One of the things that have stood out about former Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is his remarkably close relationship with fellow assistant coach Ed Donatell. The two have been together for almost a decade now from Stanford, to San Francisco, Chicago, and now on to Denver. There’s a reason for this. Fangio knows good coaching when he sees it and he saw Donatell as a specialist when it came to the secondary.
It’s hard to deny Fangio’s favoritism. Donatell transformed Eddie Jackson and Kyle Fuller into All-Pros. He got a career-best season from Prince Amukamara and helped get Adrian Amos and Bryce Callahan paid millions of dollars as free agents. Most people felt it was a stroke of good fortune when Fangio lured Donatell to Chicago. They weren’t disappointed.
They may not believe this, but new defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano has a favorite of his own as it turns out. Somebody he worked with several times and went out of his way to bring to Chicago. That is Ted Monachino.
Ted Monachino is the pass rusher version of Ed Donatell for the Bears
Monachino never made it to the NFL as a player but did get right into coaching in the early 1990s. He would spend over a decade in the college ranks, working his way up the ladder until he became defensive line coach at Arizona State. There he earned notoriety for fast-tracking the success of future Hall of Famer Terrell Suggs, who went 10th overall to the Baltimore Ravens in 2003.
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That work did not go unnoticed. A few years later Monachino was hired by the Jacksonville Jaguars to become their defensive line coach. He spent four years there, had some success, and was eventually lured away by the Baltimore Ravens to become their linebackers coach, setting up a reunion with Suggs. There he would win a Super Bowl ring in 2012.
One thing that has stood out about his tenure to this point?
Monachino has a gifted when it comes to elevating pass rushers. Every single stop he’s made in the NFL to this point, he’s gotten a career-best in sack production from at least one of his players.
- Bobby McCray – 10 sacks in 2006
- Paul Spicer – 7.5 sacks in 2007
- Terrell Suggs – 14 sacks in 2011
- Elvis Dumervil – 17 sacks in 2014
- Pernell McPhee – 7.5 sacks in 2014
- Erik Walden – 11 sacks in 2016
The evidence is consistent, rich, and widespread. Proof that it wasn’t just a fluke occurrence in one location. Monachino gets results from his pass rushers. That no doubt explains why Pagano worked hard to lure him away from the defensive coordinator job at Kansas State to become the Bears outside linebackers coach.
Handing a man of his credibility the likes of Khalil Mack and Leonard Floyd? It has to generate just a little bit of a tingling sensation. That excitement of the possibility that pairing hasn’t reached its peak yet. Nevermind the possibility of adding even more talent to the depth chart for him to mold.
People may not appreciate this hiring yet. Don’t be surprised if that changes by next December and January.
