RIP Mike Ditka

[tower912]

And he didn't have Buddy Ryan's 20 minutes of mad genius.

[The Sultan]

And he didn't have Buddy Ryan's 20 minutes of mad genius.

Or, most importantly, his defensive personnel.

[tower912]

Both/and.

[lostpassword]

I mean, I totally understand

His winning percentage with the Bears is top 10 all time for coaches with more than 8 seasons of experience. For reference, his winning percentage over his seasons in Chicago is better than Bill Walsh's in SF.

Matt LaFleur- 0.652 (year 8)
Mike Ditka (Chicago) - 0.631

Tell me more.


Ditka is not doubt an all timer, but there are multiple Bear players/coaches I would rank above Ditka in all-time most influential - Halas, Butkus, Payton.... Grange and Luckman in the conversation too.

[WhiteTrash]

Matt LaFleur- 0.652 (year 8)
Mike Ditka (Chicago) - 0.631

Tell me more.


Ditka is not doubt an all timer, but there are multiple Bear players/coaches I would rank above Ditka in all-time most influential - Halas, Butkus, Payton.... Grange and Luckman in the conversation too.

MLF's HoF playing career was more impressive than Ditka's too. Suck it Bears fans!

[JWags85]

Matt LaFleur- 0.652 (year 8)
Mike Ditka (Chicago) - 0.631

Tell me more.

And LaFleur, like McCarthy and Ditka, is a good to very good coach, well above "mediocre".  It was obviously front weighted and all of the last 4 years have dragged that winning percentage down, but his track record is still enviable compared to MANY across the league.  He'd get another job immediately if the Packers fired him.

His biggest issue, even way more than McCarthy or Ditka, is how bad his playoff record is, which is a totally understandable gripe.  He and Sean McDermott are two peas in a pod in that regard over the last decade or so.

[MU82]

Yup, as an objective observer of the Packers-Bears game, with absolutely no dog in the fight, I was thinking that Matt LaFleur didn't look like the worst coach in NFL history.

[Pakuni]

The wreck that was Ditka's time in New Orleans probably unfairly colors his overall success.
Post-Buddy Ryan, Ditka still went 65-41 (.631) with the Bears and was putting together 11-5 seasons seasons with Mike Tomczak and a young Jim Harbaugh sharing the QB duties. Those teams never got back to a Suoer Bowl, mostly because they kept running into really good Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs teams.
Not an elite coach, but a very good one, at least in Chicago.

Nobody would have won with the rosters he had in New Orleans ... partially his fault because he helped build those teams.
But consider, over three seasons his starting QBs were:
Billy Joe Hobert - 12 games
Billy Joe Tolliver - 11 games
Heath Shuler - 9 games
Kerry Collins - 7 games
Danny Wuerffel - 6 games
Rookie Jake Delhomme - 2 games
Doug Nussmeier - 1 game

Who's winning with that? The fact he had a couple of 6-win seasons with that garbage is actually kind of respectable.

[Hards Alumni]

Chicago football needs to move on and find better representation off the field from their ex players. Be more like Mark Chmura

It's pretty crazy how many people you see walking around dressed up like Mark Chmura on game day in Green Bay.  Kinda almost the exact same thing!

[Hards Alumni]

Mike Greenberg wants Ditka to be the logo of the NFL like West is for the NBA.

The NFL isn't going to have a logo, but Ditka was greatly influential on the NFL like West in the NBA.

IMO, the positive influence of the Packers and Bears on building the NFL can't be overstated.

Incredibly average coach should not be the face of the NFL.

[Hards Alumni]

And LaFleur, like McCarthy and Ditka, is a good to very good coach, well above "mediocre".  It was obviously front weighted and all of the last 4 years have dragged that winning percentage down, but his track record is still enviable compared to MANY across the league.  He'd get another job immediately if the Packers fired him.

His biggest issue, even way more than McCarthy or Ditka, is how bad his playoff record is, which is a totally understandable gripe.  He and Sean McDermott are two peas in a pod in that regard over the last decade or so.

MLF is a clown.  I'd be stoked if someone else hired his bum ass.

[Uncle Rico]

It's pretty crazy how many people you see walking around dressed up like Mark Chmura on game day in Green Bay.  Kinda almost the exact same thing!

I do still see people in Josh Jacobs jerseys and shirseys.

[Hards Alumni]

I do still see people in Josh Jacobs jerseys and shirseys.

Same!  Uhhhh innocent until proven guilty? 

[Shaka Shart]

It's pretty crazy how many people you see walking around dressed up like Mark Chmura on game day in Green Bay.  Kinda almost the exact same thing!

All packer fans look the same, to me this is actually true

[Uncle Rico]

Same!  Uhhhh innocent until proven guilty? 

Now that they've won 2 in a row, we should start hearing, "well, the legal process has played out and blah, blah, blah"

[WhiteTrash]

Incredibly average coach should not be the face of the NFL.

Ditka nor anyone else will be the face of the NFL.

He's in the HoF as a player, not as a coach.

This silly Greenberg idea was simply based on his fairly unique contribution as an all-time TE, SB winning coach and long time broadcaster who added much to the NFL across decades. Does anyone else check all those boxes?

I don't get the obsession of only viewing Ditka as a coach.  I mean, this week, I heard Brady and Gronk talk about what a game changer he was as ...... a tight end and no mention of him as a coach.

[Pakuni]

Now that they've won 2 in a row, we should start hearing, "well, the legal process has played out and blah, blah, blah"

The run isn't going to establish itself, Rico.

[MU82]

Ditka nor anyone else will be the face of the NFL.

He's in the HoF as a player, not as a coach.

This silly Greenberg idea was simply based on his fairly unique contribution as an all-time TE, SB winning coach and long time broadcaster who added much to the NFL across decades. Does anyone else check all those boxes?

I don't get the obsession of only viewing Ditka as a coach.  I mean, this week, I heard Brady and Gronk talk about what a game changer he was as ...... a tight end and no mention of him as a coach.

It was a talking head just yammering. It's a non-story. It would be like JB saying that the "AL" on each MU hoops uniform get replaced with an "18" - and it has as much chance of happening.

But I guess Greenberg did his job, in that it has gotten folks talking about it, and has even gotten some all stirred up.