The Chicago Bears weren't messing around when they said their goal was to improve the offense this offseason. Barely 24 hours after GM Ryan Pace and head coach Matt Nagy concluded their final press conference, three offensive assistants were dismissed. In their places, Nagy brought four new faces. Juan Castillo takes over the offensive line. Clancy Barone gets control of the tight ends and John DeFilippo is the new quarterbacks guy. The most interesting name involved though might be offensive coordinator Bill Lazor.
He was out of the NFL in 2019, taking a break after the Cincinnati Bengals purged their coaching staff following the 2018 season. He is somebody Nagy had hoped to get the year before but was blocked from doing so. Now the two finally have a chance to work together. Lazor took time to speak with play-by-play man Jeff Joniak, former Bears QB Jim Miller and former guard Tom Thayer on Bears All-Access. When asked about the idea of working with Mitch Trubisky?
He made a surprising revelation.
"While I was at the University of Virginia, I visited one particular little high school up there east of Cleveland to see some young sophomore/junior quarterback named Mitch Trubisky. So I actually went to his high school...
...So he might've been one of those guys that when I called him years later when he was coming out in the draft just to get to know him a little bit. As a quarterbacks coach or coordinator getting ready to scout him, when I called him on the phone my name popped up on his phone. Bill Lazor - University of Virginia. So he remembered me."
Bill Lazor loves Trubisky's drive to be the best
Lazor was the offensive coordinator at Virginia from 2010 to 2012. That falls in line with the exact time period Trubisky was dominating Ohio football at Mentor High School. It's rather amazing that Lazor recruited him then and also had eyes for him in 2017 when the Bengals picked 9th in the draft. It seems the football gods made it fate that these two would get together.
Lazor made it clear what has stood out to him about the Bears quarterback already.
"The immediate feeling you get is how enthusiastic he is and how important it is for him to be great. Let's face it. With any learner, right? If you consider yourself a teacher, a coach that is one of things you look for is a guy who is really motivated to great."
It was never a question of work ethic with Trubisky. People respect his willingness to put the time in. That hasn't changed. It's more a matter of whether he can ever grasp the true nuances of playing such a complex position at full NFL speeds. That is what Lazor was brought in to help figure out.
