Commentary: New line coach looks to turn around defense

One year after making history he didn’t want to make in Detroit (being the first 0-16 team in NFL history), Rod Marinelli will attempt to turn around a Bears defense that struggled in 2008.

Chicago has every reason to believe the 60-year-old assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the Bears will be able to make the Bears defense look more like “Monsters of the Midway” and less like the “Care Bear” defense it displayed in 2008.

Marinelli’s track record as a defensive line coach speaks for itself.

He was the defensive line coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers team that won Super Bowl XXXVII, the first championship in team history.

During his tenure in Tampa Bay (2002-06), he built a dominant defensive line, featuring two possible Hall of Fame defensive linemen in Warren Sapp and Simeon Rice.

The talent and potential will be there for Marinelli to lead.

He inherits a dominant, when healthy, defensive tackle in Tommie Harris and has other pass rushers, Alex Brown and Mark Anderson, who have both shown flashes of being able to get to the passer.

Anderson had 12 sacks in 2006, but has never returned to form, sacking the quarterback a combined six times over the last two seasons. He has a lot to prove and will hopefully excel under Marinelli’s guidance.

Brown led the team in sacks last season with six and the entire team netted just 28 sacks.

The defensive line’s inability to get to the quarterback last season was a major problem. Chicago had 28 sacks as a team, 22.5 of which came from the defensive line.

Under Marinelli’s guidance, Tampa Bay established a single-season record in sacks (55), 45.5 of which came from the defensive line he coached.

Perhaps another reason Marinelli will turn the defensive line around is the respect his players have for him.

“He just demands the best out of everybody,” defensive tackle Anthony Adams said. “He expects everybody to be on their stuff and know everything. Just when you think you’ve done your best, he expects you to improve, so it only makes you get better.”

So, don’t be fooled by the poor numbers in Detroit as a head coach. It would be hard for anyone to win with the way the franchise has been run over the last 10 years.

Marinelli has the knowledge and talent with him to remind the fans of the dominance of the Monsters of the Midway 24 years ago.

Combine all this with new starting quarterback Jay Cutler throwing the passes, and maybe, just maybe, Chicago could see a remake of the Super Bowl Shuffle.

Contact Allan Scarabello at sports@daily-journal.com