The Chicago Bears made a quality hire when they tabbed John Fox as the franchise's latest head coach.
He's a strong, veteran NFL presence who will surely help fill the leadership void left by the mostly hands-off approach of bumbling former Bears head coach, Marc Trestman and human embodiment of a "Wings" rerun, quarterback Jay Cutler.
It was and perhaps still is the most important void for the team to fill, considering both Trestman and Cutler seemed jointly incapable of performing their duties as leaders of men by season's end.
Kicker Jay Feely, who joined the Bears Dec. 3 after Robbie Gould went down with an injury, realized right away during his short tenure with the organization that things were amiss in the Windy City. Feely is currently on the Bears roster.
"They lacked leadership in the locker room from players and also from the coaching staff," Feely said during an interview with Mad Dog Sports Radio, per The Chicago Tribune. "Trestman was a super-nice guy, I really liked him, but I don't think he held guys accountable enough, and I don't think he had enough leadership in that locker room."
Trestman, per Feely, was awkward when speaking to players and never really connected with the team.
But for Feely, who has spent 14-years in the NFL, it was Cutler's glaring lack of leadership qualities that really stood out and, ostensibly, damned the season.
"When you have a quarterback who doesn't like to lead, it leaves a hole in that team. Other guys can fill that role, like a Baltimore with Ray Lewis -- somebody can step up and fill it -- but when a quarterback is not a leader, there's always going be a vacuum there.
"Jay Cutler can win on the field. But he would be so much better and the team would be so much better if you're a leader off the field as well. And I never saw him lead verbally. If he doesn't want to do that, if he doesn't want to be that person, if it's not in his DNA, then you're always gonna have a vacuum there that somebody else needs to step into and fill."
While Cutler is only one year into his seven-year, $126.7 million ($54 million guaranteed) contract, it will cost the team only $3 million to cut him after next season, meaning that if Fox can't whip him into shape soon, the team can very easily say goodbye to the perpetually dour signal-caller in 2016.
