Under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Adam Gase and quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains, Bears quarterback Jay Cutler produced the best single season of his career in 2015.
Career-best passer rating: 92.3. Career-low interceptions for a full season: 11. Second-best completion percentage: 64.4. Career-best (tied) yards per pass attempt: 7.6.
And the bottom line: It wasn’t good enough.
Now Gase has moved on to coach the Miami Dolphins, leading to Loggains being promoted to offensive coordinator and a new mentor (Dave Ragone) coming in to coach quarterbacks. The Bears made additions in free agency and the draft with the intention of upgrading the line in front of Cutler, and they added a running back in the draft.
Meaning: The focus, fair or not, is on Cutler and, by extension, Loggains.
“The shell of the offense will stay the same,” said Loggains on Friday. “It’s been the same since coach Fox has been a head coach. The language and everything will be the same but it will evolve like it would have if Adam would have been here.”
Insiders told CSNChicago.com that the evolution is expected to include an even greater tilt of the offense toward a power run game, up from the 45.7 percent running the offense did last year.
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But the offense still runs through the quarterback, and backsliding by Cutler can undo the best-laid plans for the offense under Loggains.
“I’m looking forward to coaching him every day and continuing the process we’ve made and build off that where we ended last year,” Loggains said. “But we definitely could be better.
“Obviously some dynamics change. Now there is a different quarterbacks coach but Jay and I will be in constant communication just like last year where I was in charge of running every meeting. I will be involved in the quarterbacks meetings and be around still.”