In 1992, the Benedictine College Raven football squad was loaded with talent. Senior quarterback and co-captain Chris Tabor led the team to a 9-1 regular season. Tabor went on after graduation to become a coach.
Tabor is returning to the Bears after having served under Dave Toub on Lovie Smith's staff from 2008-10. Smith was "high" on Tabor's performance and said he "did a super job" at the time. Tabor then spent seven seasons as the Browns Special Teams Coordinator.
The Bears had success on special teams during Tabor's tenure with the team. Tabor plans on creating an aggressive unit that plays with good judgment.
In his inaugural interview at the Halas Hall, the Bears Headquarters in Lake Forest, mention was made that the Bears' three specialists—punter Pat O'Donnell , kicker Mike Nugent and long-snapper Andrew DePaola —are all due to become free agents. How is Tabor prepared to deal with that challenge. His response:
"My last stint I worked for four head coaches, five general managers and two owners, there was a lot of turnover. And with that the rosters always changed, so I think that as a coach you have to be able to adapt. One thing that we say is adapt or die. The dinosaurs couldn't figure it out and they became extinct. Coaches, they don't figure it out, they get fired. So we'll adapt, and I'm looking forward to the challenge of it."
Special Teams Coordinators work with every player on a team to carve out the best use of players. They have one of the best overall understanding of a team's weaknesses and strength and some believe in time they may be more popular head coaching candidates.
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As the football season winds down and fans are settling down to watch the Super Bowl, we like to remind them about the top ten NFL coaching heavyweights who are expertly covered in author Patrick McCaskey's Pillars of the NFL: Coaches Who Have Won Three or More Championships.
Go BC.
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