The Chicago Bears know their offensive history is littered with failures at quarterback. However, one thing this franchise has always prided itself on was being able to run the football. It was true with Gale Sayers, Walter Payton, Neal Anderson, Thomas Jones, Matt Forte, and Jordan Howard. Last season though was a rare time where the offense couldn't even do that right. It is a major reason why the team hired Juan Castillo as their new offensive line coach.
Ranking 29th on the ground is not how to win football games in the NFL. Especially when the quarterback position is anything but settled. Head coach Matt Nagy got a lot of blame for those failures. Fair or not, he went about overhauling his offensive staff. Castillo was one of his primary gets, the two sharing a relationship that started over a decade ago in Philadelphia.
One thing Nagy mentioned about the veteran coach was he always has a plan. He's big on the details. Based on what Castillo had to say about his plans for the offensive line, that much is evident. Right now he sees chaos. His job is to establish order. How will he do that? He explained to the media in a recent press conference.
“Here’s the thing that’s important with that is that in every scheme whether it’s the run game or the pass pro game what’s really important are rules,” Castillo said. “So right what we’re really working on is I’m trying to teach our players the rules without looking at all the fronts. When you’re able to break down and give the guys a rule then it doesn’t matter what front is put in front of them then they’ll understand where to go. And I think that’s the first job. Same thing in the protection. Then the next part is just working the pure fundamentals.”
Juan Castillo believes preparation will make life easier
It seems the coach believes in a different sort of process than others. By setting down a series of rules for the line, he eliminates the need for them to constantly absorb what front they're facing from week to week. Sure that knowledge is still important, but it won't impact nearly as much what they're trying to do.
His job is to tell every blocker where they are going on every play. Then repeat. Then repeat. With enough repetition, it will become ingrained in their heads to where it's second nature. That helps to eliminate mental mistakes. Something that plagued the Bears throughout last season.
After that, the run game becomes about exerting one's will over another. That will be less about fundamentals and more about power and attitude. The Bears have enough beef to deliver the former. Can Castillo bring out more of the latter? Nagy believes so.
