Tag: bears coaches

Bears request interview with former player and Commanders DBs coach Chris Harris

Former Bears safety Chris Harris may return to Chicago once again, only this time as a defensive coach.

The Chicago Bears have a history of bringing back Chris Harris as a player and now they’re interested in doing it again, only this time as a coach.

According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the Bears have requested to interview Harris, who is the defensive backs coach for the Washington Commanders. It’s their second interview request for a defensive coach following their reported interest in Green Bay Packers defensive backs coach Jerry Gray.

Harris is no stranger to Chicago. He was drafted in the sixth round of the 2005 NFL Draft and became a key starter for the Bears during the peak Lovie Smith years from 2005 to 2006. He was traded to the Carolina Panthers after two seasons, but came back to Chicago in 2010 in another trade as they made the playoffs once again, with Harris earning second-team All-Pro honors that year.

The reunion was short lived, however, as Harris lasted another half a season before he was released and officially retired in 2013. He immediately went into coaching and wound up back with the Bears for two seasons as a quality control coach from 2013-2014 during Marc Trestman’s tenure.

From there, Harris climbed the coaching ranks. He was the assistant defensive backs coach for the Los Angeles Chargers from 2016-2019 and joined Ron Rivera’s staff in Washington as their defensive backs coach in 2020. Harris has been a rising star since then, getting looks for defensive coordinator positions over the last couple of years.

Now, another return to Chicago could be on the horizon for Harris. The Bears have an opening on their coaching staff as defensive backs and cornerbacks coach James Rowe left the team to coach at the University of South Florida, but the exact title and position he would interview for has yet to be determined. Either way, the Bears are doing their homework on candidates and there could be more interview requests on the way.

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Report: The Bears are losing RB coach Charles London to the Falcons

The Chicago Bears are looking at replacing more than one member of Matt Nagy’s coaching staff this offseason.

The Chicago Bears are looking at replacing more than one member of Matt Nagy’s coaching staff this offseason. While the Bears are currently searching for Chuck Pagano’s replacement at defensive coordinator, Chicago is due to lose a couple of offensive coaches.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, the Atlanta Falcons are expected to hire Bears running backs coach Charles London. London would join new head coach Arthur Smith’s coaching staff as quarterbacks coach.

London isn’t the only coach the Falcons are taking from the Bears. Passing coordinator Dave Ragone is expected to join Atlanta as their new offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

There have also been rumblings of defensive line coach Jay Rodgers leaving Chicago for the Los Angeles Chargers, where he would reunite with former Bears outside linebackers coach and new Chargers head coach Brandon Staley.

That would leave the Bears with four openings on staff, including defensive coordinator. Chicago has interviewed several candidates already, including Indianapolis Colts defensive backs coach Jonathan Gannon, former New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator James Bettcher and Bears legend Mike Singletary.

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Bears rank 17th in team continuity heading into 2020

The Bears don’t have a ton of continuity on their team with losses in free agency, as well as the additions of new coaches.

Last offseason, the Chicago Bears were returning all but two starters on their team and gained defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. For the most part, their core remained in place.

Fast forward to the 2020 offseason, and the Bears have had to deal with several free-agent departures and some new faces that will occupy starting jobs this season, as well as some new additions to the offensive coaching staff.

Compared with last year, the Bears don’t have a ton of continuity on their team. According to ESPN, the Bears rank 17th in terms of team continuity compared to the rest of the league.

Change was inevitable after the most unfulfilling Bears season in recent memory. Chicago lost (or could lose) three starters on each side of the ball depending on what happens in the highly anticipated quarterback derby between Mitchell Trubisky (incumbent) and Nick Foles (challenger). The coaching staff also took a hit — primarily on offense — as Nagy brought in trusted confidants (Juan Castillo, John DeFilippo and Bill Lazor) with ties to Philadelphia. Until the quarterback situation is settled, it’s impossible to predict whether the changes will have any impact.

When looking at the defense, the Bears only lost three defensive starters in cornerback Prince Amukamara, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and outside linebacker Leonard Floyd. Although you could argue that they’ve upgraded with at least one and perhaps all of those positions with the addition of outside linebacker Robert Quinn, rookie cornerback Jaylon Johnson and safety Tashaun Gipson.

Most of the changes this offseason have come on the offensive side of the ball, which makes sense considering Chicago had one of the worst offenses in the NFL last season. Matt Nagy started by overhauling the offensive staff with the additions of offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, offensive line coach Juan Castillo and tight ends coach Clancy Barone.

Although, considering the changes on the offensive coaching staff came at areas that struggled immensely in 2019, you could argue that these are upgrades.

The Bears upgraded at several positions on offense, including tight end with the additions of veterans Jimmy Graham and Demetrius Harris and rookie Cole Kmet. They also traded for quarterback Nick Foles, who will battle Mitchell Trubisky for the starting job. Still, regardless of who wins the starting job, the Bears have upgraded at backup quarterback.

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Bears coaches will be permitted to return to Halas Hall on Friday

The NFL sent out a memo to teams that coaches will be allowed to return to team facilities beginning Friday.

While most of the sports world has been at a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic, the NFL has been able to operate business as usual, with some notable changes.

Free agency, the 2020 NFL Draft and offseason programs have been conducted from an entirely virtual format. But as we approach training camp in July, the NFL is beginning to pull back restrictions and allow teams to return to their facilities.

The NFL sent out a memo to teams that coaches will be allowed to return to team facilities beginning Friday, and that the maximum number of people allowed at those facilities is 100 people.

According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the league expects every team’s coaches, minus the San Francisco 49ers, to be able to start returning to their facilities Friday.

This means that Matt Nagy and his coaching staff will be allowed to return to Halas Hall and continue virtual organized team activities (OTAs) ahead of training camp in July.

Earlier this week, the NFL informed teams that all training camps must take place at team facilities to ensure the protection of players, coaches and staff. The Bears, who had practiced at Olivet Nazarene University in Bourbonnais for the last 18 years, decided back in January to move training camp to Halas Hall in Lake Forest, in order to take advantage of their team facilities.

Teams were also informed that joint practices, which have become a common occurrence among teams during the preseason, will not be taking place. The Bears had planned on taking part in joint practices with the Broncos ahead of their Week 2 preseason contest in Denver.

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Missed opportunity? Bears passed on Bill Belichick 20 years ago

Over 20 years ago, the Bears had a vacancy at their head coaching position, and they passed on an opportunity to interview Bill Belichick.

Former Chicago Bears head coach Mike Ditka once said the past is for cowards and losers. But even he may admit his former team whiffed on a potential franchise-altering move.

No, this isn’t rehashing the debate between Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, but instead the Bears missing out on arguably the greatest head coach in the history of the league.

Over 20 years ago, the Bears had a vacancy at their head coaching position following the firing of Dave Wannstedt in 1998. The team looked at candidates such as Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator Sherman Lewis and Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis, who was at the center of an embarrassing premature news conference initiated by then-team president Michael McCaskey.

But one more name stood out among the group; New York Jets assistant head coach Bill Belichick, who had returned to a coordinator role a few years prior after he was fired as the Cleveland Browns head coach in 1995.

According to the New York Times, Belichick was on the short list of candidates to replace Wannstedt, but McCaskey didn’t seem interested in the future Hall of Famer.

“I am getting a little bit to the point where I want to bring it to a close,” he said, indicating McCaskey was ready to hire one of the prior interviewees and not bring in additional candidates.

After failing to hire McGinnis, the Bears went with Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Dick Jauron, who compiled a 35-45 record in the regular season in five years. Belichick, meanwhile, spent one more year with the Jets before becoming the head coach of the New England Patriots, where he would go on to win 17 division titles, nine conference championships, and six Super Bowl titles with quarterback Tom Brady.

This news, recently rediscovered by Windy City Gridiron’s Jack Silverstein and Bleacher Nation’s Luis Medina, is yet another difficult chapter of what may have been for the Bears.

Unfortunately, it isn’t the only coaching blunder to happen in the last 20 years. The other major miss took place in 2013, when general manager Phil Emery picked Marc Trestman over reigning NFL coach of the year Bruce Arians as his head coach following the firing of Lovie Smith.

While it’s fun to imagine what the Bears might have been under Belichick, the decision was made long ago. There’s also no way of knowing if Belichick would have even come close to the success he’s enjoyed in New England had he ended up in Chicago.

Still, one interview could have changed the entire league and brought championship glory back to the charter franchise.

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John DeFilippo says Bears offensive staff reminds him of 2017 Eagles

John DeFilippo said the biggest draw of joining the Bears’ coaching staff was how it reminded him of his time with the Eagles in 2017.

Some of the biggest moves Matt Nagy has made this offseason has come as part of his offensive coaching staff. Following an abysmal offensive outing in 2019, Nagy brought in four new coaches that have a combined # years of coaching experience.

One of those new coaches is quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, who is highly regarded for his work molding young quarterbacks. He’ll be tasked with turning around fourth-year quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who regressed in 2019. Considering DeFilippo initially interviewed for the Bears’ heading coaching job in 2018, he’s quite familiar with Trubisky and the Bears.

After offensive coordinator stints with the Vikings and Jaguars, DeFilippo joined Nagy’s coaching staff as the new quarterbacks coach, which is exactly his specialty.

DeFilippo said one of the biggest allure of joining the Bears’ coaching staff was how it reminded him of his time with the Eagles in 2017. That Eagles staff consisted of head coach Doug Pederson, offensive coordinator Frank Reich, quarterbacks coach DeFilippo, offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland, running backs coach Duce Staley, wide receivers coach Mike Groh and tight ends coach Justin Peelle.

“We had a lot of very experienced guys that had no ego,” DeFilippo said on Bears All-Access. “And that’s what attracted me to this job most was the experience on this staff that Coach was putting together, with no ego, and our only goal is to win.”

Aside from DeFilippo, Nagy brought in offensive coordinator Bill Lazor, offensive line coach Juan Castillo and tight ends coach Clancy Barone. All of which will be tasked with fixing an element of the Bears offense, ranging from quarterback to run game to tight ends to offensive line.

“When you have no ego, a lot of experience, a lot of guys that have called plays before and a lot of guys that have coached in a Super Bowls and been around good teams,” DeFilippo said, “I think that can do nothing but help your team.”

Obviously we’re months away from seeing the finished product and how the hiring of these new offensive minds will ultimately shape the Bears offense. But bringing in coaches with an affinity for different aspects of offense can’t hurt an offense that was one of the worst in the NFL last season.

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Bears announce coaching staff additions

The Bears have announced their coaching staff additions, which includes some previously announced hirings and some new promotions.

The Chicago Bears have announced their coaching staff additions, which includes some previously announced hirings and some new promotions.

Chicago has hired Bill Lazor as offensive coordinator and John DeFilippo as quarterbacks coach. They also announced Dave Ragone’s promotion from quarterbacks coach to pass game coordinator.

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The Bears had previously announced the hirings of Juan Castillo as offensive line coach and Clancy Barone as tight ends coach.

Aside from those hirings, the Bears also announced some more staff promotions, including Brian Ginn to assistant special teams coach, Chris Jackson to assistant wide receivers and Shane Toub to defensive quality control.

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Notre Dame Football: Harry Hiestand Back on the Market

That I have no idea but I’m for one hopeful that Brian Kelly is at least on the phone already attempting to get Hiestand back as the offensive line unit has been fine since his departure, but far from as dominant as it was under him.

If you start naming the best offensive linemen in the NFL today it won’t take long until a former Notre Dame player gets mentioned.

And then another.

And another.

And a few more after that.

When Harry Hiestand was employed by Notre Dame as their offensive line coach between 2012 and 2017 the Irish put not just good offensive linemen in the NFL but first and second round draft picks on the regular that have panned out.

Here’s just a short list as a refresher:

Zack Martin, Guard, No. 16 overall by Dallas in 2014
Nick Martin, Center, No, 50 overall by Houston in 2016
Mike McGlinchey, Tackle, No. 9 overall by San Francisco in 2018
Quenton Nelson, Guard, No. 6 overall (highest ever for a guard) by Indianapolis in 2018
Ronnie Stanley, Tackle, No. 6 overall by Baltimore in 2016

I think anyone who follows the NFL is familiar with more than a couple of those names for the right reasons.

Notre Dame was a mainstay under Hiestand as one of the best offensive line units in the nation and won the Joe Moore Award for exactly that in 2017.

Hiestand left Notre Dame after the 2017 season to take the same job with the Chicago Bears.

Things did not go according to plan as Hiestand’s offensive line didn’t progress like Bears brass would have liked (Pretty hard to be very good if you don’t invest in it if you ask me but that’s a question for the guys over at Bears Wire) and fired him Tuesday afternoon.

Would Hiestand want to go back to the college ranks again or is he only accepting another NFL job?

That I have no idea but I’m for one hopeful that Brian Kelly is at least on the phone already attempting to get Hiestand back as the offensive line unit has been fine since his departure, but far from as dominant as it was under him.

Also worth noting is that the Bears let offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich go as well.  Helfrich you may recall once helped direct Marcus Mariota to a Heisman Trophy and the Oregon Ducks to a national championship game appearance but was let go after going just 4-8 in 2016.

Dare I start to think aloud and wonder about what Notre Dame’s offense could look like if they hired a couple of recently fired Chicago Bears assistants?

I don’t know how it’d all work out with Helfrich but I’m certain if interested that Hiestand would continue to do exactly what he’s already done at Notre Dame if given the chance.

Something to ponder for you all as we approach 2020.