LAKE FOREST, Ill. – The decision by the Baltimore Ravens to hire John Harbaugh as their new head coach over the weekend was great news for Bears special teams coordinator Dave Toub.

“I was just so happy for him,” said Toub, who spent three seasons from 2001-03 assisting Harbaugh in Philadelphia when Harbaugh was special teams coordinator with the Eagles.

Special teams coordinator Dave Toub has had great success working for Bears head coach Lovie Smith.

“He really deserves it. Even when I was there five years ago, you could always tell he was ready to be a head coach. They’re not going to be sorry they got him.”

The Bears feel the same way about Toub, who was named NFL special teams coach of the year by his peers in 2006 after Chicago ranked first in the league in special teams based on a system created by Dallas Morning News football writer Rick Gosselin.

Toub coached the field-goal block unit at Missouri before he joined the Eagles, but that was the extent of his experience with special teams prior to working with Harbaugh.

“He basically taught me everything I know about special teams,” Toub said. “He’s the guy that I modeled my whole philosophy after. I had to learn everything from him.

“The scheme part of it was a big part of it. But his overall coaching style, he trained me in that style, and it’s a style that works. He’ll be successful with the Ravens.”

Toub has been highly successful in four seasons under coach Lovie Smith with the Bears.

In 2007, Devin Hester broke the NFL record he had set a year earlier by returning six kicks for touchdowns. The Bears led the league with eight blocked kicks and Brendon Ayanbadejo was selected to the Pro Bowl as the NFC’s special teams representative for the second straight year.

In addition, the Bears are expected to defend their title as the NFL’s No. 1 special teams unit when Gosselin’s season rankings are revealed.

“I’m very proud of the guys and how hard they work,” Toub said. “It all starts with Lovie and goes all the way down, just the fact that he pays so much attention to [special teams]. It’s important to him and his philosophy, which helps us do our jobs.”

Creative and resourceful, Toub has devised strategies to counter the squib kicks by opponents trying to keep the ball out of Hester’s hands. Toub also has implemented unique wrinkles, such as a “corner roll” play that enabled Charles Tillman to block two punts in 2007.

“His schemes are great,” said long-snapper Patrick Mannelly. “His other biggest strength is probably listening to his players and getting the good stuff out of what the players say. That’s something that’s hard for coaches to weed through, players saying what they say. But he does a real good job of listening and implementing that into some of his game plans.”

Some NFL observers were surprised the Ravens hired Harbaugh given that he had never worked as an offensive or defensive coordinator.

The older brother of former Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh did coach the Eagles secondary in 2007, but he had served as Philadelphia’s special teams coordinator from 1998-2006, and his appointment could create similar opportunities for other special teams coordinators.

“It’s going to help us when he’s successful, which I know he will be,” Toub said. “He’s going to come in and do a good job, and that’ll at least open the door to the thought of hiring a special teams coach.”

After all, the special teams coach and the head coach are basically the only two staff members who regularly speak to the entire team, and they must each make in-game adjustments.

Bill Belichick, Bill Cowher, Dick Vermeil and Marv Levy all coached special teams at some point in their careers, but didn’t make the jump directly from that position to head coach. Mike Ditka coached special teams as well as tight ends and wide receivers with the Dallas Cowboys before being named Bears head coach in 1982.

Toub hopes to one day follow in their footsteps, though he enjoys working with Smith and is determined to help the Bears rebound from their disappointing 2007 season.

“I’d like to be able to do that some day, have that possibility, but I don’t see it happening anytime soon,” Toub said. “We’ve got a lot more to do here.

“Lovie basically lets me do my job. He’s a lot like Harbaugh in that you want to work hard for the guy. You want to please him. You want to make him happy. It’s just been great for me.”