2009 Chicago Bears Coach Report: Tampa 2 Defensive Scheme

Lovie Smith, head coach of the Chicago Bears has led the team for six years in Chicago. He will now take the defense to a hands on approach as he will be calling the defense on the sideline. Releasing Babich to focus on player abilities and match-ups. Lovie Smith has a regular season coaching record of 45-35 (.563) Smith celebrates 45 regular season wins and a 2-2 post season record with a NFC title and a Super Bowl appearance are third most in franchise history, trailing only Hall of Famers George Halas and Mike Ditka.

The coaching staff for the 2009 season has basically stayed the same offensively. On the defensive side of the ball the Bears added Rod Marinelli, the former head coach of the Detroit Lions. In Marinelli’s three seasons in Detroit, the Lions compiled a 10-38 record. The Lions seven wins in 2007 under Marinelli were the most for the franchise since 2000.

Bob Babich enters his third season as Chicago’s defensive coordinator and his sixth year as an assistant coach with the team after overseeing a defense that finished below expectations. Babich assumed responsibility of the Bears defense on February 20, 2007 after three seasons as the team’s linebackers coach.

Marinelli was fired from his position as head coach on December 29, 2008, one day after coaching the Lions to the worst single-season record in NFL history, 0–16. He was hired to fill the defensive line/assistant head coach position, on January 10, 2009. Marinelli knows a thing or two about coaching the defensive line. In 1996 he went to Tampa and coached the D-line with great success. His style and his commitment to getting the most out of his players worked to develop lineman such as Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice into Pro Bowl caliber players. The Bucs racked up 328.5 sacks during Marinelli's time in Tampa, more than any other franchise. Just how good is he? The top-six single-season sack totals in Tampa Bay franchise history all came while Marinelli served as defensive line coach.

Chicago's defensive scheme will not change much. The Tampa 2 defensive scheme was integrated by Lovie Smith, and has been successful for Chicago. It relay's on player's speed and aggressiveness for its success. Its a scheme that can turn a defense into an offense at the drop of a dime. If a ball lay on the ground, you will not see a Chicago player just lay down and maintain possession. What you will see is Chicago players swarm to it like killer bees on the attack, pick it up and run, while teammates bulldoze offensive players for a clear path to the end zone . That's what Lovie Smith expects from his unit, and that's what Lovie's style of the Tampa 2 is all about.

That aggressive approach is the foundation of the Tampa 2, the style of Cover 2 defense made popular by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under Tony Dungy, starting in the mid- to late-1990s. Actually, it all started in the 1970s with Bud Carson's Steelers defenses, for whom Dungy played defensive back. Dungy learned the Cover 2 from Carson. In Cover 2, two safeties play zone (area) coverage, each of them responsible for half of the field. Dungy's Bucs had great success dropping a speedy middle linebacker down the middle of the field to defend the pass, creating a three-deep look, while four often undersized but quick defensive linemen rushed the passer. And so, the Tampa 2 was born.

The magic formula to the Bears Tampa 2 system is not so much of physical aptitude, but the players attitude and aggressiveness. Players don't have the prototypical size of other NFL defenders. Instead, stress is put on speed, smarts and flawless tackling to get the job down.

The success of the scheme is simplicity. What the Tampa 2 teams have figured out is that it isn't what they're doing, as much as it is who is doing it and how. Chicago likes to stop the run with eight players near the line of scrimmage, and on passing downs drop into their Cover 2 zone. Lovie's play it safe scheme, doesn't call for a lot of all-out blitzing with zero coverage (no safety in the middle, corners one-on-one), instead preferring to rely on the defensive line to apply pressure on the quarterback, witch it lacked in 2008.

One of the main reasons the defense struggled last year was the production from the defensive front 4 unit, with the exception of Tommie Harris, did not produce to the level of play it needed for this Tampa 2 scheme to be effective. That proved to be predictable to opposing offenses and was exposed often. Marinelli should help with front 4 production, witch will allow the linebackers an extra 5 yards off the line of scrimmage, and the outside backers will flare and block the quick slant throwing lanes quickly.

Chicago’s production from core positions, is a factor to measure how successful Chicago will be in 2009 defensively. I have ranked them in specific order starting with the most important player position to the least important for the success of Chicago's defense.

Three technique tackle is one of the most important core positions for Chicago's success. With a productive Tommie Harris the Bears have one of the better three techniques in the league. Harris performed better than he was credited for last year. When Harris is going well, he's a disruptive force and makes those around him better. The Bears are counting on more from him in 2009, especially after picking up a $6.67 million roster bonus. San Jose State defensive lineman Jarron Gilbert is slated as a back up for Harris.

Defensive end's were not productive in 2008. The Bears are counting on new line coach Rod Marinelli to bring the best out of a group that includes Alex Brown and Mark Anderson. Many question the contributions Adewale Ogunleye has made since he arrived, but he's pass rusher with size that he could line up over right tackles and with better coaching direction should show improvement in his production. As a side note defensive end Henry Melton is an option back-up.

Middle linebacker, Brian Urlacher would tell you the scheme has taken him away from some of the things he does best. The reason is that Lovie utilizes Urlacher's speed and pass coverage skills to drop back for deep pass coverage, however some have questioned his ability's to do just that. The middle linebacker has to be able to cover deep middle. This takes away the TE down the seam, and allows safeties cheat out and shorten the open window down the outside. The bears did pick up Marcus Freeman Ohio State linebacker who shows impressive ability at any linebacker slot.

Chicago's weak-side linebacker, Lance Briggs one of the best in the game at the spot right now. If the three technique is the signature position in the defense, this is signature position 1B. The prototypical WLB is an undersized player with terrific range. Coming unblocked in a lot of situations, the weak-side linebacker will pile up tackles and help in coverage.

The cover corner must improve production. Charles Tillman had a rocky 2008 season that was inhibited by injuries to both shoulders, one that required surgery. His status as a left cornerback is the primary reason why Smith will not entertain the idea of moving him to free safety. A healthy Tillman is a physical performer who can play as a top level corner in the NFL. Chicago likes to substitute a pass-rushing end in this spot, but the value of a top corner like Tillman cannot be overstated.

Free safety is where the Bears could come up short. They still don't have a player with the range to be a threat in coverage. The free safety must have the speed to cover a lot of ground as the center fielder of the defense. Craig Steltz or Corey Graham will most likely man the position. After playing corner back during his first two NFL seasons in Chicago, Corey Graham is the likely starter. The good news is that the Tampa-2 does make the safety position the most critical position in its scheme, in fact its arguably one of the least, because there's not many man to man plays. That's why Lovie doesn't put near the significance on a safety as he does a cornerback.

The cover-2 ( Tampa-2) is a successful scheme and boosts more strategy. Its fair to say however that teams have had some success getting around it. Its not fair to say that its not productive. Teams have found their way around every defensive scheme played in the NFL. The Bears Tampa 2 relies very heavily on excellent play from certain positions. That is a concern for Chicago for a couple reasons. First If those players get hurt or decline because of old injuries and/or age, the defense will simply not work. Second if a player consistently plays bad, it gets exposed like wild fire, and every opposing team will adapt very quickly to capitalize. Example: Chicago could not defend the slant pass last year, and everybody and their brothers threw them.

The Bears cover 2, 2 gap, is a soft defense, and will be in trouble if the front 4 can not get pressure on the QB. The defense basically becomes prevent lite against a unproven secondary group. The defense is younger and quicker and improved on the pass rush. If the front line improves to 2006 production type, they will be a top three defense in the league.

The Bears announced that they will conduct training camp from July 31 through Aug. 21 at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais. That's when we will see the true scope of this.

Written by: Andrew Maisonneuve