By: Jake Rajala

It may seem the Chicago Bears will have growing pains this season, but let’s not forget the success that the Bears have tasted in their existence. The Bears have had numerous mythical ring leaders in their existence. With that said, I’m going to untwine the five best Bears head coaches of all time.

• George Halas

George Halas may have coaches in the days with black and white television, but he still orchestrated a lot of ass-kicking teams in his journey with the Bears as the owner and the head coach. He managed to win five NFL Championships with the Bears! Yes, you read that correctly. Furthermore, he was once the oldest person in NFL history to serve as the head coach (at 72 years old) — until Romeo Cornell was an “interim HC” with the Houston Texans at 73 years old. Halas was simply built differently.

• Mike Ditka

The bad-ass tight-end that turned into an ungodly TE, Mike Ditka, was a Titan-like figure as the Bears HC from 1982 to 1992. The Ditka and Buddy Ryan-orchestrated team went on to win the 1985 Championship. Furthermore, he was named the COTY in 1985 and in 1988. Of course, he wasn’t the greatest HC and decision maker with the New Orleans Saints after his tenure with the Bears.

• Lovie Smith

The king of the Tampa 2 defense, Lovie Smith, was a majestic presence for the Bears. He brought the Bears to their only “Super Bowl” appearance (although, they lost the big dance). Smith ousted a potent 81-63 record in his Bears tenure. In a somewhat controversial move, the Bears opted to move on from him after he held a 10-6 record in 2012.

Smith is the current HC for the Houston Texans.

• Ralph Jones

It may seem extremely unfamiliar for Millenials to hear the name “Ralph Jones”. Nonetheless, let’s not forget that he was actually a Championship winner in 1932 with the Bears. He only coached in three seasons in Chi-town, but he had three winning seasons (which included the ungodly 1932 season).

• Matt Nagy

I’m quite sure that countless Bears fans will want to crucify me for his pick, but Matt Nagy had a very impressive 12-4 season with the Bears. He also brought his squad to the post-season with Mitchell Trubisky in 2020 – which is honestly an impressive feat.

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By: Jake Rajala

The Houston Texans brought in the defensive sage Lovie Smith to be the new head coach this off-season. Smith, who was once the youngest head coach in the league, is currently 64 and tasked with leading a young, flawed team in Houston. Smith may not have a sexy roster, but he is familiar with designing a successful team from scratch. Smith had a porous 5-11 record in 2004, but he really elevated the team to an NFC Championship appearance in 2006.

The bearded figure was with CHI from 2004 until 2012. He was questionably fired from the Bears after a 10-6 record in 2012. He had a very short stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014 and 2015, but he wasn’t deemed the best fit for the team that wanted to draft a quarterback first overall in the 2015 draft.

He would transition to the college ranks, as he became the Illinois head coach from 2016 until 2020. He was hired as the defensive coordinator of the Texans in 2021 and then ultimately given the keys as the new ring leader in 2022. With that said, the question is: is Smith really the answer for the Texans long-term?

I firmly believe Smith will need to have success, lots of energy, and growth from Davis Mills if he aims on being the long-term answer in Houston. The Detroit Lions may have retained Dan Campbell after a 3-13-1 record, but the Texans were not satisfied with David Culley leading the Texans to a 4-13-1 record in 2021. It would seem like Nick Caserio and the Texans will expect Smith to have more wins than last season. With that said, It will still unequivocally be a serious challenge for the Texans to have 5+ wins in 2022. Pro Football Focus ranked the Texans as the worst roster entering the 2022 season.

I believe Smith will certainly need to have around five wins next season, but I expect the Texans to mainly gauge Smith’s value off of the growth of Mills and the improvement on defense. It would be hard to ignore the fit with Smith if Mills can develop nicely without a young, offensive-minded HC, while his defense that ranked 31st in yards allowed per game last season improves in 2022. Mills will be able to rely on Brandin Cooks to terrorize opposing defenses in premature years — as Cooks inked a two-year contract extension worth $40 million dollars.

The Texans defense doesn’t exactly have a ton of talent, but they do have a shiny rookie in Derek Stingley Jr. Smith will do everything in his power to ensure the former LSU DB is a DROY-candidate next season. The Texans will certainly have growing pains, but Smith will block out the noise and strive to beat each opponent by a thousand cuts. Smith might be in a tough situation on a short deal, but he can absolutely turn heads with his young QB, potentially score an upset against the Matt Ryan-led Indianapolis Colts, and turn around a struggling franchise for the second time in his career.

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