When the Bears named David Walker as their new running backs coach, I thought the main position coach hires were a thing of the past.
Not only was I wrong, I’m OK with it because it means the staff under Matt Eberflus will continue growing.
Here’s the latest newcomer:
We have hired Andre Curtis as our safeties coach.https://t.co/SiLGa9QYiU
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) February 10, 2022
The Bears hiring Andre Curtis as their new safeties coach is intriguing in a number of ways. Firstly, Curtis has 16 years of NFL coaching experience. Moreover, his most recent run in Seattle was highly productive. Curtis has spent the last seven years coaching in the Seahawks secondary with the titles of Safeties Coach (2015-16), Defensive Backs Coach (2017), and Defensive Passing Game Coordinator (2018-21). This puts Curtis squarely in a place where he was coaching the Legion of Boom in Seattle. In other words, this guy knows a thing or two about high quality secondary play.
Getting your hands on Pro Bowl caliber talent over the years must be nice. Curtis had the likes of Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor at the peak of their powers. But it isn’t just that trio. I suppose it is noteworthy that Quandre Diggs’ Pro Bowl appearances (2020, 2021) came while Curtis was Seattle’s defensive passing game coordinator. As did Shaquill Griffin’s lone Pro Bowl appearance in 2019. This isn’t to say that Curtis is the reason those guys saw their games reach new levels. However, having work experience with that collection of talent should give Curtis a good idea how to get the best out of players. He’ll need to lean on that upon arrival in Chicago.
Discussing Bears safeties has been a sore spot in recent years. Eddie Jackson hasn’t lived up to the lofty expectations that he created with an explosive first three seasons in Chicago. Elsewhere in the safeties room, the likes of Tashaun Gipson Sr., Deon Bush, and DeAndre Houston-Carson are set to become free agents. There is a non-zero chance that Jackson will be the only returning safety when camp opens in 2022. In other words, the Bears might be leaning on Curtis to coach up a new wave of talent at an all-important position. Sounds like a tall task. And it is one I hope Curtis is up to take on starting this season.
Considering how many new players the Bears could bring in this offseason, maybe that would explain why so many of their coaching hires have experience coaching defensive backs. Defensive Coordinator Alan Williams was coaching Colts safeties last year. Defensive Backs Coach James Rowe had his hands on Colts cornerbacks last season. New Assistant Defensive Backs Coach David Overstreet II has experience in that field, too. Bringing in Curtis makes it four new Bears assistants with plenty of experience under their belt coaching in the secondary. And while I’m not saying that is a tell, it suggests to me that coaching up a bunch of newbies in the defensive backfield will be a grand undertaking. As the saying goes: “it takes a village…”