The Chicago Bears coaching staff is looking a lot different in 2018. Most people will judge its success this year and looking ahead to the main man in charge. That’s Matt Nagy. This isn’t a surprise. Such expectations come with the job. However, this also has a bad tendency to downplay the importance of assistant coaches in the success of an organization.
No this isn’t talking about coordinators either. This is about true positional coaches who are focused in on one group of men. It seems hard to accept that one man so far down the totem pole can have such a far-reaching impact. Then again we often accept the theory behind the butterfly effect. One might consider this the football version.
If one position group is able to dominate at a high level, it tends to trickle down towards helping others have success. Few can have a greater impact in that regard than the offensive line. They keep the quarterbacks on their feet, open lanes for the running backs and buy time for the wide receivers to get open. Finding somebody who can elevate this group tends to bring success for everybody.
Now Albert Breer of the MMQB thinks the Bears made the steal of the off-season for that job.
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Harry Hiestand add to Bears coaching staff declare best in NFL
It didn’t take long for word to get around that the Bears may have gotten a good one in Harry Hiestand. His track record in Chicago should be well-known considering he was the offensive line coach for their 2006 Super Bowl team. Since then he’s enjoyed tons of success in college. Breer thinks his arrival could be a game-changer for the team. Not only that, but it makes Nagy look all the more impressive for getting him since the two had never met before.
“We don’t talk much about position coaches here. But I’m going to give you one that I believe has a chance to be a big-time difference-maker for his first-time head coach: new Bears line coach Harry Hiestand. Matt Nagy did incredibly well to poach Hiestand, who’d been a target for a number of guys interviewing for jobs in January, from Notre Dame…
…We’ve seen the importance of line coaches the last few years, of course. Jeff Stoutland’s work last year in Philly—remember the Eagles lost Jason Peters for the year—helped the Eagles win it all and earned the ex-Alabama assistant a promotion to run-game coordinator. The difference Dante Scarnecchia makes in New England is well-documented, and Tony Sparano was huge in helping the Vikings meld new piece to fix their front last fall. Likewise, it looks like the Bears got a good one.”
People may still not be grasping the sort of impact Hiestand can have. So here’s a small reminder. Back in 2008, the Bears offensive line gave up 29 sacks. They also helped rookie running back Matt Forte rush for a then-record 1,238 yards. This was a front that featured a left side composed of John St. Claire at left tackle and Josh Beekman at left guard. The fact that most of you drew a blank at those two names just now should be proof of how good this coach is.
