The Chicago Bears rounded out their defensive coaching staff on Monday. New defensive coordinator Sean Desai had a clear approach in mind with his hires up to this point. He wanted to add assistants he was familiar with but also had extensive coaching experience. Not a bad plan considering he’s only been in the NFL since 2013. After adding Chris Rumph (defensive line), Bill McGovern (inside linebackers), and promoting Bill Shuey (outside linebackers), the only spot left was safeties. That job will be expanded to assistant defensive backs coach and is going to former longtime safety Mike Adams.
The man is quite a story. Nobody thought much of him when he arrived in the NFL in 2003. He was an undrafted free agent out of Delaware. A former teammate of Matt Nagy who attended the same school as their quarterback. He was undersized at 5’11 and considered too slow for the pro level. Sixteen seasons later, Adams had two Pro Bowls to his name along with 930 tackles and 30 interceptions.
Nobody was going to outwork or outhustle Adams.
It’s a testament to how much respect and trust he’s garnered in NFL circles that the Bears are making him their assistant defensive backs coach just one year after he retired in 2020. Normally players start as quality control assistants or the like. He is skipping those steps and it’s not hard to see why. Adams played the game for a long time for several different coaches. There isn’t a type of system he hasn’t seen.
He also developed a reputation as a great leader. His efforts helped four different teams he played for make the playoffs. It is hardly a shock he transitioned into coaching. The guy always seemed destined for it. Just watch his interviews and how he operated on the field.
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#Bears are hiring former NFL safety Mike Adams as assistant defensive backs coach, per league source. Adams played in the league for 16 years, most recently with the Texans in 2019.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHoge) February 1, 2021
Mike Adams will assist Deshea Townsend in molding Bears secondary
He has a major task ahead of him. First on his list will be figuring out what happened to Eddie Jackson in 2020. The former All-Pro was invisible way too often this past season. Especially in coverage where he failed to record an interception. Also on the agenda will be aiding it the development of some promising young Bears cornerbacks.
Headlining the list is Jaylon Johnson who had a tremendous rookie year, flashing his potential in coverage all season. Fellow rookie Kindle Vildor also had some nice moments and is somebody the Bears are quite high on. Having somebody like Adams to mentor them about what it will take to get their games up to their full potential is a major boon.
It wouldn’t be a surprise if this guy is a head coach a few years down the line.
Mike Adams just strikes as that sort of personality. An overachiever in life. Guys like that always end up running their own team eventually. It was probably a smart decision by the Bears to give him this opportunity before somebody else did. Kudos to Desai for signing off on it as well. He clearly knows what this team needs.
