Finally, Ben Johnson finished assembling his new coaching staff for the Chicago Bears. It took longer than anybody expected. Keep in mind he was hired back in January. It is almost the end of February, and he put out the completed list only a few days ago. Most people seem happy with how it turned out. Johnson managed to lure several quality assistants to Chicago, including defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, defensive backs coach Al Harris, wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El, and offensive line coach Dan Roushar.
Most people would’ve thought the intrigue stopped there. However, Johnson had one last wrinkle, and he slipped under the wire. According to the completed list, the Bears have a new safeties coach. His name is Matt Giordano, and he was most recently the assistant secondary coach in New Orleans. The greatest intrigue comes from the fact that the former 4th round pick was a safety for the Indianapolis Colts when they beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. He’s most famous for nearly chasing down Devin Hester on his iconic kickoff return for a touchdown to open the game.
Ben Johnson certainly didn’t keep things boring.
Giordano didn’t start coaching until 2015. He spent seven years at the high school level, going 51-16 as a head coach. Eventually, he left for a volunteer position at Fresno State, quickly getting him noticed by New Orleans. They brought him onto their staff in 2023 where he helped the secondary continue to make impact plays. This stint in Chicago represents a promotion of sorts since he takes over a specific position group for the first time. It being safety is hardly a surprise since he played that himself. The fact he’s joining the team he played a role in denying a Super Bowl title seems rather appropriate. Ben Johnson probably didn’t care much about that, but then again, he’s known for being detail-oriented. Maybe it was done on purpose as a way to exorcise the organization from its past.
I’m excited about Dennis Allen wanting to install an attacking defense, we haven’t seen one in forever around here. I love teams that play defense like that, man to man, limited zone, and specified blitzes from various positions, I love to see safeties blitz, I’m excited to see this new defensive scheme.
I suspect that after a season, Ben will look over all the position groups, and if any of them are regressing, he will make further changes in the coaching staff. Instead of hiring coaches now, he hired them right, getting a great mix of top shelf established talent and promising younger coaches. I’m not worried about the position coaches.
Allen must have wanted him.