Chicago Bears defensive end Jared Allen is a veteran of 11 NFL seasons and three NFL franchises.
He's seen coaching staffs change, rosters shaken up and felt his fair share of successes.
Allen, in speaking to players around the league who know and have played for new Bears head coach, John Fox, believes that he and the coaching staff will come into the Windy City next season with expectations for winning immediately.
"What the organization's done is they've really put together a coaching staff that's a win-now type of staff. I think with the talent we have on our roster this can be a staff that can maximize everything that we do," Allen said, according to NBC Sports. "Obviously John has a great track record. You talk to players that have played for him, we have mutual friends, everybody speaks highly of him and I'm just excited to see where the future goes."
This past season, his first with the Bears, was not the best of Allen's career, personally or in terms of overall team achievement.
A year after leaving Minnesota Vikings fans with the lasting memory of 11.5 sacks, two seasons after posting a career-high 22.0 sacks, Allen brought the Bears faithful only 5.5 sacks, well off his career average.
It was a down year for the entire Bears organization though - and specifically Chicago's notoriously strong defense - as they finished up the season at 5-11 and fourth place in the NFC North.
The organization jettisoned head coach, Marc Trestman, in the offseason and replaced him with the unexpectedly free, Fox, formerly of the Denver Broncos.
Fox, who left the Broncos with a 46-18 regular season record, is viewed as a strong, veteran NFL presence that can provide the type of locker room leadership the team was so sorely lacking last year under Trestman.
While he won't be able to fix everything in his inaugural offseason, there is more than enough talent on both sides of the ball for Allen's "win now" expectations of Fox and his staff to hold water.
