Marinelli motivates No. 2 defense in NFL

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli talks softly, but with intensity.

His words carry a lot of weight with the NFL's No. 2 defense, the best one the Bears have had since they went to Super Bowl XLI.

No detail is too small or technique too insignificant to be overlooked by the 61-year-old Marinelli, who holds the defense to a high standard.

“He always wants more,” linebacker Brian Urlacher said. “Whatever you're doing and you could be giving your best, or what you think is your best it's not good enough. He doesn't care.”

Marinelli doesn't care about complaints or anything else that might prevent his players from getting better.

That's just as true this year, even though the Bears are No. 2 in points allowed, No. 1 in third-down efficiency and No. 4 in total yards allowed. At this pace, they would allow 252 points, 3 fewer than the Super Bowl team and 123 fewer than last year's squad.

Last off-season, head coach Lovie Smith considered other options for the coordinator's job, but he ultimately decided the guy he already had in the building was the best man for the job, so Marinelli was promoted from defensive line coach.

By now, his players are familiar with their coach's demanding ways, since they've been experiencing it since the off-season.

“In training camp, his big thing was, ‘You're tired, we know you're tired, this is the eighth day or whatever that you're in pads, but no one gives a (bleep),'” Urlacher said.

“It's great. He keeps you motivated. It's serious, but at the same time it's comical because he keeps it relaxed and keeps us into it.

“He's a great motivator, his meetings, are great. Practice or whatever it is, he gets us ready to go. It's hard to get motivated for practice every day. I love football, but practice gets old sometimes. But every day he gets us motivated to go out there and get better.”

Getting better every day is one of Marinelli's most popular themes. But in the dog days of November and December, getting players to work hard every day in practice can be a challenge.

Marinelli's approach is simple.

“I think it's really important you tell people the truth,” he said. “Tell them exactly what you want, how you want it done and why. When you explain why it's so important, it makes sense.

“A guy looks at it and says, ‘Yeah, that makes sense.' A big part (of the job) in this league is having the ability to communicate clearly and directly. Once that happens, and you make a good case for what you're trying to accomplish, that's when teamwork starts.”

Marinelli made his mark in the NFL as the Tampa Bay Bucs' defensive line coach from 1996-2005, when his linemen terrorized quarterbacks with 328½ sacks, the most in the NFL for that 10-year span.

In his last nine seasons in Tampa, the Bucs were in the top 10 in total defense every season.

Marinelli's pet project since he was hired by the Bears after three years as the Detroit Lions' head coach, has been to develop the pass-rush prowess of the linemen. They have 17½ of the team's 23 sacks, led by defensive ends Israel Idonije (7) and Julius Peppers (6).

Marinelli takes his duties as a teacher seriously, and he occasionally will utilize history lessons to make his point.

“Whatever it takes,” he said. “You always look for something that matches. You try to illustrate something to make a point of what we're trying to do.

“It captures your imagination, and it's a visual effect in your mind. You can remember that. Your memory becomes alive with it. It's about constantly changing the environment of the teaching room. When the environment changes, learning takes place. So it's our job.”

Smith and Marinelli go back 15 years, to Tampa, when Smith was the Bucs' linebackers coach under head coach Tony Dungy.

“I've sat in on a few of his (meetings),” Smith said. “There's no one better at what he does. You're talking about a great leader of men.

“All the guys will say that. He's done a great job with the guys of keeping them up and giving them lessons about life. History does teach you a lot about what's going to happen in the future.”

So, how do the teachings of Socrates relate to getting after the quarterback?

“I'll kind of leave that one alone for now,” Marinelli said with a smile.

ŸFollow Bob LeGere's Bears reports via Twitter@BobLeGere. Check out his blog, Bear Essentials, at dailyherald.com.