Ditka Has Reshaped Bears’ Image : Toughness, Intelligence Are Mark of Division Winners

Mike Ditka said he knew a lot of people had doubts about him when he was hired by George Halas as the Chicago Bears’ head coach three years ago.

Now that he has been rewarded with a new three-year contract for leading the Bears to a division title, Ditka said he hopes the doubts finally are gone.

“We try to create an image with the Bears that a lot of people may not understand, a lot of people may not even like,” Ditka said. “But we like it. It’s us. It’s what we’ve stood for. It’s what he (the late Halas) meant it to be. That’s not bad.”

The image is one of toughness and intelligence--Monsters of the Midway who can think.

This year’s Bears are exactly that, boasting the best defense in the National Football League and an offense built around record-setting running back Walter Payton.

Bears president Michael McCaskey, Halas’ grandson, said he announced Ditka’s new contract last Wednesday because he wanted to give the team a boost as it prepared for today’s National Football Conference title game against the San Francisco 49ers.

There had been published reports that Ditka might not be rehired when his current contract expires at the end of the season. The reports said Ditka and McCaskey had different styles and ideas about how to run the club.

“We can set to rest the stories about, ‘Is he or isn’t he?’ ” McCaskey said after the Bears finished an intense, three-hour workout Wednesday. “The main thing is for everybody in the organization to concentrate on preparing to beat a very tough football team.”

No financial terms were announced, but McCaskey said Ditka will receive “a substantial raise.” Ditka joked, “I’m not going to be eating at McDonald’s anymore.”

The two “shook hands” on the deal the week after the end of the regular season, but have not yet signed a contract, McCaskey said.

“I think it’s absolutely critical for the Chicago Bears that the head coach be one that plays tough, aggressive and smart football,” McCaskey said.

Under Ditka, the Bears won the NFC Central Division with a 10-6 record, then captured their first playoff game in 21 years last Sunday by beating Washington.

Ditka, 45, spent nine years as an assistant coach under Tom Landry at Dallas before returning to Chicago, where he starred for the first six of his 12 NFL seasons as a tight end. He also played two years in Philadelphia and four years in Dallas.

“I’m very happy,” Ditka said. “It’s exciting for me. Even though I wasn’t with the Bears for a long time, I’ve always been a Bear. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted.”

Ditka said he wanted all his assistant coaches to return next year, especially defensive coach Buddy Ryan. If Ryan is offered a job as a head coach, Ditka and McCaskey said they wouldn’t stand in his way but would fight to keep him.

“I’m sure there are going to be opportunities (for Ryan),” Ditka said. “The main thing that I would encourage him to do is to weigh every opportunity that came against the opportunity we have here.”

Ryan, the brains behind the unique defense that set an NFL record for sacks this year, has indicated that he at least wants to be paid on a par with head coaches if he stays.

“That’s a tough problem,” McCaskey said. “The Bears . . . are stuck with having a lot less revenue than a lot of other clubs. So we will run a tighter ship probably than most. We hope to overcome that by doing things a little bit smarter in other ways.”

He said one way the Bears would try to persuade the 50-year-old Ryan to stay is by bolstering his pension and retirement benefits.