Bears defensive end Gaines Adams died Sunday morning of cardiac arrest resulting from an enlarged heart, according to Greenwood County, S.C., chief deputy coroner Marcia Kelley-Clark.

Bears players and NFL commissioner reacted today to the defensive end’s tragic death:

Bears’ Brian Urlacher called Adams’ death was “crazy.”

“I didn’t know him that well because he came in during the middle of the season,” Urlacher said. “But I did know him. I still saw him every day when I went into work. It’s just weird.

“I had a teammate die when I was in college. You just don’t know how to handle it. It’s just sad, man. It’s a bad deal.”

Bears’ Alex Brown posted on his Twitter page: “Please send out your prayers to Gaines Adams family he was a great teammate and will be missed. Cherish life, we only get one. God Bless!”

Bears’ Jason McKie post on his Twitter page: “please keep Gaines Adams family in your prayers he was a great person and teammate..life is too short …we love you Gaines.”

Bears DT Marcus Harrison “We knew we were the younger crew, we felt like since we would be the D-line of the future, we knew we needed to try to click together.

“This (stuff) really tore me down this morning. I was totally not prepared for something like this. That’s my dude, for real. At work, at practice, that’s who I got down with: Gaines. This hurts.”

NFL Commisoner Roger Goodell “It’s a sad outcome, he was a terrific young man. I met him at the draft when he came in, and he stood out. He was a very caring individual. I’d seen him a couple of times, most recently in Chicago” when Goodell spoke to the Bears in November.

“He seemed like a very genuine, nice man. He seemed focused on being a good person, not just an NFL player. I was always taken with him.”

all quotes from chicagotribune.com

The Chicago Sun Times reporter Neil Hayes is reporting that Bears DE Gaines Adams has passed away at age 26.

Bears’ defensive end Gaines Adams died this morning after he was taken to the emergency room at Self Regional Hospital in Greenwood, S.C., according to Greenwood County Coroner James T. Coursey. He was 26.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, Pete Carroll has reportedly agreed to leave Southern California after nine years to return to the NFL and coach the Seattle Seahawks. The Los Angeles Times has reported Carroll also will be team president.

The Seahawks also are speaking with former Bears player and current Minnesota defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. According to SI.com’s Peter King, the Seahawks front office spoke with Leslie Frazier today for about 4-5 hours, if this is true I don’t know if Carroll is a lock to become the head coach in Seattle. Also, former Bears defensive coordinator Ron Rivera is scheduled to interview for the head coaching position.

Carroll didn’t have the greatest success in the NFL when he coached the New York Jets and New England Patriots. He posted a 33-31 record.

The Seahawks are reportedly giving Carroll $35 million dollars over five years. His offensive coordinator at USC Jeremy Bates was rumored to be following him to Seattle by ESPN’s Adam Schefter, but Schefter said something different about 20 minutes ago via his twitter account.

Schefter: “USC OC Jeremy Bates to Seattle no sure thing just yet. Chicago still in play on him, as well as Univ of Minn OC Jedd Fisch.”

I hope Schefter is right about Bates not definitely going to Seattle because I would love to see Cutler-Bates reunite in the Windy City.

all quotes from twitter.com.

I know it’s only Wednesday, but I am bringing you my quotes of the week.

To start it off, we all know Lovie Smith was brought back for another season to supposedly “get” the Bears back to the playoffs, it seems like so long ago we were in the Super Bowl, anyway here’s what Lovie had to say yesterday during his press conference:

Lovie: “We’re not happy with where we are, we realize it has been three years since we have been to the playoffs. We realize all of that. We know we need to improve, and we will. It’s kind of as simple as that. We can get back. We’re not the first franchise to go through a tough spell, and we won’t be the first one to be able to come out of that, so from this day forward it is about doing what we need to do to put a better product out on the field next year.”

Ron Turner talked to the Chicago Tribune after he got canned, here’s what he said:

Turner: “You look at where we were at the start and then at the end, they’re different players. You don’t just bring in a quarterback with that many new players and click right away. It takes time, sometimes years. There’s no question, it’s going to take off, I did the best job I could with what I had.”

Dez Clark was very upset about the firing of tight ends coach Rob Boras, here’s what he had to say yesterday via text message:

Clark: “I’m very disappointed that they fired Rob because I know that they know he is the best coach on the staff, I don’t see how it can be justified unless they are going to get rid of the whole staff and fire everybody, one of the finest coaches I’ve been around in 11 years in the league, he’ll land on his feet and be an asset to another coaching staff.”

Former NFL executive and current NFL Network analyst Michael Lombardi spoke up about the possibility of Jeremy Bates becoming the next Bears offensive coordinator, here’s what he said:

Lombardi: “He is exactly what the Bears need right now because there is an element of toughness that he brings to the table, he is going to be able to get into the quarterback’s head and he is going to be able to get into his mind. And the quarterback — this is the key point now — the quarterback accepts what he says as coaching.”

“Does (Bates) tell him what he wants to hear? No way. I’ve watched it, I’ve seen it. I love Jay Cutler. I think Jay Cuter can win for him. However, I do know that he needs to be coached, and coaching done the right way is not being afraid of confrontation and telling a player when he is doing something wrong.”

Those are the quotes of the week, Chicago Bears style. Check back next week to see the new set of quotes.

All quotes from chicagotribune.com

Some of you Bears fans might be asking who is Jeremy Bates? Why wouldn’t we just hire Mike Martz or Charlie Weis?

First off, Jeremy Bates is the 33-year-old son to recently fired Bucs defensive coordinator, Jim Bates. Jeremy began his coaching career with the Bucs in 2002 as the offensive quality control coach. By the way the Bucs went on to win the Super Bowl that season. He spent two more seasons in Tampa and then spent one year with the Jets as the quarterbacks coach.

From 2006-2008, he was the quarterbacks for the Denver Broncos. Those three years he spent with quarterback Jay Cutler. This offseason he bolted for USC to be the assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach.

This guy knows football. He knows quarterbacks and most importantly he knows Jay Cutler.

Jay Cutler trusts this guy a lot and that is a good thing to have between your quarterback and your offensive coordinator.

Cutler said this when he heard Bates was heading to the college ranks back in January:

“Jeremy is one of the best offensive minds in football. He was extremely innovative with our offense and took our playbook to the next level with some of the things he did, keeping defenses off balance and changing our look but at the same time keeping it simple for us players. Some of the things he did were amazing to watch. He was always watching other teams and coming up with new ideas for our offense.

“He helped me grow into my third NFL season and helped me reach the Pro Bowl along with some of the other goals I set for myself. As a unit, our offense became one of the most productive in the league with Jeremy calling plays. He brought a lot of excitement to the meeting room and on the field.

“He made me want to come to work every day and get better. Jeremy will do great things in his new role, and USC couldn’t have picked a better guy.”

If the Bears decided to hire Jeremy Bates as their new offensive coordinator I would be all for it because of his strong relationship with the Bears future star Jay Cutler.

The comparisons to Rex Grossman and Jeff George should come to an end next season, if the Bears decide to hire Bates. In 2008, the Denver Broncos offense (w/Jay Cutler & Jeremy Bates) ranked second in NFL overall.  The passing game was ranked third and the rushing attack was ranked 12th.

This addition could already be in the works, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Bears have reached out to USC offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates about succeeding Ron Turner in that role for them. The firing of Ron Turner who didn’t know how to use Jay Cutler correctly and the hiring of someone who is smart and capable of working with Jay Cutler again is the greatest idea the Bears could have.

I hope the Bears strike a deal with Jeremy Bates before someone else snags him away. The offense is what’s going to help this team win games not the defense which could get better with some adjustments, but who knows.

Mike Martz or Charlie Weis are not the answer for the Bears, Jeremy Bates is because of unique relationship with the Bears most important piece to the puzzle Jay Cutler.

all quotes from The LA Times

Bears players like Hunter Hillenmeyer, Brian Urlacher and Adewale Ogunleye (Who might not be back next season) all spoke up over the past few days about head coach Lovie Smith. It’s clear they wanted him back and they thought it would be a big mistake if he was let go. The players respect him a lot.

Defensive linemen Anthony Adams and Israel Idonije spoke up about Lovie Smith returning to the Bears to coach the 2010 season.

Adams: “It’s a sigh of relief, he’s a good guy and a good coach. And we all believe in him. We just have to do a better job in doing our part. I feel like I owe him so much. For whatever reason, it just hasn’t been happening for us. Even if he wasn’t going to be here, he just wanted to make it as normal as possible,’ you don’t want people freaking out. That’s what would have been happening.”

Idonije: “To lose a great coach like coach Smith would have been a tragedy, as a team we have to fix some things. We will fix those things and get better. I don’t think our head coach was a part of the problem.”

All quotes from chicagotribune.com

Former Rams head coach, 49ers offensive coordinator and Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz would like to work with Lovie Smith again if the Bears are interested in Martz as their offensive coordinator.

Martz and Lovie worked together when the Rams were known as “The greatest show on turf”, Martz was the head coach and the offensive guru while Lovie was the defensive coordinator.

Martz is good friends with both coach Lovie Smith and former Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner.

Martz had this to say about the possibility of getting the offensive coordinator gig:

“I really hope I get a phone call, I’m excited about it. Obviously, I’d love to work for Lovie. From a selfish standpoint, it would be a great situation for me. Working for someone you know and believe in would be ideal. There is real potential there.”

“Cutler has more talent than anybody I’ve ever seen, when he came out I gave him the best grade of any quarterback I’ve ever graded. But I don’t know him. Until you sit down and work with a guy, you don’t really know him.”

“I’d like to coach again, but the situation has to be right, otherwise you go back into TV if that’s available.”

Martz went 56-36 as a head coach in St. Louis and his teams averaged 26.5 points per game — more than any head coach in history of the NFL. Those numbers alone are impressive. He has also taken some decent quarterbacks and made them successful in his system some of them were Trent Green, Kurt Warner, Marc Bulger and Jon Kitna.

Do I think hiring Martz would be a good move?

Well Martz does have the experience and the success, but he is maniac when it comes to passing, he barely ever runs it and maybe thats why he didn’t get the job done in San Fransisco or Detroit, but he would be a big help to Jay Cutler. I’m not opposed to the idea, but just make sure he is the right guy and you don’t overpay for him.

all quotes from chicagotribune.com

The Bears press conference is scheduled for 3pm ET, and will be streamed live on the team’s official site.

According to a league source, offensive coordinator Ron Turner will not be returning next season. Also gone are tight ends coach Rob Boras, offensive assistant/assistant offensive line coach Luke Butkus, quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton, offensive line coach Harry Hiestand, and offensive assistant/assistant receivers coach Charles London.

Running backs coach Tim Spencer and receivers coach Darryl Drake are expected to return.

Someone had to take the blame for the Bears failures and the offense didn’t get it done with the new Pro Bowl quarterback in Jay Cutler. Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner and quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton never had a good relationship with Cutler and some have said Pep very rarely talked to Cutler. Cutler needs someone who fixes his mistakes by being demanding because sometimes Cutler looks like he doesn’t care out there sometimes. Cutler needs to be a leader and to be a leader you a need someone leading you.

Will find out who the Bears will bring in as the next offensive coordinator and the next quarterbacks coach. These decisions are important for the success of the Bears over the next couple of seasons. It’s clear Turner’s offense didn’t work because it was ranked 23rd in yards per game and 29th in rushing this season.

Home: Philadelphia, Washington, New England, New York Jets, Seattle, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota.

Away: Dallas, New York Giants, Buffalo, Miami, Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, Carolina.

Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher has a good relationship with head coach Lovie Smith and he doesn’t want him to go anywhere, here’s what he had to say about Smith possibly being fired:

“We didn’t have a lot to be happy about, but it wasn’t somber. It wasn’t like it was our last meeting with Coach Smith or anything like that. I didn’t get that feeling.

“(The season) sucked, but two wins in a row was the best we could do with our situation.”

“I’m 1 million percent behind Coach Smith, what happened the last couple of years is not on him. There are not a lot of coaches that could have taken the team we had in 2006 to the Super Bowl. He did it. And then the year before, with a rookie quarterback ( Kyle Orton), he took us to the playoffs.

“It’s not his fault we’ve struggled. We’ve always been prepared to play. We practice hard every day. We just haven’t performed well. That’s all there is to it.”

“I don’t think he should be the fall guy for how lousy we played the last three seasons, I would be shocked if he’s not here. It would be a huge blindside if he were to get canned.”

all quotes from chicagotribune.com