Luke Richardson Fired As Chicago Coaching Carousel Continues

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Good morning Chicago fans! Attack your Monday and find the motivation you need to have a great week!

Don’t be like our teams who were gifted new coaches and decided to lay down. We’re stuck watching 3 lifeless teams with a combined 22-41-2 record…

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RESULTS

L - 49ers 38, Bears 13: New coach, even worse showing

• This game was over before it started. The Bears punted on all 5 1st half drives while the defense got bulldozed for 24 quick points.

• 1st half yards: 49ers 320, Bears 4

• After the offense’s historically bad first half on Thanksgiving with only 2 first downs, they turned around and only had 1 first down in yesterday’s 1st half

• Thomas Brown is easy to root for and commands the room well when he speaks. With that said, jumping up from passing game coordinator to head coach in 17 days was a recipe for failure, and the team showed little effort or execution with him captaining the ship.

• Brock Purdy (20/25, 325 yards, 2 TD) and George Kittle (6 rec, 151 yards) found holes in the Bears zone coverages on nearly every attempt

• At least the Matt Eberflus defense was solid on 3rd down and in the red zone. Not this version of the defense (3rd down: 6/12, red zone: 5/6)

• Caleb Williams (17/23, 134 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) found life in the 2nd half and had 2 impressive touchdown throws to Rome Odunze. He was also sacked 7 times, fumbled the ball away on a strange backwards pass, and was the victim of another disjointed offensive attack.

• DC Eric Washington met with the entire defense on the sideline after they gave up a 3rd touchdown. This team really has more meetings than positive plays in football games…

• Shoutout to TJ Edwards - the ONLY player who responded to Thomas Brown’s message about playing with violence! He was punishing people!

• This was supposed to be the bounceback game. The extra juice. The get right game. The new coach facing a beaten up 49ers team riding a 3-game losing streak. Instead, they were embarrassed even more than when the 2-win Patriots dominated them at Soldier Field.

• A 7 game losing streak!?!?!?! After starting 4-2!?!?!? Just a reminder that the 2022 Bears, starting a full rebuild, started 3-4 and then lost 10 straight.

SEASON RECORD: 4-9 (Last place)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

TJ Edwards

Put some respect on his name! 10 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 sack

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Caleb Williams to Rome Odunze touchdown toe tap

NEWS & NOTES

President Kevin Warren and GM Ryan Poles held an uncomfortable press conference last Monday to discuss the firing of Matt Eberflus

• Warren maintained an optimistic, confident tone with a wordy opening statement, and Poles looked like he was attending a funeral and was forced to say a minimum number of words

• I HOPE the power structure at Halas Hall has not dramatically changed. Warren was hired after Poles and was supposed to be a resource and sounding board for Poles. If Warren has too heavy of a hand in football operations, the organization messed up the hierarchy again.

• They want a “leader of men” to be the next head coach. That is the same qualification from the search that landed Eberflus. Mike Vrabel is an available coach who fits the bill, as even Derrick Henry called him a “leader of men” in an interview after Vrabel was fired from the Titans.

• Late game situations and not winning enough games were the main reasons they shared for firing Eberflus

With Thomas Brown serving as interim head coach, WR coach Chris Beatty was elevated to interim offensive coordinator. Brown is still calling plays for the offense.

Since the start of the 2023 season, the Bears have had:

• 2 Head Coaches (Eberflus, Brown)

• 4 Offensive Coordinators (Getsy, Waldron, Brown, Beatty)

• 3 Defensive Coordinators (Williams, Vacant, Washington)

Andrew Billings is the Bears 2024 Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee

Signed RB Demetric Felton to the practice squad, released OL Austen Pleasants

Another week, another ONE takeaway for the defense:

Next up ➡ at 11-2 Minnesota on Monday night 12/16 😨

TROPHY TRACKER (4/10 ➡ 🏆) 📉

RESULTS

L - Maple Leafs 4, Blackhawks 1: Another one goal game thanks to Anthony Stolarz

• Hawks outshot the Leafs 28-22 but couldn’t capitalize on enough chances due to Stolarz’s impressive game

• Recent power play momentum came to a halt as the Hawks could not score in 4 opportunities

L - Bruins 4, Blackhawks 2: Bad loss turned into Luke Richardson’s last hurrah

• Alec Martinez blocked a shot, played hurt, and was on the ice for ALL 4 Bruins goals 🤢 

• Alex Vlasic and Jason Dickinson scored on quick wristers

L - Jets 4, Blackhawks 2: No new coach boost in 5th straight loss

• Hawks played a bit more aggressive in Sorensen’s scheme, but they were burned too many times by defensive mishaps and were outshot 29-14

• Defensemen are allowed to score goals?!? Vlasic and Martinez scored in the 1st period

SEASON RECORD: 8-17-2 (18 points)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Alex Vlasic

The NHL should watch out for Vlasic with offense…2 goals on 7 shots

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Connor Bedard juke move

NEWS & NOTES

🚨 Luke Richardson fired as head coach, Anders Sorensen named interim head coach 🚨

Kyle Davidson must have been inspired by the Bears 7 days earlier as another Chicago coach loses his job.

This felt like a quick hook. Davidson publicly stated one month ago that it was ridiculous to consider firing Richardson. 26 games into Year 3 of a 7 (?) year rebuild is early to judge your first hand-selected coach.

Richardson was respected by the players and praised around the NHL as a good guy. He will get another job somewhere else. He was brought here in 2022 to create a foundation for the new era of Blackhawks hockey.

In two seasons with AHL-level rosters, he seemed to create a good culture. The players enjoyed being at the rink, everyone cared and wanted to win, and the defensive responsibility required to win was starting to show up.

After an offseason featuring unexpected veteran signings, this season became judgment time for Richardson. The expectation was to take a step. Get out of the bottom of the NHL. For as much as the players talked about the good vibes or intent to play better, the losses piled up quickly.

Maybe I should have been less surprised at the news. Just in the last few weeks, Taylor Hall didn’t appreciate the lack of communication when he was scratched, Teuvo Teravainen publicly shared that everyone was losing confidence, and Connor Bedard talked about his frustration with every media outlet on the planet.

This spiraled fast. Trying to dig them out now is a wise idea. Trudging through 4 more months of hockey could bury some of the young players forever.

If Davidson had any hope in Richardson surviving as the long-term coach, I think he deserved the rest of the season. But if he was only here as the A to B development guy before a Joe Maddon type showed up, then the decision was necessary.

Hopefully they score more than one goal more regularly.

Teuvo Teravainen was selected to play for Finland in the 4 Nations tournament. No other Blackhawks will participate.

Petr Mrazek left Saturday’s game with an injury and will miss 1-2 weeks

Recalled Kevin Korchinski and Drew Commesso from the AHL, placed Joey Anderson on waivers

TROPHY TRACKER (2/10 ➡ 🏆)

RESULTS

W - Bulls 128, Nets 102: The Buzi and Giddey show!

• Josh Giddey had his first triple-double as a Bull (20p/11a/13r), and Matas Buzelis had his best game in the NBA (20p/5r in 22 min)

• Bulls dominated play with a balanced scoring attack and huge advantages in fastbreak points (32-15) and points in the paint (62-40)

W - Bulls 139, Spurs 124: Blowout against the Wemby-less Spurs

• Ayo Dosunmu (27p/11a/10r) and Giddey became the first Bulls teammates to record a triple-double in consecutive games since Jordan and Pippen in 1993

• Nikola Vucevic went crazy with 39 points on 16/22 shooting

• Bulls tied a franchise record with their 7th straight game of 50%+ FG shooting

L - Pacers 132, Bulls 123: Streaky shooting ended the dream of a 3-game win streak

• Bulls shot 9/17 from 3 in the 1st quarter and then missed 10 straight 3s

• Contested shots or not, the Bulls defense could not slow down the Pacers 3PT shooting (60.0%)

L - 76ers 108, Bulls 100: Bullied by a 6-15 Sixers team

• Bulls held the Sixers to 9/36 from 3PT but were dominated on the glass

• Certified Bulls-killer Joel Embiid had 31p/12r and held Vooch to only 13p/8r

SEASON RECORD: 10-15 (T/9th place in East)

⭐ STAR OF THE WEEK ⭐

Matas Buzelis

The rook is in Billy Donovan’s circle of trust! Averaged 21 minutes and 11p/4.3r per game

🎥 PLAY OF THE WEEK 🎥

Ayo Dosunmu steal & Julian Phillips dunk

NEWS & NOTES

After their elimination from the NBA Cup, 2 games were added to their schedule:

12/13 vs. Hornets

12/16 at Raptors

Maybe losing Cup games was a big brain move to get a couple easier matchups later on?

Zach LaVine accidentally hit Matas Buzelis in the face in the Spurs game. Subsequently, we were all introduced to:

TROPHY TRACKER (1/10 ➡ 🏆)

NEWS & NOTES

Signed LHP Matthew Boyd to a 2-year, $29M contract

• This is the low end of the “middle market” the Cubs have been tied to in free agency

• Boyd was impressive in 2024 after recovering from Tommy John and went on to pitch 11.2 scoreless playoff innings for the Guardians

• This feels like a high risk/high reward move for the Cubs. Boyd has a 5-pitch arsenal and the “pitchability” the Cubs want on their staff. He looked like a new guy last season. But he also hasn’t pitched 100 innings since 2019 and has had an up-and-down career.

• He could be solid in the rotation! I’m scared because of the Drew Smylys of the world. You can’t pay that much money for a fringe starter/long reliever who may not have the best stuff and will end up eating garbage time innings from the pen.

• Are they targeting every Guardians pitcher??? Something to monitor…

• One more starter would still be nice!

The MLB Winter Meetings began yesterday!

• Juan Soto signed with the Mets for $765M!!!!!!

• Thanks to Soto opening the floodgates, this is trending to be the most active meetings we have seen in a while

• The Cubs have been mentioned in SO many reports and appear to be VERY active in trying to improve their roster

• Reports connected the Cubs to White Sox starter Garrett Crochet and various Mariners starters

• Nico Hoerner and Cody Bellinger continue popping up in trade rumors

Hired Jose Javier from the Yankees organization as their first base coach

TROPHY TRACKER (5/10 ➡ 🏆)

Moises Ballesteros

The star prospect gave back to his hometown of Los Teques, Venezuela!

He spoke to the kids at Guaicaipuro Prospect Academy and gave them free baseball equipment courtesy of Under Armor. He used to be a part of the same academy and is grateful for making it to the position he is in now.

Read more:

The MLB Winter Meetings are the most exciting thing in Chicago sports right now.

Mid-December was supposed to a playoff push for the Bears.

Mid-December was supposed to be a fun Blackhawks team that was must-watch TV when the puck was on Connor Bedard’s stick.

Mid-December was supposed to be…well…the Bulls are what we thought they were.

But here we are. Excited for the possibility of some kind of transaction for the Cubs. Will they make the right one? Probably not. Will they make an unexpected splash? I doubt it. But the hot stove is burning, and everything else has been extinguished.

The Hawks won’t be exciting until more prospects come up and their play style improves. The Bulls won’t be exciting until…well…they clean house.

I will recklessly put my hope in the Bears this offseason when they hire a new coach and add more talent to the roster. They have a franchise quarterback, so there is a light at the end of the tunnel despite the incomprehensible dysfunction across the board.

Until that glorious day when the Bears hire the worst possible head coaching candidate, the Cubs roster is the only entity with some life. They underachieved last season and have made questionable decisions in recent years. But their farm system is highly ranked, their lineup is filled with good players, and trade rumors are FLYING.

Give me a roster shakeup that will bring October baseball back to Wrigley Field.

These meetings are my Super Bowl. I’m ready.

Ramona Shelburne & Jamal Collier - Inside Lonzo Ball’s unprecedented 1,000-day return (ESPN)

Courtney Cronin - Inside the Bears’ firing of Matt Eberflus (ESPN)

Michael Baumann - The Boyds Are Back in Town (Fangraphs)

Scott Powers - Oliver Moore learning to influence game (The Athletic)

Andy Martinez - An inconspicuous way Matthew Boyd adds value (Marquee Sports Network)

Ben Pope - Nick Foligno wants afternoon games (Chicago Sun-Times)

Chicago Cubs - Matt Shaw | On Deck (YouTube)

Chicago Blackhawks - Every Shift Episode 3 (YouTube)

Thanks for reading! Will you have more Amazon boxes delivered to your house this week than the number of moves the Cubs will make?