2009 Chicago Bears Coaching Staff: Just Slightly Different

The generals remain the same, but some of the majors have changed.

The coaching staff for the 2009 Chicago Bears still has all the key components the team had in 2008.

Lovie Smith is entering his sixth season as head coach, although he will now be calling thedefensive plays.

Bob Babich retains his title as defensive coordinator, but will now be coaching the linebackers.

Ron Turner will be calling plays as offensive coordinator once again, and Dave Toubwill continue doing whatever it is he does to make the Bears an elite special teams unit each year.

Those are the guys in the coaching positions that get singled out the most. Poor offensive game? Feel free to blame the offensive coordinator.

A couple poor snaps and some kickoff coverage issues? What is that special teams coordinator doing out there?

You get the gist.

The changes to Chicago's coaching staff have all happened on defense, where it seems like the Bears are sending a message to the players that the way the Bears have played the last couple of seasons isn't going to be accepted.

In addition to Smith taking over the defensive play calling, Jon Hoke steps in as defensive backs coach, Babich moves from defensive play calling to coaching the linebackers, and Rod Marinelli, the former Detroit Lions head coach, will be coaching the defensive line.

Former defensive backs coach Steve Wilks and linebackers coach Lloyd Lee were both fired after last season. Former defensive line coach Brick Haley left to take a coaching job at LSU.

Marinelli is an interesting addition to the coaching staff.

Being a former head coach he obviously has great NFL experience and an outstanding amount of knowledge about the game.

While the Lions struggled under Marinelli, many in the media said Marinelli had a great personality and is a great football coach.

Marinelli will also have the title of assistant head coach, and knows Smith from their days coaching under Tony Dungy in Tampa Bay.

The Bears defensive line was not very good at pressuring the quarterback last season, and the Bears are hoping Marinelli's knowledge will remedy the problem.

Being a former head coach, Marinelli figures to be a key figure in Chicago's decision making processes in 2009.

These defensive coaching changes weren't necessarily surprising because of how the team played in 2008, but because of how tight-knit Smith's coaching staff had been.

Many of the current coaches have been working with Smith for most of the five seasons he has spent as Bears coach.

It will be interesting to see what kind of defensive play calling changes are made with Smith now in charge of that aspect of the game.

Smith was St. Louis' defensive coordinator before he was hired as Chicago's head coach. Manyhead coaches call plays, although Smith will be one of just three calling defensive plays to start 2009.

Only Smith, Dallas' Wade Phillips and Rex Ryan of the New York Jets will be head coaches calling defensive plays next season.

While there might be some changes made in defensive play calling, the offensive play calling figures to remain very similar, even with Jay Cutler and his strong right arm being brought in to play quarterback.

Turner is entering his ninth year as Chicago's offensive coordinator. He spent four years in the role before heading south to the University of Illinois to be the head coach there. Five years ago, Turner returned to his play-calling duties.

Turner has a system he feels works, and a veteran coach like him is going to continue to run what has worked in the past until he feels he needs to change.

Chicago's personnel of offense doesn't warrant a drastic change, either. The Bears just don't have the skill position players to run a wide-open spread attack.

Smith's decision to call defensive plays and Cutler's arrival have all the preseason questions swirling around those aspects of the game. Special teams, though, should continue to be Chicago's rock.

Toub's role as special teams coordinator is very important to Chicago's success. Coming over from Philadelphia the same year Smith was hired, Toub has helped make Chicago one of the better teams in the league on special teams.

Sure, he's had help of a dynamic kick returner in Devin Hester, and when Hester struggled last year Danieal Manning stepped up with some big returns. Before both of them, Nathan Vasherwas a very solid return man.

But it's a relatively unknown aspect of special teams that makes Toub so great. The Bears ability to cover kicks and punts during his tenure.

The Bears have allowed just one kick return and one punt return touchdown over Toub's previous five years on the job. Chicago has ranked highly in average yards allowed per return in each year except for 2008, when the Bears struggled a bit with kick off coverage in terms of yards per return allowed.

This coaching staff has been very solid during Smith's tenure, where the Bears have generally posted better records than the talent on the roster would indicate.

Some minor changes have been made this year after a couple of disappointing years since Chicago reached Super Bowl in the 2006 season.

If the Bears have another season that doesn't live up to the expectations of the management, it will be interesting to see if there are more changes made to the coaching staff for 2010.