The Bears and Browns coaching staffs were selected to coach in the Senior Bowl because they had the worst 2016 records among teams that retained their head coaches.
So, while it’s not exactly something Bears coach John Fox will put on his list of top career achievements, Fox believes the Bears are better for having spent a week coaching more than 40 of the top 2017 draft prospects on the North team.
“I’d rather coach it, other than qualifying for it, I’d rather coach it [than evaluate from the bleachers],” Fox said Saturday. “We got tremendous insight.
“I think we learned a ton [about the players]. How much they interact, how they learn, how coachable they are. Usually this is the first look for coaches [at the draft prospects]. What’s been kind of nice is actually being in the meeting room, watching film and interacting with them. It’s a big catapult in my mind.”
The South won the actual Senior Bowl game Saturday, 16-15. More importantly, the Bears and Browns staffs took their players through an NFL-like week of meetings and practices with coaches, scouts and executives from around the league evaluating the practices.
Bears General Manager Ryan Pace said the team had scouts sit in on each position group’s meetings throughout the week to gauge not only how quickly players caught on to what was being taught, but how they interacted with other players and Bears employees.
“There are guys right away we’re talking about that we’re all on the same page with not only with what we’re doing on the field but what they’re doing behind the scenes,” Pace said. “Talking to Fox or to me is one thing. How a guy treats your third trainer can be a little revealing.”
Pace said the Bears go forward with their draft preparation knowing “this guy is football intelligent, this guy is good with his teammates, this guy loves football,” and said that kind of information can be important.
“These are things that over a week’s timespan really reveal themselves,” Pace said. “Our antennas were up. It’s been awesome.”
