Sean Desai broke new ground in NFL history last season when he became the first-ever coach of Indian descent to become a coordinator. His first and likely only season was a successful one. The Chicago Bears had the 6th overall defense and 3rd-best pass defense in the league. As first impressions go, Desai nailed it. Now it seems by a unique twist of fate the franchise is considering breaking similar ground on the offensive side via Sanjay Lal.
The son of Indian parents and born in London, England. Lal developed a love of American football at a young age. He enrolled at UCLA, won the Cotton Bowl in 1989, and then transferred to Washington a year later where he eventually won a national championship in 1992. After brief stints in the NFL and NFL Europe, he decided to move towards coaching. His knack for the passing game became apparent immediately, helping win a state championship for Miramonte High School in California.
That success catapulted him to the NFL by 2007.
Two years later he would become a wide receivers coach for the first time. A position he would go on to hold for the next 12 years across seven different teams. Along the way, several notable players had their best seasons under his guidance including Darrius Heyward-Bey, Jeremy Kerley, Sammy Watkins, Amari Cooper, and Michael Gallup. So he has a track record of getting the most out of the players he has.
Now it appears the man has caught the eye of Bears head coach Matt Eberflus. The team is searching for a new offensive coordinator. Current reports suggest Packers quarterbacks coach Luke Getsy is the heavy favorite for the job. However, he remains in the mix for the same job in Green Bay. While Chicago waits on his decision, they’ve been busy interviewing other candidates. Including Lal according to Jane Slater of NFL Network.
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#Jacksonville Jags WR coach Sanjay Lal is interviewing with the #Bears today for the offensive coordinator position per source informed
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) January 29, 2022
Sanjay Lal is a mystery but learned under some notables names
A lot of Bears fans are likely having the same reaction. There is no way Eberflus would be foolish enough to entrust Justin Fields to an untried assistant like Lal who has no experience beyond coaching wide receivers. This is where they might be mistaken. The head coach may know exactly what he’s doing. Over the years Lal has spent time on several different coaching staff. In that time he has learned under some prominent offensive mind. Successful ones. Coaches that also seem to have something in common.
- Lane Kiffin – Coached Jalen Hurts at Alabama
- Greg Roman – Coached Colin Kaepernick, Tyrod Taylor, and Lamar Jackson
- Rob Chudzinski – Coached Cam Newton in Carolina
- Scott Linehan – Coached Daunte Culpepper and Dak Prescott
- Kellen Moore – Coached Dak Prescott
- Darrell Bevell – Coached Russell Wilson
See the pattern?
All of those men built productive offenses around dual-threat quarterbacks. All had huge success with them. Roman reached a Super Bowl with Kaepernick and made Jackson an MVP. Newton set rookie passing and rushing records with Chudzinski. Linehan got a career-best 39 TDs out of Culpepper in 2004 and Prescott to a Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2016. Bevell won a Super Bowl with Wilson.
Fields has been compared to those quarterbacks on several occasions due to his versatile skill set. The fact that Sanjay Lal learned from all of those men on how best to utilize such a talent makes him uniquely qualified for this offensive coordinator job. A good reminder that Eberflus might know more about football than people realize. It would be a bold choice, but a calculated one.
