The Chicago Bears made it clear from the jump that they planned to overhaul their coaching staff with new faces. Mark Helfrich, Harry Hiestand, and Kevin Gilbride were all dismissed. Since then Juan Castillo took over the offensive line, Clancy Barone will handle the tight ends and now Bill Lazor will be in charge as offensive coordinator. Or so that’s what we were led to believe. Apparently head coach Matt Nagy wasn’t done making additions to his staff.
Adam Schefter revealed that Dave Ragone will be promoted to the title of passing game coordinator this coming season. In his place at quarterbacks coach, the Bears pounced on the recently released John DeFilippo. Formerly the offensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is a surprising and strong move by the team. DeFilippo has a glowing reputation when it comes to developing quarterbacks.
He had Carson Wentz on the doorstep of an MVP in 2017 before helping Nick Foles win Super Bowl MVP later that year. Kirk Cousins threw for over 4,000 yards and 30 touchdowns in 2018 despite him being offensive coordinator just 14 weeks. Last but not least, he somehow got a strong season out of 6th round rookie Gardner Minshew who finished with a 91.2 passer rating for 2019.
Chicago Bears aren’t messing around with QBs anymore
Everything about these moves for the Bears send a loud and clear message. Mitch Trubisky is out of excuses. Nagy has assembled one of the most quarterback-friendly staffs in the entire NFL. In addition to himself, he has Ragone who played QB in the NFL. Lazor had a strong history coaching the position in places like Washington, Miami, and Philadelphia. Now DeFilippo joins the fray with his own impressive track record. If Trubisky can’t get anything out of this group of minds, then he well and truly is a lost cause.
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