John Fox Reportedly Fading in Bid to Keep His Job

The John Fox job status is something Chicago Bears fans have monitored since January. More than a few people thought the veteran head coach would be fired. It made some sense. The team just finished a 3-13 season, the worst the franchise had since 1969. In the end they held off. It was felt a rash of injuries played a big part in the collapse. That and there was a desire to maintain continuity. Fair enough. At the same time the NFL consensus is that progress should be expected by the third season of a coach's reign. Simply getting players to play hard each week can't cut it any longer. Chicago should be starting to win more. They've had enough time to remake the roster and install their systems. Yet the same problems remain. Injuries are hitting everywhere. Players are making painful mistakes that often help decide the outcome of games. Mistakes that a more detail-oriented coach might be able to smooth over. Truth be told this continues to be Fox-style football and it seems the Bears don't plan to embrace it much longer.

John Fox job security continues to dim after another mistake-filled loss

It's important to note that this rumor comes from Jason La Canfora. The CBS sports insider has somewhat of a dubious reputation when it comes to accurate information. He's been right at times but not always. So it's important not to take this as gospel. More like a growing sense that that the winds might not be blowing in Fox's direction.

"The next two coaches I am going to list are doing great work in a lot of ways. They have teams with not much talent in some key spots, who are playing very hard, and staying in every game and who actually should have even more wins than they have … but given the realities of their situations coming into the season, it's not going to be enough. The Bears defense is playing out of its mind with Vic Fangio leading that unit (more on that below) and won some games with raw rookie quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, but the rumblings about imminent change in Chicago are strong. Fox has nothing to be ashamed of at 3-5 with this team, but even if they duplicate that record in the second half I foresee changes here after two already-lean years in Chicago."

Fox is now 12-31 as Bears head coach. He has eight games left to go. Even if he won all eight, and that's not going to happen, he'd still be just 20-31. The general feeling is that two factors are determining his status as head coach moving forward. One is the Bears' win-loss record. While only GM Ryan Pace knows the line that must be cleared, estimates believe at least a 7-9 mark is needed to save his job.

The other is the progression of rookie quarterback Mitch Trubisky

That second one is undoubtedly the sticking point for Fox. Pace put his job on the line when he traded up for the North Carolina quarterback six months ago. Trubisky's success will make or break his tenure in Chicago. Thus far Fox and his staff haven't exactly showcased an ability to put the rookie in advantageous positions.

The play calling has been limited and predictable. It's clear Fox is less intent on applying a scheme that Trubisky is comfortable with (like Houston is doing with Deshaun Watson) and more just running the football a lot. They aren't finding creative ways to get the ball out of his hands quickly or using his notable ability to run. Yes the team suffers from an acute lack of talent at wide receiver. Then again one could say New England, Kansas City and Arizona are stacked with weapons either and yet all three of those teams rank in the top 10. Why? Each features a top quality offensive mind calling the shots. With respect to Dowell Loggains he's never shown a consistent grasp on how to adjust the system to the players he has. It's growing more apparent by the week that Alshon Jeffery and Cameron Meredith covered up a lot of his faults last year. So far Fox is not looking good. He's on course to finish 6-10. Trubisky is struggling. The buzz may be proven right.