Why Ted Monachino Isn’t Bluffing About Leonard Floyd

Chicago Bears outside linebackers coach Ted Monachino turned heads recently when he made a bold declaration. He’s of the belief that Leonard Floyd, from a natural talent perspective, can be a greater pass rusher than Khalil Mack. It wasn’t a subtle hint either. He said it outright so nobody in attendance misunderstood him. It felt like he was trying to send a message.

Both that he’s confident in Floyd as a player, but also his own skill as a coach. People often forget that coaches have egos too. They don’t get to where they are without being confident in their abilities. Monachino has a Super Bowl ring. That alone offers some credibility to his words. Never mind the fact he has a strong track record.

He stated to The Athletic that he has coached plenty of good players in the past. None of them though have approached Floyd’s athletic potential. What he also didn’t point out was how consistently good he’s been at elevating underachieving players in the past.

“This is a rare athlete playing the position. There’s a whole bunch of guys that are great hammers and guys that have the pass-rush gene that have that dominant trait. This is a rare athlete for the position. I’ve coached a bunch of good ones. I’ve coached big ones, I’ve coached smart ones, I’ve coached fast ones. I’ve never coached an athlete like this.

“… His length. His short-area quickness. Long speed. The ability to cover and change direction. All of those things are very special with this player.”

Ted Monachino has done more with less than Leonard Floyd

What’s crazy is the previous teams that Monachino has worked for didn’t really give him top tier talent to work with. As a defensive line coach in Jacksonville, he got 10 sacks out of defensive end Bobby McCray in 2006 and 7.5 sacks from Paul Spicer a year later. McCray was a 7th round pick and Spicer an undrafted free agent.

The only former 1st round pick he’s worked with in the NFL is Terrell Suggs. Monachino actually groomed him at Arizona State in college before they reunited in the pros. In the six seasons they were together, Suggs had 49 sacks. That’s with missing 23 games with injury. In the seven seasons before that? Suggs had 57.5 sacks.

Monachino got a 30-year old Elvis Dumervil to 17 sacks in 2014. Dumervil was a former 4th round pick. Pernell McPhee, a former 5th round pick, reached 7.5 that same year. Both were career highs. Last but not least, Erik Walden became his pupil in 2016 with the Colts. The veteran, who hadn’t had more than six in a season during his career, had 11. Walden was a former 6th round pick.

So try to imagine how Monachino feels being handed somebody like Floyd, a former 1st round pick who is squarely in his physical prime. He must feel like a kid in a candy story. Given what he accomplished with less capable pass rushers before, it’s easy to see what he is so confident about the future.