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Baffoe: John Fox Brings Some Refreshing Confidence To Bears

By Tim Baffoe-

(CBS) Not getting the Chicago Bears quarterback's name right (calling him "Jake Cutler") was about the only record skip that occurred for new coach John Fox at the Halas Hall podium on Monday.

Fox did his best to apply an ointment to the third-degree burns the team and its fans suffered in 2014 under Marc Trestman, even if that wasn't Fox's intention. The theme of the day seemed to be "confidence" — something those who watch the Bears haven't felt in some time. When his press conference was finished, the collective feeling was that this football team is now led by a competent human being, something taken for granted in the last coaching regime.

With Trestman, even those who bought into his odd Doc Brown flux capacitor approach to coaching (raises hand) did so with a cautious optimism. Trestman was different, very much the antithesis of the gruff football coach stereotype. Since Bears fans had zero championships to hang a hat on the square jaws of Lovie Smith, Dick Jauron and Dave Wannstedt prior, different seemed like a decent approach.

It wasn't. It was bad. Really bad.

The weird Trestmanese only compounded the badness. Phrases that at first perked up one's ears — "Growing the man," for example — grew to become infamous punchlines in an era of Bears football that will forever be viewed as the saddest of jokes. Even worse was as the writing on the wall became clearer, Trestman became more opaque with the media. Losing his candor took him from disappointing to despised.

Such wasn't the case as Fox introduced himself to the press and Bears fans. "Holding Jell-O" — what an NFL coaching job is like to him — was as close to confusing coach-speak as he got. Gelatinous in personality he was not.

"I'm brutally honest," Fox said. "Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I'm not afraid or intimidated about telling people the truth."

The sound afterward was the collective satisfied sigh of anyone with an interest in the Bears. Whether Fox will be successful in Chicago can't be assumed. What can be, though, is that the Bears are now being led by a guy who commands respect — something more than one player on the 2014 team inferred was lacking in the locker room — and gives enough of it back to players, media and fans.

Fox toed the company line of tradition and other pathos that have no tangible effects on winning in 2015 and beyond (having to placate the idiots by invoking Mike Ditka's and Brian Urlacher's names was cringe-worthy, but unavoidable). But that was in large part because he was asked questions about that junk.

"The one thing I know is that if you win the division, you go to the playoffs," Fox said regarding the NFC North. "I think this is the oldest division in football. I understand the rivalries. I understand having supremacy in the division."

Notice, though, that even in bowing to the almighty "rivalry" word, Fox framed it in a way that wasn't "Beat da Packers" barf. "Supremacy" -- that's a confident choice of words.

Ditto for Fox's tacit acknowledgment that the Bears aren't a good football team right now (and probably won't be in 2015 despite his best efforts), yet how it doesn't frighten him. He specifically called the task a "challenge" that he's looking forward to.

"We're under attack," he said of what he's walking into. "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen. It's what we sign up for. It's why we're compensated so well for what we do. I explained to my wife one time wondering what time I'm going to be home. I said, 'Honey, I'll get a paper route. I'll be home a lot, but we got to move a lot.' I was younger and not as mature when I said that."

Two weeks ago, Bears guard Kyle Long, on 670 The Score with Laurence Holmes and Patrick Mannelly, insinuated that the players had tuned out Trestman and that he liked what new general manager Ryan Pace had to say about hiring a charismatic head coach. Charisma wasn't a trait applicable to Pace's predecessor, Phil Emery, nor to Emery's epically bad head coach choice.

After word got out that Fox would be the new Bears coach, Long told the Chicago Sun-Times about meeting Fox two years ago while out to dinner.

"(He) ended up sitting at the table for 10 to 15 minutes," Long said. "He was a really cool guy, just a football guy, you know. He was easy to talk to, easy to get along with."

The past few years "a football guy" hasn'tt been the way the head coach position in Chicago has been described. Instead it was more like "a huh? guy" and "a (expletive) guy." Not anymore.

Fox is noncommittal on quarterback Jay Cutler, saying he first needs to get to know him as he left the door open for a change at the position. That's something that should instantly win over a large chunk of the fan base that channels all its negative energy into hating the unsmiley Cutler.

Fox landed highly respected defensive coordinator Vic Fangio on Tuesday after some expected Fangio to opt for a job in Washington. The team goes instantly from the maligned Mel Tucker to someone pretty dang confident, who's name itself appears to be instilling early confidence.

A few years ago it was a creepy coach Kool-Aid being drank because it was all the cult of the Bears had to slake its decades-long thirst. Now, it's drinking in confidence.

That sure does help to get a bad taste out of your mouth.

Tim Baffoe is a columnist for CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimBaffoe.

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