Jeremy Bates joins Chicago Bears as new quarterbacks coach - NFL News
The Chicago Bears hired Jeremy Bates on Tuesday to become their new quarterbacks coach and the new trainer has been welcomed to the franchise by head coach Lovie Smith and quarterback Jay Cutler.
Bates who was unemployed during the 2011-12 season had previously worked with Cutler during his time with the Denver Broncos and had played a big role in the quarterback’s development.
The new trainer will work under the Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice who took over the role after Mike Martz was fired from the job.
Coach Lovie Smith talking with the Bears official website welcomed the new hiring.
"His history with Jay was a big thing," coach Lovie Smith told the team's official website. "And not just history with Jay but a good history, a productive history with him helping Jay as a quarterback."
The Bears had fired offensive coordinator Mike Martz along with quarterbacks coach Shane Day after Chicago failed to qualify for the playoffs this year on the back of some poor performances in attack.
Cutler was more than ecstatic at the hiring of his former mentor and believed that Bates will be a huge success in Chicago.
"He was very vital in my growth and my experience as a quarterback (in Denver), the last couple years he had full control of my development and our plays coming in. He's a grinder. He's a guy that's going to work extremely hard to find weaknesses in defenses
and he's going to be able to present it to us in a way that we understand and will be able to make plays where we can take advantage of those weaknesses."
This was the first hiring made in the front office after new general manager Phil Emery took over the role in January.
Chicago had a poor end to the 2011-12 season after a brilliant start. The Bears lost quarterback Jay Cutler and running back Matt Forte to season ending injuries leaving the offence without two of its most vital assets.
The loss of both players was devastating as Chicago lost five of its last six games to end the season with a poor 8-8 record and miss out once more on the postseason.
The Bears are now rebuilding for the new season and fans would hope that Bates hiring would help both Cutler and replacement quarterback Caleb Hanie perform much better in the new season.
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