The Bears have fired offensive coordinator Ron Turner, as well as offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton and tight ends coach Rob Boras, according to a league source.

Also, the Bears are expected to name assistant Rod Marinelli the defensive coordinator, according to a source. He will relieve head coach Lovie Smith of those duties.

I love both moves.  I have been a proponent of Marinelli’s since the beginning and I still feel that he can be a great defensive coordinator.  As far as Ron Turner is concerned, this was a long time coming and I’m not exactly sad to see him go.  Good riddance.

Offensive Line: On some plays Orlando Pace looks like 100 years old, a staggering giant unable to keep up with outside pass-rushers.  On the other hand, some plays he gobbles up defensive linemen and gets a good push on run plays.  We’ll see what happens with him.  Chris Williams has looked better and better each game; changing positions may have been just what the doctor ordered for him.  Overall it looks solid and Cutler’s ability to scramble will buy him some time as well when the line leaks a bit.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends/Running Backs: Forte, Olsen and Clark look great on the inside and on screens.  Cutler seems to love using them too, and he spreads the ball well.  Hester and Bennett are obviously not elite receivers, but so far they have been adequate and that’s all they need to be.  Some of these other young guys like Iglesias and Arimodoshysoieshu look decent too, but probably won’t be big playmakers this season.  In terms of the running game, Forte is gold.  They should consider, however, playing some more of Kevin Jones this year to keep Forte fresh.  Jones is a solid #2 option.

Quarterback: I love Jay Cutler.  That two-minute drill at the end of the first half made me smile so hard my face hurt.

Defensive Line: Whatever Rod Marinelli did, its working.  The entire defensive line ahs looked young and quick for a lot of this preseason.  Even though losing Dvoracek hurts, it wasn’t unexpected, and the whole line looks younger and has more energy than they have since 2006.

Linebackers: Nothing terrible, nothing spectacular.  Urlacher is not the top middle linebacker in the league anymore, but he is still top 5 or so and Briggs is a monster on the outside.  Pisa didn’t look too bad either.

Secondary: Kevin Payne is a great run-stopping safety but he is extremely shaky in coverage (which, if you remember, is very important in a Cover 2).  Danieal Manning is okay but the rest of the bunch is bad.  And don’t even get me started on the cornerbacks.  McBride and Vasher are just not very good.  We will see if any of the young guys they drafted have an impact this season.  I like this Afalava kid, he seems to have the tools, but he might be a year or two away from having any real impact at safety.

Special Teams: Great.  Hester looks to be rounding back into form (which means stupid fumbles and bad judgments with the occasional 80-yard return peppered in).  The kick coverage team looks really good and so does Maynard’s boot.  Dave Toub has done a spectacular job with special teams over the last 6 years and there are no signs that this year will be any different.

Overall I still believe this team can be a 10-12 win team, if the defensive line can cover up for the weaknesses in the secondary.  The schedule is nothing to laugh at either, even though we play Detroit twice we also play all 4 teams that competed in the conference championships last season.  Whatever happens it will be an exciting season with Cutler at the helm of the offense.  Go Bears!

We'll find out if Marinelli is really an Autobot or a Decepticon soon enough

In honor of the much anticipated opening of the latest in the summer blockbuster franchise, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (due out on Wednesday night, June 24th) the Bears have been attempting to perform their own Revenge of the Fallen at Halas Hall this summer. Unfortunately, from the looks of it, new Defensive Line Coach, Rod Marinelli, has taken the Transformers theme a little too serious. As you can see, Rod’s arms have completed their transformation and his left leg is almost complete.  Sadly, the goal post to the left of Jarron Gilbert in this picture is former Defensive Coordinator Bob Babich.

On a more serious note, there is encouraging news from those covering the Bears’ OTAs. It appears that under Rod Marinelli’s supervision the defensive line is actually transforming into a unit capable of generating a pass rush throughout the 2009-2010 season.  Given the injuries to the secondary last year, putting more pressure on the opposing quarterback will be essential to the Bears’ success this year. Hopefully, the Bears have realized that utilizing people in roles that allow them to focus on what they do best is the best route. Rod Marinelli, largely known as the defensive line coach in the league will focus on our mix of young guns and more established veterans. Lovie Smith will finally return to handling the defensive playcalling, rather than just being the inspirational head coach that allows his defense to be picked apart by 6- and 7-yard slants the entire second half. And Bob Babich, will return to what he does best, being Lovie Smith’s inexplicable best friend in coaching.

OFFENSIVE MEANDERINGS

A brief note on the offense: I’m only half sold on Jay Cutler’s assurance that the Bears don’t need a No. 1 receiver in Plaxico Burress, Brandon Marshall, or some other option. If Devin Hester is the Bears’ No. 1 receiver, then can the Bears get someone who will step up as a quality No. 2?  The Patriots’ No. 2 receiver is Wes Welker. Who would you rather have: Wes Welker or Devin Hester? As long as other teams have No. 2’s that are as good as the Bears’ No. 1 receiver, why can’t the Bears’ acquire or develop another receiver that is just as good as Devin Hester, say a 1B receiver. Right now as I see it, we have a No. 1.5 receiver in Devin Hester, and then a bunch of No. 3’s and 4’s in Rashied Davis, Earl Bennett, Brandon Rideau and Juaquin Iglesias.

While it’s nice to hear that Hester is building chemistry with Cutler, I would much rather hear that Iglesias or Bennett is finding a home as a reliable split end or slot receiver for the Bears. I’m not getting my hopes up for Iglesias (the 99th pick in the draft), but I’m more optimistic about Earl Bennett. Not only is he getting his college quarterback in Jay Cutler, it seems the Bears learned that asking a rookie WR to learn the playbook for all three receiver positions might have been a mistake. Hopefully they follow the approach I mentioned with the coaching staff; let their personnel focus on a single discipline they do best, and allow them to excel at it. In this case, I’d love to see the Bears have Bennett focus on starting opposite of Hester, with Brandon Rideau pushing him in camp. While it won’t solve all of the offensive problems, it is a step towards developing more capable weapons on offense.  That would leave Iglesias and the stone-handed Rashied Davis to fight it out for the slot position.  Should be fun to see all of these guys running their routes, seeing Jay Cutler check down and then hit Greg Olson over the middle for 15-20 yards, 5 or 6 times a game.