Is New Orleans Saints' Pete Carmichael Jr Ready To Be An NFL Head Coach?

By Alejandro Aviles
Pete Carmichael Jr
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

By now you have heard that the Chicago Bears will be interviewing New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator, Pete Carmichael Jr., today. The Bears opted to let go of long time head coach Lovie Smith on “Black Monday”. Smith is a great defensive minded coach but with Carmichael interviewing it is clear that the Bears want an offensive minded coach.

Being from Chicago and a Bears fan first and foremost I was not thrilled with the team letting go of Smith. However, I am very intrigued about the possibility of Carmichael becoming the next coach of the Bears. Defense has been the calling card of the Bears since the 1985 Super Bowl team but bringing in Carmichael would be a dramatic shift in the opposite direction. With the likes of Jay Cutler, Brandon Marshall, and Matt Forte on the team, the Bears definitely have some offensive weapons to work with and it will be interesting to see how being an offensive team will work out for them.

Carmichael has an excellent track record as an offensive coordinator and really showed what he could do this past season. The Saints averaged 410.9 yards of offense this past season which was good enough for second-best in the NFL. Carmichael accomplished this as the primary play caller as Sean Payton was suspended for the entire season. It is clear that Carmichael is a good offensive minded coordinator, but can he take the next step and become an NFL head coach.

This past season the Saints had to pick an interim head coach to replace Payton and the organization went with linebackers coach Joe Vitt. When Vitt had to serve his suspension the Saints had to choose an interim to the interim and went with offensive line/running game coach Aaron Kromer. The Saints had two chances to make Carmichael the interim head coach and passed him up both times.

It has been said that Carmichael has no interest in becoming a head coach and that he is content with being an offensive coordinator. If this is the case and the Bears choose to make him their next head coach it would be a big gamble for the team. So, it remains to be seen if Carmichael is ready to be an NFL head coach and only if the Bears or another team pick him up will we find out for sure.

There are definitely pros and cons to Carmichael but something tells me that he might be worth the risk if a team wants him as their next head coach.

Alejandro Aviles is the Featured Writer for the New Orleans Saints at Rant Sports @aaviles312

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