who made them uncomfortable.
A picture of life as a Bears assistant coach under Angelo has begun to emerge now that the out-of-work coaches have gained employment.
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 those 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 and the staff after the 2001 season instead of extending their contracts. They understood any GM’s desire to hire coaches with whom he was comfortable, and knew that was what Angelo always wanted.
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, a time of year that made it awkward for Angelo, Jauron and the assistants. In essence, 2001 was a lame-duck season until 13 victories changed the context and complicated the future.
Jauron’s contract extension was announced Dec. 24, 2001, but he didn’t sign the deal until the following spring as he and Angelo haggled over control of the 53-man roster. Shoop, who had upset Angelo by hiring agent Jimmy Sexton at Jauron’s urging, became the last assistant to sign his extension and waited to do so until summer 2002. Shoop felt indebted to the owners, the McCaskey family. He had several supporters in the family, and a source said Virginia McCaskey’s praise of Shoop played a role in Jauron promoting the 31-year-old in January 2001 to offensive coordinator.
One former assistant said Shoop took his time in signing because he was concerned about the stability of the Bears with Angelo and Jauron so strikingly different.
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 last August involving former Bears wide receiver Edell Shepherd also rankled the offensive staff. Coaches consistently graded Shepherd high and considered him the team’s second-best receiver in training camp behind Marty Booker. A source said the coaches favored keeping Shepherd and cutting David Terrell, but management preferred keeping Terrell in hopes the 2001 first-round draft pick would finally pay off.
The day Shepherd left camp, the offensive staff’s morale took a hit, 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 being added to the 53-man roster just minutes before meeting reporters, but he praised the player’s potential from the podium.
Grumbling from coaches who lose their jobs isn’t unusual or unexpected. One said he felt compelled to speak out after seeing former defensive coordinator Greg Blache, popular with his colleagues, go into his final interview Jan. 13 expecting to discuss the head-coaching position, only to have Angelo inform him he wasn’t a serious candidate.
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.”
The staff now being assembled shouldn’t have such problems of disharmony. The marriage of Lovie Smith and Angelo is like Ozzie and Harriet, compared with the dysfunctional union of Angelo and Jauron.
This winter the Bears will blissfully agree on what they need and whom they want. Last winter they didn’t, and Delhomme’s Super success serves as another reminder of how wide the communication gap used to be at Halas Hall.
