Mike Ditka may have seen his last days as a football coach. You have his word for it.
The former Bears coach, appearing with NBC broadcasting colleagues at a Super Bowl press conference Thursday, was asked if he is thinking about coaching again.
“I don’t think it will ever happen,” said Ditka, who has found even more fame and notoriety as a network football analyst than he enjoyed as a coach.
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Ditka, whose name has been linked in speculation about various vacant coaching jobs in recent weeks, said he is “still interested in coaching. But only in isolated situations.”
He said he had sent a letter to owners of the new Jacksonville expansion franchise. “I got back a sort of form letter,” he said.
Phoenix Cardinals officials, who are seeking a successor to deposed Joe Bugel, privately said they are not interested in Ditka.
Does this mean Ditka will remain with NBC as a color commentator?
“I’d better, if I want to pay my bills,” he said.
Ditka, a Hall of Fame tight end, referred to his old Bears team as having a “plastic image.”
“They’re not really the Bears anymore,” he said. “(George) Halas is dead.”
Ditka said he’s enjoying his new line of work. “Hopefully, I know something about what I’m talking about. They’re not asking me how to be a brain surgeon.”