The Chicago Bears made surprising news on Wednesday when they announced the hiring of John Defilippo as quarterbacks coach. Chicago also promoted former quarterbacks coach Dave Ragone to passing coordinator. Both moves come on the heels of the hiring of Bill Lazor as the new offensive coordinator. With the addition of so many offensive minds, the Bears may have one too many voices trying to fix their offense and quarterback going forward.
Defilippo comes from Jacksonville where he served as the Jaguars offensive coordinator for just one season. In 2018, he was the Vikings offensive coordinator for just 13 games before being fired. Defilippo was seen as the next “can’t miss” head coach due to his job as quarterbacks coach helping the Eagles win the Super Bowl in 2017.
Chicago’s offensive coaching staff will now include Defilippo, Lazor, Ragone, and head coach Matt Nagy who will all be focused on fixing the Bears offense. Nagy will continue to call the plays, leaving Lazor to design the running play and Ragone to develop the passing plays. The issue with all of it is that they have too many coaches that they do not need.
Ragone has been the team’s quarterbacks coach since 2017 and was touted for his work with Mitchell Trubisky during his rookie season. It was that reason why he was kept on when Nagy was hired as the team’s head coach in 2018. Last season Trubisky struggled reading defenses and to process his progressions. Nagy and general manager Ryan pace fired a majority of the offensive coaches while promoting Ragone despite the issues with the quarterbacks.
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The promotion of Ragone and hiring of Defilippo undercuts the possible impact that Lazor could have. Lazor has proven that he can call and productive game plan and get production from the quarterback position. In his four seasons as an offensive coordinator, the lowest quarterback rating a quarterback had was 86.6.
Trubisky and other potential quarterbacks will be overseen by four coaches who will have a say at the quarterbacks position and designing plays. This could lead to confusion, struggles to grasp a new playbook, or a missed opportunity to allow one coaching mind to succeed. It is especially important to keep an eye on how Trubisky responds, given how he has struggled from a mental makeup standpoint in Nagy’s complex offense.
Chicago may have complicated matters rather than simplified matters with their coaching changes Wednesday night. With all the offensive minds in the room now, Nagy is solely responsible if the Bears fail to be successful on offense in 2020. It is a bold strategy to go this route for the coaching staff, one that may cost them all their jobs if there is no success.
