We have hired Mike Pettine as a senior defensive assistant and made two additional coaching changes. https://t.co/vvpSAToFiB
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 10, 2021
Mike Pettine wasn’t out of a job for long.
The former Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator has been hired as a senior defensive assistant for the Chicago Bears, a rival of his previous team in the NFC North.
Pettine served three years (2018-20) as the Packers defensive coordinator. His contract expired after the 2020 season and wasn’t renewed. The Packers recently announced Joe Barry as his replacement.
In Chicago, Pettine will work under new Bears defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who was promoted from safeties coach to coordinator after Chuck Pagano retired following the 2020 season.
Under Pettine last season, the Packers defense ranked ninth in yards allowed, 13th in points allowed and 25th in takeaways. They were 18th in yards, ninth in points and seventh in takeaways in 2019.
The Packers were 5-1 against the Bears during Pettine’s tenure as defensive coordinator, including four straight wins between the 2019 and 2020 seasons. Pettine’s defense gave up just 57 points to the Bears over the last two seasons, with nine takeaways in the four games.
The Bears defense gave up 76 points to the division champion Packers over two games in 2020.