Bears Silent on Barry
Former Lions coordinator seems a fit with Lovie Smith
By PEGGY KUSINSKI
Updated 3:18 PM CST, Mon, Jan 26, 2009
If the Bears firing of linebackers coach Lloyd Lee was a move to make room for coaches Rod Marinelli and his son in law, Joe Barry, it's news to Barry. The Lions former defensive coordinator was boarding a flight from Florida for Detroit when reached on the phone and said, "I have had no contact with the Bears". Nor has his agent communicated any kind of discussions with Chicago.
Barry, was brought to Detroit by his father in law Rod Marinelli upon being named head coach of the Lions in 2006, both served on the coaching staff together with the Buccaneers. While he followed in Lovie Smith's footsteps at Tampa as the Linebackers coach, Smith mentored Barry before that while serving as a quality control coach in San Francisco and while coaching linebackers at UNLV.
"I owe a lot to Lovie Smith" Barry told WMAQ-TV, "and I think the world of him and Jerry Angelo".
Are the Bears discussing a package deal for Marinelli (an outstanding defensive line coach while in Tampa Bay) and his son in law (Barry was a former linebacker at Michigan and USC before coaching the position)?
"We are not a package deal" Barry said, "Rod and I are separate entities... we had a great time together in Tampa Bay, unfortunately things did not work out as well in Detroit."
Barry admitted coaching the Cover 2 (Tampa 2) in Chicago would be one of a few ideal situations for him, but has not had any discussions with his father-in-law of working together again.
With three vacancies on the defensive coaching staff, the Bears have made no Offensive Coaching moves. But if the Motown family affair moves to Chi-town, look out Harry Hiestand. Joe Barry's father Mike was the assistant offensive line coach in Detroit as well!
First Published: Jan 7, 2009 3:48 PM CST
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