After another disappointing season for the Chicago Bears offense, it felt almost inevitable that head coach Matt Nagy would see more changes to his staff as he works to find the right mixture. Then again the latest changes to arrive are no longer in his control. As new head coaches are hired across the NFL, there was a danger some Bears assistants might decide to leave for new opportunities.
That appears to have happened. A source confirmed to me and was later backed up by ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler that passing game coordinator Dave Ragone will be leaving the Bears to take up a position as offensive coordinator with Atlanta Falcons. That team recently hired Arthur Smith as their new head coach. Smith and Ragone go way back to their days in Tennessee together.
One name strongly connected to Arthur Smith's staff as he takes the Atlanta Falcons job: Bears passing game coordinator Dave Ragone. I'm told there's a good chance he becomes Smith's OC after five years in Chicago.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) January 15, 2021
He won’t be alone though. A colleague will be joining him.
According to Alex Ragone, Dave’s nephew, his uncle will be accompanied by Charles London, the Bears running backs coach. He will take over the quarterbacks in Atlanta. London also worked with Smith in Tennessee. So that is two assistant positions Nagy will have to fill in addition to finding a new defensive coordinator. Lots of work to do.
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https://twitter.com/AlexRags1/status/1350201141523574785
Ragone was one of the few holdovers from the recent staff purge this past season. His ability to draw up passing plays and communicate with the quarterback is what led to his promotion to passing game coordinator. London ends his second stint with the Bears. During the first, he oversaw the development of Matt Forte in 2008 and 2009. This time around he did the same for David Montgomery. Not a bad bit of work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzGcoktFOCY&ab_channel=ChicagoBears
Is Dave Ragone and Charles London leaving the end of it?
There are rumblings at more staff changes could still be coming for Nagy. Brad Biggs of the Chicago Tribune speculated that wide receivers coach Mike Furrey could be in danger. There is also plenty of talk about what could happen with offensive coordinator Bill Lazor as well. Only Nagy knows the answer to these questions and thus far the losses of Ragone and London are the only ones to surface.
Odds are the head coach and GM Ryan Pace are doing an evaluation of everything regarding the state of the team. They know that 2021 could very well be their last in Chicago. They absolutely have to deliver a winning season or risk being fired. Many believe they already should’ve been by now. George McCaskey decided otherwise.
It’ll be interesting to see what approach Nagy takes.
Will he simply replace both men and keep things mostly status quo? Losing Dave Ragone is tough but it might convince the team to take a serious look at a different approach to the offense. With Mitch Trubisky gone, they can start fresh. Maybe even hire an actual coordinator with proven play-calling experience. That doesn’t seem likely but then again nobody expected Nagy to purge the staff this past year as he did.
So anything is possible at this point.