The NFL Network runs a show called "A Football Life" in which they feature a prominent NFL personality's biography.  So far, they've celebrated the careers of such notables as Bill Belichick, Reggie White and Jerome Brown ,and Walter Payton.  Last week, the featured subject was Mike Ditka.

The show told how after retirement, Da Coach became an assistant for Tom Landry in Dallas, but yearned to coach the Bears.  At some point in the late 70's, he wrote George Halas a letter detailing his passion for the Bears and how how he wanted to restore them to greatness.  Halas hired Ditka to coach the Bears after Neill Armstrong was fired in 1981.

At the time it was a bold move.  Although he had coaching experience, nobody thought the hot tempered Ditka would ever succeed, least of all the skeptical media.  The move was viewed as a desperate attempt by a dying Halas to somehow regain control of the team after all of the failures after his retirement.  After going in house for long time assistants, Jim Dooley and Abe Gibron, the Bears reached outside of the organization for Jack Pardee, who despite some success, left to coach Washington after the 1977 season.  Pardee was followed by former Minnesota assistant Armstrong who was clearly a hire of former GM Jim Finks who came from that organization in 1974.  After Armstrong's rocky tenure, Halas took charge and hired Ditka.

Of course, Ditka fooled them all, taking the Bears to the Super Bowl and owning the NFC Central for most of the 80's.  Best of all, his teams dominated the Packers.

So, how did Ditka defy the odds?  First, the Bears assembled a great coaching staff.  You know about about Buddy Ryan, but Ed Hughes, the offensive coordinator played a big part as well.  Hughes was a long time NFL assistant who was a former head coach (for Houston) and was at his Zenith when he worked for Dick Nolan at San Francisco.  

With two coordinators who needed no supervision and a coach with mad leadership skills, the Bears did just fine.  It was only later in his tenure in Chicago that Ditka started reading his own press clippings and started to believe that it was all about him that led to his downfall in Chicago.

Which brings us to my epiphany.  Since he was named manager of the White Sox, Robin Ventura has been met with shock, surprise and skepticism.  But if the White Sox surround him with some smart people, can he pull it off and return the Sox back to the playoffs.

The x's and o's part is a big part of being a manager, but when you play as long as Robin did in the majors, that should be second nature.  The big part is developing talent, working with the youngsters to get their game to the next level while being a sounding board for the veterans. How, for instance, Ventura and his staff handle Adam Dunn next season will go a long way to seeing what kind of success the team will have.

Everybody has to start somewhere.  Sure, you would have liked to see Ventura have more of an education in the minors, but that didn't happen.  Let's hope a strong staff and a solid leader will help the White Sox eventually get over the hump they are stuck behind.  Even against Minnesota.