The Chicago Bears faithful put up with a lot - perhaps more than any other NFL franchise's fanbase - last season.
Quarterback Jay Cutler's petulance. Head coach Mark Trestman's ineptitude. The unexpected, overnight decline of the defense.
Put it all together and there wasn't much to be happy about in the Windy City by the season's end, culminating in both Trestman and GM Phil Emery being relieved of their duties, perhaps in an act born as much of mercy as of accountability.
With John Fox now taking the reins of the team and new GM Ryan Pace tasked with stocking the cupboard with talent, Bears fans are again cautiously optimistic.
Only, they may not need to cautious with their hopes for next season.
"Few NFL teams have as much base talent as the Bears, so when Marc Trestman couldn't do better than a 5-11 record in 2014, he was replaced by John Fox. Fox knows how to run a team, but the real upgrade here is the addition of ex-49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, who excelled with an undermanned defense last season and will coach rings around former Bears DC Mel Tucker," writes Doug Farrar of Sports Illustrated.
"New general manager Ryan Pace seems like an agile and open-minded sort, and if the new staff can corral Jay Cutler and bring out the best in him, this team could challenge the entire NFC. It's good to remember that although Fox is a defensive coach at heart, his teams have gone to a Super Bowl with Jake Delhomme under center, and won a playoff game with Tim Tebow."
Fox helmed the Broncos to three straight winning seasons and four first-place finishes in the AFC West. Fangio joins the Bears after four unbelievably successful years running the defense with the San Francisco 49ers - since 2011, his unit never finished lower than fifth in yards allowed per game and only once finished outside the top five - a 10th-place finish this past season - in total points.
Tucker's unit, on the other hand, finished this year 30th in the league in yards allowed per game and 31st in total points.
The loss of Charles Tillman certainly has hurt and the transition to a 3-4 under Fangio won't happen overnight, but with players like Shea McClellin providing little in the way of contribution to this point - and probably jacked up at the idea of returning to the defensive scheme that made him a first-round NFL draft pick - and guys like Brandon Marshall, Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte wasted on an offense unable to produce, the coaching change may do wonders for a team already replete with quality NFL talent on both sides of the ball.
Defensive end Jared Allen, a veteran of 11 NFL seasons, has already dubbed the new coaching regime a "win now" staff.
As is always the case, a lot of the team's success hinges on Cutler and the coach's ability to get the most out of him. His outsized contract means Bears fans must endure at least one more season of his personality and play, but if Fox can provide the steadying presence and veteran leadership the group was so sorely lacking last season, perhaps even Cutler can become a positive member of a rejuvenated Bears team prepared to challenge for the NFC crown and, possibly, even the Super Bowl.
