Matt Nagy Finalizes His Coaching Staff, Which Features Fresh Faces on Offense and Continuity on Defense
The Chicago Bears will enter the NFL Scouting Combine with a new head coach and a fully loaded staff of assistants.
Matt Nagy was hired in January to replace John Fox, who went 14-34 in three years as the team’s head coach. Shortly after his hiring, Nagy started to piece together what appears to be a quality staff around him.
The offensive staff surrounding Nagy brings a new set of eyes, a fresh group of ideas, and ultimately, a clean slate. Position coaches who will be working under Offensive Coordinator Mark Helfrich include Charles London (Running Backs), Mike Furey (Wide Receivers), Harry Hiestand (Offensive Line), Donovan Raiola (Assistant OL), and Kevin Gilbride (Tight Ends). Quarterbacks Coach Dave Ragone is the only holdover from Fox’s staff, though it’s a sensible move that keeps some continuity in Mitch Trubisky’s path toward development.
Mike Snyder and Brian Ginn were hired as Offensive Quality Control coaches, while Shane Toub (yes, they’re related) joins the team as a vaguely titled Offensive Assistant. Brad Childress, who Nagy has seen as a mentor from their time in Kansas City, joins the team as a Senior Offensive Consultant.
As we know by now, Vic Fangio has returned for his fourth season as the Bears’ defensive coordinator. Fangio will be joined by familiar faces such as Ed Donatell (Defensive Backs), Roy Anderson (Assistant DBs), Brandon Staley (Outside Linebackers), Glen Pires (Linebackers), and Jay Rodgers (Defensive Line). It’s the same group that coached up a defensive unit that finished in the top-10 in scoring and yards allowed.
Sean Desai and Bill Shuey will serve as Defensive Quality Control assistants.
The Bears have a totally new look at special teams, where Chris Tabor returns to the organization as the Special Teams Coordinator. He previously served as an assistant under Dave Toub before taking over for the Cleveland Browns. Brock Olivo, another former Toub understudy, joins Tabor as his top assistant.
Hopefully, we don’t spend a lot of time discussing the team’s new Head Athletic Trainer (Andre Tucker) and Head Strength and Conditioning Coach (Jason Loscalzo) in 2018. If we don’t, it’s probably because the Bears will have been healthier than they were at any point during the Fox administration.
