With the Chicago Bears transitioning to a 4-3 defense, linebackers coach Dave Borgonzi has gone into the vault for some inspiration.
Borgonzi shows his players film of former Bears linebackers Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs, who thrived in Lovie Smith’s defense a couple of decades earlier.
These current Bears appreciate seeing former players in this system, like Urlacher and Briggs, whether it’s that Lovie Smith defense or film from Matt Eberflus’ defenses.
“They enjoy that,” Borgonzi said. “They like seeing the former players in the system play, whether it’s Chicago film, Tampa Bay film with coach [Tony] Dungy, Dallas film when coach Flus was there, Indianapolis. We always talk about the system and the style of play. I think they really enjoy doing that.”
Urlacher and Briggs anchored those dominant Bears defenses in the early 2000s, and the pair have combined for 15 Pro Bowls, 5 first-team All-Pro nods and 3 second-team All-Pro nods. Urlacher was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility in 2018.
No one is expecting this group of Bears linebackers to reach those levels. But the hope is this group, featuring Roquan Smith and Nicholas Morrow, will see noticeable improvement in this scheme.
