Chicago Bears LB Urlacher tabs Babich as Hall of Fame presenter
Former Bears middle linebacker Brian Urlacher, who was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in February, has selected his longtime position coach, Bob Babich, to be his presenter at this summer's induction.
Babich was Urlacher's coach for nine seasons, from 2004-2012, serving as a linebacker coach, assistant head coach and defensive coordinator with the Bears on head coach Lovie Smith's staffs.
"I asked (Babich) last week, and he said he would be honored to present me at the Hall of Fame," Urlacher said in a report on the team's website. "I just felt like professionally, he got the most out of me. He challenged me every day, whether it was in meetings, walk-throughs or practice. He got the most out of me and (outside linebacker) Lance (Briggs) and everyone in that linebacker room."
Before Smith and Babich arrived in Chicago, Urlacher had already won the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award in 2000, had been voted to the Pro Bowl in each of his first four seasons with the Bears and made first-team All-Pro twice. But Urlacher believes he became a better player after that, in part, due to Babich.
Under Babich's tutelage, Urlacher made four more Pro Bowls, two more All-Pro teams, and was named the 2005 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
"I just feel like once he got here - and this is no slight to any coach I had before him - there was just a change in the way I played the game in terms of my attention to detail," Urlacher said. "I knew exactly what gap I had, I knew exactly what gap everyone on our defense had. I knew what every guy on our defense was supposed to do, and that's because of him. There was no doubt in my mind what every guy on our defense was supposed to do on every single play."
Babich, a 15-year veteran NFL coach, is entering his second season as the linebackers coach for the Buffalo Bills.
"I am so humbled by the offer that Brian gave me to present him," Babich said in a statement released by the Pro Football Hall of Fame. "He is such a good guy and was such a good player, but even more so than that, he was a great person to be around."
Urlacher, who was voted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility, was the final member of the eight-man Class of 2018 to name his presenter for the Aug. 4 ceremony in Canton, Ohio.
"He was the best," Babich said of Urlacher on the team's website. "He was a great teammate - not a good teammate - he was a great teammate to his fellow players. Off the field he was as good of a person, character-wise, as he was a football player on the field."
The Bears won four division titles during Urlacher's 13-year career and reached Super Bowl XLI, where they were defeated 29-17 by the Colts. Urlacher's 1,779 career tackles are a team record, and he had 41.5 sacks, 22 interceptions and 16 fumble recoveries. He will be the 28th Bears player in the Hall and the fourth middle linebacker, following Bill George, Dick Butkus and Mike Singletary.
• Bob LeGere is a senior writer at Pro Football Weekly. Follow Bob's Bears reports on Twitter @BobLeGere or @PFWeekly.