Jerry Angelo out; Tim Ruskell in?

Apparently Lovie Smith is staying as coach. Bears have a presser scheduled at 2PM PST.

Comments

I hope so.

They deserve every bit of shit that is coming their way.

Pain or damage don't end the world. Or despair or fucking beatings. The world ends when you're dead. Until then, you got more punishment in store. Stand it like a man... and give some back. - Al Swearengen

by Lo Pann on Jan 3, 2012 12:55 PM PST reply actions

Oh boy they are so fucked if that happens.

Don't be an idiot. If an idiot would do that, then don't do it. Muahahahaaha back on twitter

by RagingAlot on Jan 3, 2012 2:45 PM PST reply actions

He he he he.

Hey, Bears, hasn’t your history of dealing with Seahawks cast-offs taught you anything?

by Groundhog on Jan 3, 2012 3:10 PM PST reply actions

I'll miss Mad Martz, though.

by Groundhog on Jan 3, 2012 3:13 PM PST reply actions

I'm actually interested in seeing what he can do without Mike Holmgren around.

by BrianL on Jan 3, 2012 3:24 PM PST reply actions

Or just a second stint regardless.

I don’t think he would be one of the top candidates, they’re surely looking externally, but I wonder if he wouldn’t find success independently of Seattle, using similar approaches.

Head of catering.

by jacobstevens on Jan 3, 2012 3:50 PM PST up reply actions

Bears do have a relatively finished roster

He might do well bringing them to short-term contention, at least.

Formerly knows as Vasilii, follow me on twitter @dolgorukii

by Thomas Beekers on Jan 3, 2012 5:09 PM PST up reply actions

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha

by twocolorcrayon on Jan 3, 2012 4:49 PM PST reply actions

I've given up on defending Ruskell

He doesn’t suck, but I don’t think he’s a good GM.

Read my tweets or whatever - @SSReporters

by SSreporters on Jan 3, 2012 7:18 PM PST reply actions

So in other words, he sucks.

by StealthHawk on Jan 4, 2012 3:36 AM PST up reply actions

Confirmed.

"You are the molders of their dreams." - Clark Mollenhoff

by EequalsMc2 on Jan 3, 2012 11:34 PM PST reply actions

Great, looking forward to beating his team of Safe Picks in our annual game vs the Bears!

by DetectiveM on Jan 4, 2012 2:21 AM PST up reply actions

I do think it's interesting how perception of Ruskell has changed so much.

It feels like this place has grown increasingly bilious towards him as time has passed… much moreso than the day he actually left.

Have we forgotten what he did for the team? I feel a lot of homerism going on here… “oh we’re so much better off now” kind of thing. We’re the same people that were shitting our pants in happiness when he showed up and we suddenly got to the Superbowl.

by djafrot on Jan 4, 2012 12:06 PM PST reply actions

It's changed because his draft classes aren't performing

It’s highly likely the entire 2009 class except Unger won’t even be on the 2012 team.

None of his players has ever been a long-term mainstay. And honestly it’s his shitty offensive picks and refusal to look at a QB (TEEL!) that are part of the reason we still have a QB mess.

Read my tweets or whatever - @SSReporters

by SSreporters on Jan 4, 2012 12:18 PM PST up reply actions

We did ship off a lot of his guys because they didn't "fit".

And for the record, I do believe that Holmgren was a big factor in that QB scenario. He’s a big fan of veterans.

Also, he did tend to pick with very late picks, because, you know, in the beginning, his team tended to win games.

I wouldn’t argue that he was great or anything, it’s just that the hate gets a little tiring, and quite frequently smells like the “oh, we’re so much better off now because he sucked” thing you hear from our neighbour blog down in San Fran.

by djafrot on Jan 4, 2012 12:47 PM PST up reply actions

A lot? Like who, Darryl Tapp, Kelly Jennings, Aaron Curry, and Josh Wilson? We're better off without them.

by StealthHawk on Jan 4, 2012 3:27 PM PST up reply actions

Sims is doing well but Spencer was a fringe starter on an OL that gave up 49 sacks

Carlson may look really good somewhere else.

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 4, 2012 3:37 PM PST up reply actions

Sims was a casualty of Alex Gibbs, then Gibbs quit and left us stranded. Sims is the only Ruskell player I'd like to have back but it's not that big of a loss.

I still see Lawrence Jackson’s recent success as more of a product of him being in the right situation on a dominant D-line. He was apparently lazy and wouldn’t buy in to Pete Carroll’s philosophies so he’s gone.

by StealthHawk on Jan 4, 2012 4:11 PM PST up reply actions

Yeah, one could make the exact same argument about Clemons.

It’s always a matter of context.

I always wonder what happened with Gibbs.

by djafrot on Jan 5, 2012 3:06 AM PST up reply actions

From what I remember, PC brought in Stacy Andrews

Who wasn’t a Gibbs players, so he threw a fit and retired.

by DetectiveM on Jan 5, 2012 11:50 AM PST up reply actions

There really isn't much evidence of this

Gibbs left around the same time Andrews came here but his decision to leave probably wasn’t about the addition or subtraction of a single player.

He wasn’t getting things done in preseason, Pete was probably expecting better results (especially given the considerable personnel power he was given), Okung was injured early on and he’s an old man (69 when he quit). There were probably a number of reasons why he left but I wouldn’t blame it on one single roster move.

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 5, 2012 12:15 PM PST up reply actions

Dude, Pistol was pretty good

Although Browner might have better ball skills.

Read my tweets or whatever - @SSReporters

by SSreporters on Jan 4, 2012 4:26 PM PST up reply actions

The market doesn't value Wilson's skills all that much

The Ravens let him walk and he signed a 3-year $13.5M contract. For reference, Jonathan Joseph signed a 5 year $48.75M contract and Antonio Cromartie signed a 4-year $32M contract and Nnamdi signed a 5 year $60M contract.

For what it’s worth, I think Browner/Sherman/WT3 isn’t much of a downgrade from 2007-era Trufant/Jennings/Wilson.

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 4, 2012 4:36 PM PST up reply actions

I don't think its a downgrade at all personally.

by StealthHawk on Jan 4, 2012 6:56 PM PST up reply actions

Wow, Wilson isn't Joseph or Cromartie?

He sucks.

As for the two secondaries, I think it’s a little early to say the new guys are quite there yet. But those are totally different contexts, one can’t say that Wilson is bad simply because Thurmond is good.

by djafrot on Jan 5, 2012 3:10 AM PST up reply actions

Yep, and Spencer, and Jackson.

Spencer was playing pretty well for us before his contract was up and a new crew was in town.

Tapp, Jackson, Curry, Wilson are all doing fairly well and/or very well in different systems on new teams. Our defense is VERY specific about what it needs, and they didn’t fit the mold.

by djafrot on Jan 5, 2012 3:12 AM PST up reply actions

On paper, they don't appear to be doing all that well. Certainly nothing we're going to miss.

by StealthHawk on Jan 5, 2012 1:27 PM PST up reply actions

Tapp and Jackson are both backups

Wilson is a getting paid like a journey-man CB and it’s really hard to say that Curry is playing a lot differently in Oakland than he has as a Seahawk (though at least 2 different defensive schemes).

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 5, 2012 2:17 PM PST up reply actions

FWIW, I think Ruskell was more unlucky than bad

and that this current FO hasn’t demonstrated it can produce a consistent playoff contender yet (despite lots of promise). Building a team from scratch requires different tools than maintaining a competitive playoff contender than maintaining a high level of play over many years. Some GMs may be good in some areas and not others.

That said, I seem to notice people rooting for the failure of this FO more than against Ruskell. This is always confusing for me.

by Greetings from the Lord Humongous! on Jan 4, 2012 3:34 PM PST up reply actions

Who's doing that?

At least, on this board? There’s maybe a handful of us that are critical at all. This place is a hell of a lot more “yay us” now than it was a few years ago.

Personally, I’d love for Pete and Co. to be successful. I like the idea of a tough, bruising Seahawks team. I’m just skeptical as hell about a lot of things they’re doing, and worried.

by djafrot on Jan 5, 2012 2:59 AM PST up reply actions

I don't remember anyone being upset when Ruskell left. People were tired of him. You're noticing it more now because more and more of his draft picks are failing.

by StealthHawk on Jan 4, 2012 3:25 PM PST up reply actions

I was OK with him leaving, but grateful as hell for what he did.

What annoys me is the self-congratulatory feeling I get from a lot of people when he comes up, as if they always knew he sucked as a GM. It’s no big deal, but then again, “no big deals” seem to be rankling a lot of people around here lately.

Someone just give me the Kool-Aid and let’s all be happy.

by djafrot on Jan 5, 2012 3:04 AM PST up reply actions

Humans tend to rework our memories of things to fit a better narrative.

So the narrative, the dialog, has changed over time, but there continues to be a bit of a split, or a continuum of opinion on him. I think he was OK, good in some ways, flawed in others. The flaws ended up hurting us through circumstance more than because they were fatal flaws, and I don’t really know how similar or different a second stint somewhere else would compare or turn out.

I think it’s become undeniable by this point, that though I could consider him adequate, it just wasn’t nearly enough to extend the window or properly rebuild. I wish the man well, though, and it will be an interesting study for us, no matter how Chicago turns out, if he ends up being the permanent GM.

Head of catering.

by jacobstevens on Jan 5, 2012 9:40 AM PST up reply actions 1 recs