The Chicago Bears announced a couple of major personnel changes on Tuesday, as general manager Jerry Angelo was fired and offfensive coordinator Mike Martz resigned due to what team president Ted Phillips termed philosophical differences between Martz and head coach Lovie Smith.
Phillips also addressed the potential impact of his search for a new general manager on the search for a new offensive coordinator:
Lovie [Smith] can hire new offensive coordinator on his time, GM search will not impact that decision.
Team officials have been emphatic about Smith's return in 2012, and they're going to stay out of his way as he looks to fill this critical vacancy in his staff. The timetable for a new hire is unknown at this point.
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