Ben Johnson knew that if he was taking over the Chicago Bears, it would be a Herculean task to draft them out of the mud and back to playoff contention. For that, he would need a quality staff of assistant coaches. However, things went silent for the past few days. Little information came out on their plans aside from the initial belief they were targeting former New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen for defensive coordinator. Everything changed on Friday as they made not one but two massive additions to the staff.
It started with a bombshell from Patrik Walker of Dallascowboys.com that assistant head coach and defensive backs coach Al Harris would be leaving Dallas to join the Bears as their new passing game coordinator. Harris was a two-time Pro Bowl cornerback for the Green Bay Packers and has risen up the ranks rapidly over the past few years. Shortly after that, news broke from Adam Schefter that Detroit Lions wide receivers coach Antwaan Randle El would join the organization as their assistant head coach and receiver coach. He was a productive receiver throughout the 2000s for Pittsburgh and Washington, winning a Super Bowl in 2005.
The Chicago Bears have hit two home runs in quick succession.
Harris has carved out a glittering reputation as a defensive backs coach for years. In Kansas City from 2016 to 2018, he got All-Pro seasons from safety Eric Berry and cornerback Marcus Peters. Then, in Dallas, he turned draft picks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland in All-Pros as well. One can only imagine what he can accomplish with Jaylon Johnson, Tyrique Stevenson, Kyler Gordon, and Jaquan Brisker.
Randle El was born in Riverdale, Illinois. This is a homecoming for him. He got his first coaching shot in Tampa Bay, where he helped the Buccaneers win the Super Bowl in 2020. That earned him the wide receivers coach job in Detroit, where he developed Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams into 1,000-yard targets.
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Both men have proven track records as coaches and have also played in the league at a high level, making them such strong additions to the Chicago Bears’ staff. Johnson is off to a terrific start.
These types of hires are exactly what this team has needed. People who could take. DRAFT picks and make them players, instead of expecting to already be players.
None of Ryan Poles draft picks have had ANY chance of being more than good.
Amon-Ra St. Brown is the epitome of a decent player who is coached to being a Pro Bowl player. The Bears had his brother, and did nothing. He became only a blocking receiver. That’s it. Coaching.
Oh wow, this is great news, my mom actually knew Antwaan’s Grandma, I met his Grandma at least twice while visiting my mom, at the time he was playing for Washington, welcome aboard Antwaan, welcome.
Disappointed to see Jon Hoke go. One of the few bright spots of the former coaching staff.
@Slip Knotz It’s hard to say what’s going on behind the scenes, but I know it takes a little while. I’d be more concerned if I saw other teams that have hired new HC’s filling out their staffs, but I haven’t heard a whole lot about anyone making progress. Hell people are still being fired this week, like Bobby Slowick, last year’s OC darling. I think the only moves I have heard anything about have been existing HC’s filling some holes like the DC in SF and Indy.
If Harris is an upgrade over Hoke, then that’s good, but that would be hard, as Hoke is one of the best DB coaches in the NFL. I’m sure he’ll find a position soon.
There were rumors here that Antwaan Randle El was going to come over as the WR coach. I guess he needed Assistant Head Coach added to his title so that it was an upgrade from his position in Detroit. As @Slip Knotz was saying, really want to find out who the DC and OC are, as well as the OL coordinator.