How The Bears Once Gave Clancy Barone the Weekend From Hell

Clancy Barone arrived to join the Chicago Bears a couple of weeks ago as their new tight ends coach. He'll probably have the toughest task of anybody on the offensive staff as that position was a nightmare throughout 2019. Barone is ready for it though. He has well over a decade of experience under his belt, spending much of that time coaching up tight ends. He's been to and won a Super Bowl. He understands the task ahead and what must be done.

So how exactly did he get here? Well Barone spent the 2019 season at home, getting his first real break from football in years. As it turns out though, there was added motivation for him taking that time beyond a simple need for rest. It actually stems from one of the more memorable weekends in recent Bears history. Week 17 of the 2018 season. Barone, who was offensive line coach in Minnesota at the time, explained on Bears All-Access with Jeff Joniak and Tom Thayer about how that nightmare of a two-day stretch began.

"My mom was 83, she's 84 now. She'd had some very serious medical conditions. It was the night before we played the Bears in Week 17 of 2018. My mom had a six-hour brain surgery."

Whoa. One can only imagine what was going through Barone's head the next day. Certainly nothing good as the Vikings watched their playoff hopes get shattered by Chicago 24-10. Much of that courtesy of a struggling Vikings offensive line.

Thankfully it all worked out in the end.

"I was there with her when she was going through speech therapy and physical therapy. She's up walking and talking again. I just talked to her the other day. She's living the best life she has in many, many years."

Clancy Barone arrives in Chicago fresh and focused

This is good news for the Bears. They aren't getting an assistant coach who might be a little burnt out and lacking full commitment due to his mother's ailments. Everything in his personal life is squared away. He's had a year off to recharge. The guy is ready to return and get back to work. So the timing couldn't be much better from the team's perspective. The tight ends will have 100% of his attention and energy.

Word out of the Senior Bowl down in Mobile, Alabama is the Bears have already begun meeting with several intriguing prospects. The odds are quite strong that GM Ryan Pace plans to add at least one new face to the depth chart before the end of April. Barone, who has a long history of coaching some really good players like Alge Crumpler and Antonio Gates, will be ready and waiting.